Partnership for Missional Church

Partnership for Missional Church is not quick.

It’s not easy. It’s not something you can do alone.
You could say the same things about freedom.
And that’s what we want churches to find: freedom in God’s mission.

“It’s a wonderful journey that helps churches discover a sense of purpose, discern the call of God, and engage in joyful, hopeful mission in their local communities.”

Rt Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham

With so many churches under pressure to grow more, give more, do more – we want to help them discover:

1. The release that comes from truly relying on God
2. The liberty that comes from taking the time to listen
3. The confidence that comes from genuinely connecting with your community
4. The impact of innovating, risk-taking and not being afraid to experiment
5. The lightness of living out your call as a church

Partnership for Missional Church is not a course.
It’s not a programme.
It’s not prescriptive.

How does it work?

Partnership for Missional Church is a 3yr process.  We told you it wasn’t quick – that’s the beauty of it.  And that’s why you’ll be able to see such deep change.

The PMC journey involves clusters of 12-15 local congregations meeting together regularly.

Year 1  -  is all about listening, paying attention and discovering where God is already at work. Specific spiritual practices are introduced that help point people towards being naturally missional, rather than doing mission activities.

Year 2  -  focuses on experimenting. Based on what churches discover about themselves and their communities in Year 1, the next step is to take some risks and learn from both what works well and what doesn’t. This is done ‘with’ people in the local community, not ‘for’ them.

Year 3  -  focuses on recognising God’s particular mission call for your church and figuring out how you are going to put it into action. The outcomes will look different for each congregation.

The journey might not be for everyone.

We won’t sugar-coat it: getting deep culture change can be tough and moving towards freedom in mission can be scary for some.  People have given up.  But those who have stuck with the PMC journey have seen real growth in things like worship attendance and numbers of people turning to Jesus.

We’ve also seen many who aren’t clergy become empowered for leadership and become more involved.  This helps churches thrive.  Together, churches have developed creative, innovative and effective ways of making God’s dreams for their communities come true.

Partnership for Missional Church in the UK

Anglicans, Baptists and Methodists have been participating in the PMC journey. Church Mission Society is sharing in the PMC journey with congregations in:

• The Diocese of Bath and Wells
• The Diocese of Durham
• The Diocese of Leicester
• The Diocese of Ely
• The Diocese of Oxford
• The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham
   

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ALL SAINTS’ AWAY DAY    Saturday 1st March 2020

A number of us met at Elm Ridge Church.  Working in clusters of 6 with 2 leaders from the Diocese, we were asked to consider the groups of people, as a Church, we might wish to support.  To do this, we looked at the information collected during Yr.1 of the PMC journey, then we prioritised our findings.

PRIORITY 1

• FOOTFALL – GROUPS OF PEOPLE COMING THROUGH THE CHURCH
• HOW TO ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE WHO USE THE MILLENNIUM CENTRE
• YOUNG PEOPLE – UNIFORMED GROUPS / TODDLER GROUP / MUSIC AND SINGING YOUNG PEOPLE
• GROUPS THAT USE THE MILLENNIUM FACILITIES – ENGAGE WITH THEM
• ENGAGEMENT WITH GROUPS USING CENTRE – MAKE AWARE OF EVENTS / HAPPENINGS IN CHURCH
• HOW TO ENGAGE WITH EVERYONE WHO VISIT THE BUILDING

PRIORITY 2

• MULTI-GENERATIONAL – PEOPLE WHO ARE ISOLATED AND/OR LONELY/WIDOW-ERS/ SINGLE PEOPLE
• PASTORAL IN ALL ITS ELEMENTS
• ELDERLY – BEREAVED (WIDOWS) EVENING EVENTS CAN BE DIFFICULT
• HOW TO RE-CONNECT WITH LEAVERS
• NEED TO ENGAGE WITH EACH OTHER – SPREADING OUT FROM OUR OWN FRIENDSHIP GROUPS
• PASTORAL – OCCASIONAL OFFICES – MENTAL HEALTH – LONELINESS

PRIORITY 3

• HOW TO MAKE CHURCH RELEVANT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY / THE DIGITAL AGE
• BUILDING IS AN IMPORTANT LINK BETWEEN CHURCHES – ST EDWIN’S / ALL SAINT’S / ST MARY’S
• ENGAGE WITH 2020 VISION – REFLECTION – ENABLING THE PEOPLE WE HAVE
• PUBLICITY
• MENTAL HEALTH – YOUNG AND OLD – ANXIETY / SELF HARM
• PASTORAL CARE – MENTAL HEALTH / ISOLATION / OCCASSIONAL OFFICES

OUR GENERAL CONSENSUS OF THE ABOVE:

• HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE WHO COME THROUGH THE BUILDING?
• HOW DO WE ACTIVELY SEEK OUT THE NEGLECTED AND BROKEN HEARTED?

THIS LED US TO ASK:

• HOW DO WE DEMONSTRATE GOD’S LOVE TO THOSE PEOPLE?

THE NEXT STEP

• We shall meet with other PMC groups in the Diocese at a Cluster Meeting. 
• We shall set up a Missional Innovation Team (MIT) to lead Yr2.