ALL IN: EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVERY WAY ALLIN VISION STRATEGY 2020–2025 1 ALL IN: EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVERY WAY WE SEE A CHURCH THAT IS ALL IN. Rather than settling for fledgling faith or resting on one-time decisions, we want to seek God daily, follow Jesus relentlessly and rely on the Spirit fully. We see a church going deeper as disciples, growing closer as family and reaching wider in witness. A people whose foundation is the Bible and whose focus is the Great Commission. A church that holds on to both word and spirit; worship and prayer; discipleship and outreach; ancient principles and contemporary practices; local compassion and global mission. WE SEE A CHURCH THAT IS ALL IN TO THE GOING DEEPER WITH JESUS. A church where accepting Jesus is not the finish line but a starting point. A people not just ascribing to a set of beliefs but allowing our whole lives to be consumed by love for Jesus. ALL IN A church where parents and leaders are partners in disciple- making. A church that prioritises passing on the story of faith to our children and moves closer to young people in relationship. A church that invests in empowering a new generation of leaders and releases them into positions of authority both within our VISION congregation and in our culture. 2 ALL IN: EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVERY WAY WE SEE A CHURCH THAT IS ALL IN TO GROWING CLOSER AS FAMILY. A church that may meet in different locations at different times but continues pursuing unity and committing to community. A church that acts like a healthy family with people contributing rather than consuming. A family where everyone serves Jesus together regardless of age or stage, with each act of service valued no matter how small it seems. Where every teaching of a child, conversation with a teenager, welcome to a newcomer, prayer This is what it means spoken, bible opened, home visited, invite made, meal offered and donation given all plays a part in quiet and ordinary ways. to be ALL IN as everyone contributes WE SEE A CHURCH everywhere they are in ALL IN TO REACHING WIDER IN INFLUENCE. every way they can as A church proclaiming a message so clearly that the community servants of Christ. can’t ignore it, with a focus beyond filling empty pews but equipping every person for mission. A people so kingdom- minded that they accept whatever cost and pay any price to make Jesus known in the world. A people so compassionate that the vulnerable are drawn from the most impossible of circumstances into a family of hope. A church influencing culture through the lives of its ordinary servants, both impacting the local community and reaching to the ends of the earth. A church that grows so quickly that our gatherings can’t contain it; where all are welcomed yet all are challenged. A church that doesn’t expect the lost to come and find them, but one that seeks after those who are lost. 4 1. ALL IN: EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVERY WAY WHERE WE ARE 1. WHERE WE ARE THE LAST DECADE IN THE HISTORY OF CARNMONEY CHURCH HAS BEEN A PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANT GROWTH AND VIBRANT ACTIVITY THAT, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, HAS LED TO MANY LIVES BEING TRANSFORMED. 6 ALL IN: WHERE WE ARE WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR ALL THAT WE HAVE SEEN GOD DO IN THIS TIME. HERE IS JUST A BRIEF SNAPSHOT OF SOME HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY INITIATIVES. Over a period of 9 months we sought to NEW NEW GROWTH IN listen to the congregation to gain a realistic BELIEVERS COMMUNITY THE NUMBER picture of our current context and discern NEW PROJECTS, OF WORSHIP BAPTISMS SIGNIFICANT GATHERINGS where God might be leading us. NEW GROWTH: MEMBERS Manna, School This involved a survey, focus groups, Uniforms, Foodbank, Job Club & Debt reviewing statistics and consulting with management Elders, Staff and volunteer leaders. Through this process we observed the following: BRAND- OUR STAFF A CAP NEW TEAM HAS CENTRE CHURCH SIGNIFICANTLY HAS BEEN WORSHIP GATHERINGS CENTRE GROWN IN ESTABLISHED We offer more services with a similar number of staff and volunteers. BUILT & SIZE & DEVELOPED Our services operate with a team approach by a range of people OPENED contributing in a variety of ways. We recognise the need to continue developing this team approach and see more people participate across all our Sunday services. THE A NEW SPECIAL PRAYER PLANTING MISSIONAL EVENTS Until recently, we had a fully functioning House of Prayer that was OF A NEW COMMUNITY SUCH AS key to the way we prayed as a church and attributable to much of AND IN BALLYDUFF BETHLEHEM, the growth and unity we have experienced. The loss of this resource, GROWING REACHING COAST, alongside little opportunity for regular corporate prayer, has led to a CHURCH IN NEW PEOPLE COMMUNITY gap in our prayer life. We want to address this by developing a fresh BELFAST FUN DAYS model and rhythm to how we pray together. & PICNICS 8 ALL IN: WHERE WE ARE LEADERSHIP & ELDERSHIP SIZE As we look at the current central leadership of our congregation we are While a large church makes some things possible, size doesn’t enable aware that we face a potential leadership deficit in future years, with a several hundred people to know each other well. We recognise the need majority of our elders over the age of 60. With this age profile, along to create a better sense of togetherness and actively pursue unity among with the fact that the majority of our elders are male, our collective us at a variety of levels. We want to identify ways that we can continue to leadership isn’t as reflective of the demographic of our congregation relate to one another across multiple locations and gatherings. This won’t as it should be. We see significant gifting, maturity and faith in many happen unless we are proactive about it. leaders within our congregation and recognise the need to bring more of them into our central leadership structures. As well as this, due to the upcoming retirement of our minister, we will enter a period of vacancy in CO-ORDINATION 2021 where we will seek to call a new minister to lead our church. AND COMMUNICATION The Core Teams established 12 years ago were initially positive in generating work, co-ordinating activity and planning strategic goals, ALPHA however some core teams have ceased to function in the way they were We continue to see Alpha as a key way to engage those outside the designed. We want to develop better co-ordination across organisations church on a journey of exploring Christian faith. Due to a variety of and belonging among leaders. Congregationally, we need to develop factors, such as changes in leadership and engagement in Ballyduff and better awareness of what is happening through highlighting serving Belfast, we have lost some momentum in this. We are desperate not to opportunities, sharing examples of God at work and communicating lose missional impetus and want to continue pro-actively reaching out clearly key decisions. to those outside church. To do this we see it of vital importance to equip and train people to engage in mission in every area of their lives. GAPS As a church we have welcomed many new families among us in the past DISCIPLESHIP few years. This has contributed to growth in our youth and children’s With so much activity happening in our church, a huge amount of people ministries. However, we recognise a gap in the 18-25 age range and wish serve in various ways. Our survey asked about how people participate to address it. We see the transition from youth ministry to wider church in church life and the highest response was volunteering. While this may life as critical in this age and stage, as well as offering some sort of sound positive, this can prevent engagement in other aspects of church specific opportunity for this age group. life (such as Discipleship Communities and Sunday services), with a danger of being a mile wide but an inch deep. While the 10 Discipleship Communities are encouraging, we want to see more people involved in our key vehicle for discipleship. We also want to sharpen our follow-up post-Alpha and for young people finishing our youth ministry. 10 ALL IN: WHERE WE ARE COST While mission in Belfast and Ballyduff brings us huge joy, we have felt the cost of multiplication in sending out some leaders to serve elsewhere. Extra worship services have created space for more people among us, but some have felt a sense of loss in not gathering as a whole church, while others have fallen through the cracks. The development of a new church centre and additional staff have stretched our resources, however CONTINUING God has always met our needs enabling us to hit all financial targets. We acknowledge and accept that kingdom mission will always bring a cost. FORWARD Ultimately, we want to continue in the general A PRIVATE FAITH & direction we have been travelling in over the CONSUMER MENTALITY past decade. We remain passionate about Our survey suggested that many people maintain a private faith. Praying encountering God in worship and will continue with others, sharing faith and inviting someone to church were all low seeking relevant ways to present the gospel. We responses, while praying alone and reading the Bible were highest. want to remain contemporary in our approach We want people’s faith to go beyond an internal, private experience to to worship and continue opening the doors of something shared with others at home, church and in daily life.