St Mark’s, Newnham, Draft Mission Action Plan 2011. For the period 2012-2014,subject to annual review.
PREAMBLE
Building on the Past
St Mark’s is a church with a Mission Statement, dating from the Millennium: ‘To be the people of God in this place, and to work to make God more real for our community.’
In 2008 the PCC wrote a Mission Action Plan which put more flesh on the bones of this statement by discerning four distinct aspects of St Mark’s vocation: We are called to be:
1. A church which nurtures thoughtful discipleship
2. A church which offers hospitality to its congregation and local community
3. A church which conducts mission through drama and other arts
4. A church which develops its members’ talents, and remains open to God’s surprises.
In 2011 we thank God for these insights, and for what has flowed from them. We reaffirm them as still being true of our congregation, and we state our intention to continue developing thoughtful teaching and learning ( e.g. in church, in groups, through our library, and at speaker meetings); to carry on offering hospitality and care for our community (e.g. through the use of our Community Centre, through the work of the Visiting Group, and work with children, young people and families); to build on our tradition of arts-based events (e.g. through the imaginative work of our Arts Events Committee); and to remain open to the talents different people bring into the congregation, and to new possibilities for ministry and mission which may not be foreseen in the following plan.
Looking to the Future
Since 2008 certain things have changed. Among them, is the Partnership which has developed between St Mark’s and the parishes of Trumpington and Grantchester, which includes the joint sharing of our Associate Minister and a Children’s Worker. We foresee that this partnership will be a significant factor in how some aspects of our church life will develop over the next three years.
During the summer of 2011 we have reviewed the balance of our church’s mission in various ways; one congregational review concluded that while St Mark’s has been strong on Presence in the community, and Prayer, we need to put more emphasis on those aspects of the church’s mission which may be described as Proclamation and Persuasion. In other words, we need to look not only for growth in spiritual and intellectual understanding within the church, and loving service within the congregation and community, but also more positively and intentionally for growth in numbers, particularly through the process of helping people come to an informed commitment to Christ. We want to involve the whole church in seeking to fulfill this aim, through prayer, witness, invitation, welcome, and the spiritual accompaniment of ‘seekers’ . We hope, as a result, to see our church grow by around 5% per year in average weekly attendance figures, and to attract and nurture at least 3 or 4 adults each year to a point of significant new commitment (e.g. in baptism and/or confirmation, or personal renewal of baptismal vows). We shall keep this under review.
During the summer of 2011 we also reviewed our church life in terms of the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ accepted by the Anglican Communion, and summarised by our Bishop as the Five ‘T’s’ - Telling, Teaching, Tending, Transforming and Treasuring. This way of thinking challenges us to add to the concerns noted above, greater emphasis also on ways in which we may contribute to the transformation of unjust structures in society, and effectively treasure God’s good creation.
What follows are points for new action, structured under headings provided by the ‘Five T’s’, or Five Marks of Mission. Some action points could relate to more than one of them, but we have tried to distribute them as sensibly as possible. We will also continue with many of the actions flowing from the 2008 plan.
Telling the Good News (Proclamation)
* Review church’s events and activities in terms of ‘target audience’ and what we hope to achieve, rather than simply ‘treading the accustomed annual round’. (PCC, Events Committee, Social and Fundraising Group)
* Congregation to have invitations to give to each event. Make practice of having a ‘follow-on’ activity advertised (in however low-key a way) at each event.(Clergy and Administrator; Events Committee)
* Ask someone (eg. a visitor or consultant) to monitor our worship for user-friendliness, and change things where necessary.(Worship Group)
* Undertake capital projects to make our church building more welcoming, and suitable for a variety of events and services: this may include purchasing rostra, improving the heating, refurbishing the organ, and further church re-ordering, as the congregation and PCC think appropriate.(PCC, Land and Buildings, Representatives of Music and Events)
* Support and enlarge the team offering ‘Open the Book Assemblies’ in Newnham Croft School. (Children and Youth Committee)
* Build our mission to families and children through Messy Church, Mini-Messy Church, Partnership Holiday Clubs, and Partnership Youth Group.(Children and Youth, in conjunction with Social and Fundraising for Messy Church)
* Repeat Good Friday Procession across the Meadows (followed by Partnership service), and Back to Church Sunday.(Clergy and Worship Group)
* Appropriately publicise growth when it happens. (Clergy, Administrator, Seek)
Teaching (Persuasion/Nurture in Faith)
* Card to be prepared for parish distribution, sharing our broad vision.
* Congregation to be given five seasonal bookmarks, associated with our aims under the 5 T’s, to aid awareness and prayer. (Administrator and Clergy)
* Create an email list of the congregation, for the distribution of weekly church notices (whilst also retaining the pew slip) (Administrator and Clergy)
* Hold a Lent Course of speaker meetings on the Apostles’ Creed to take us deeper theologically than sermons can take us (Partnership Clergy, Education and Discipleship Group)
* Hold at least one Christian Nurture (introductory) course each year for ‘seekers’, supported by the presence of at least 2 church members. (Education and Discipleship Group, Clergy)
* Congregation to pray for, and be introduced to, those going forward to make a step of faith. Members of congregation to attend confirmations. (Clergy and congregation)
* Aim to continue nurture groups into ongoing home groups. (Education and Discipleship)
Tending (Care for each other, and for the Community, especially the vulnerable)
* Organise system of Street or Area Stewards to monitor arrivalsin the parish, deliver Welcome Packs, and make church events known, especially prayer for streets (Vicar and Administrator)
* Pray for streets of the parish – one a month (Vicar and Administrator)
* Monitor who leaves the congregation, and follow-up (Clergy and Street Stewards)
* Lay people to be found to share in visits and meetings prior to occasional offices; to attend services, deliver follow-up cards, etc. (Clergy, Administrator, ?Visitors’ Group)
* Continue baptismal tea party in February, All Souls’ Service, and possibly also have opportunity for re-affirmation of marriage vows in a service some time around Valentine’s Day (Clergy, Administrator, Lay Visitors, Social and Fundraising)
* Expand number available to pray for Wholeness and Healing, and give training. Offer Wholeness and Healing prayers every month in a main service. (Clergy)
* Offer individual prayer to mourners at All Souls’ service.
* Hold a ‘Thank you Party’, for everyone who works for the Church and Community Centre (PCC, Social and Fundraising, Community Centre)
Transforming (unjust Structures of Society)
* Collect regularly for Food Bank
* Support Fair Trade fortnight with events/publicity
* Advertise by the hatch why we use Fair Trade
* Undertake Besom Projects
Treasuring Creation
* Every sub-group in church to undertake environmental audit of its activities (PCC and All)
* Organise Nature Walks round streets – possibly liaising with school Eco-group.
* Have a regular ‘eco-slot’- in Seek
Points under ‘Transforming’ and ‘Treasuring’ have individuals interested in them, who might like, together, to form a ‘Justice ,Peace and Integrity of Creation’ (JPIC) Group for the church, to further these interrelated