Mission Action Planning in the Sodbury Vale Benefice – Diocese of Gloucester

Context: Multi-Parish Benefice comprising a market town (Chipping Sodbury) and three villages (Horton, Little Sodbury & Old Sodbury). Four PCCs, four church buildings, three church primary schools, County Infants’ and Junior schools & a County Secondary Comprehensive School (mixed, 11-18).

Staff team: Incumbent (who is also Area Dean), Associate Priest (SSM), Assistant Curate (SSM & p/t), Reader (who is a fulltime university chaplain).

History

Incumbent arrived in Sept 2009 and her arrival coincided with a new benefice coming together as a United Benefice. MAPping started in autumn 2009. Strap line created: “Growing our congregations and reaching out into our communities.” 5-year MAP produced.

2011 New Diocesan Vision statement produced – “Journeying Together”  Worships Together  Shares our Christian Faith and Values  Provides a Visible Presence in every Community and Parish  Serves the Wider World).

April 2014 Area Deans were given a “Journeying Together” Action Plan skeleton with the request to produce an Action Plan to present to the Senior Staff three months later. The emphases on the Deanery MAP were the four bullet points above, along with a deanery strategic plan re clergy deployment & parochial structures; identifying how Effective Ministry in Every Parish was to implemented; church planting; identifying churches that might have to close/reduce their services.

Sodbury Vale Benefice needs to begin a new MAP in conjunction with the Deanery MAP. PCCs come together for a series of meetings to do this.

Incumbent was made aware in a diocesan meeting of “From Anecdote to Evidence” and Experian data.

June 2014 onwards Benefice MAP process starts taking into account the Diocesan Vision statement, the Deanery Action Plan, the research from “From Anecdote to Evidence” and the Experian data.

Importance of bringing all the PCCs together in one room for this work.

Cross-benefice groups to do SWOT analyses of: churches’ degree of engagement with the local communities; growing in our Christian faith; developing our work with children and young people; developing our building to be fit for purpose; stewardship and the wider world.

Importance of PCCs “owning” the work.

As MAP was created, it was regularly measured against the 8 factors associated with growth.

Factors associated with Growth (Taken from from Anecdote to Evidence) 1 NB Research results on multi-parish benefices. (Relatively high congregations, but low growth) Factors↓ Assessment Leadership Staff conscientious about CPD and incumbent has been on specific leadership programmes. On forming the first MAP, in 2009, the strap line we adopted was “Growing our congregations and reaching out into our communities.” “Growing” was meant to encompass numerical growth as well as growth in faith. Lay ministerial training happening. Longing to see God at work in people’s lives and longing to see people grow in their relationship with God – and trying to create the environment for that to happen. Holding the vision. Challenges for the staff team: (a) to continue to motivate, envision and innovate in order to see church growth; (b) the team might long for example, for more people to join house groups, but there is an on-going reluctance. So how does growth happen? Having a clear vision and In 2014, the four PCCs worked together on a new Mission Action Plan and staff away purpose. Being ready to day – on order to assess where we are, what needs changing, prayerfully discern where self-reflect and learn God is working & join in and prayerfully discern where God is leading us. A new strap continually line agreed: “Alive and Active: Connecting our Communities with Christ.” Challenge: communicating this regularly to the congregations. Being willing to change Reviewing is an essential process in the MAP work. Persuading people to see the and adapt possibility of “fresh expressions” growing alongside “inherited church.” Challenges: persuading people that change is part of life which includes the church – if we don’t change, we’ll die. Being prepared to have every new idea interrogated with searching questions as to its purpose and intended outcome and whether it will lead to church growth and whether it is in line with the strap line. Assigning roles to lay Lay worship leaders’ and pastoral care training; “on the job” training of facilitators of people as well as the annual Christian nurture course (for “fringe”/ ”de-churched” and “un-churched” ordained clergy people); Sunday school teachers; House group leaders; readers; intercessors; eucharistic ministers (including Home Communions); healing group; Nativity Crib Festival planning group; fabric group; tea ‘n chat group; outreach work. Challenge: lay “pool” is very small. This needs enlarging but people don’t like making commitments; need to rotate volunteer roles. Discerning the pioneers & training. Actively engaging with Schools’ work (Collective worship, Open the Book, Foundation Governors); Sunday children school; “Storkies”; all-age services; ecumenical assemblies team in primary and and teenagers secondary schools; Nativity Crib Festival and June Festival; Annual Baptism Fun Afternoon.. Challenge: Lose children to sport et al on Sunday mornings – at present starting a process to see if there is another time that suits families. Lack of money to employ a Youth and Children’s worker. Little time to properly engage with the secondary school when we have three church primary schools and two county primary schools. Actively engaging with Community events – Nativity Crib Festival & June Festival; through the Occasional those who might not go Offices and follow-up and people being invited onto the nurture course; carol singing at to church/are outside Waitrose; Traidcraft stall at the fortnightly Farmers’ Market; Saturday morning coffee; existing community street barbecue; ecumenical initiatives –Foodbank & Street Pastors. Church Centre used by various groups. “Village Days”; flower festivals; agricultural year festivals (eg harvest); harvest suppers/lunches; “Friends of…” events. Challenge: discerning where areas of need are and then having enough people willing to serve. Good welcoming and Village churches are welcoming. Chipping Sodbury has a lot more work to do. follow-up We are working ecumenically to produce welcome leaflets for the new housing. for visitors Challenge: Convincing people that hospitality is at the heart of the Kingdom. Committed to nurturing Have established an annual Nurture Group since 2009; several house groups across the new and existing benefice. Christians Challenge: persuading people to join house groups. Seeing people change from churchgoers to disciples.

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