Carlisle Diocese GROWING DISCIPLES Vision and Strategy 2011 - 2020 Bishop James has now set out the new Vision for the Diocese It looks forwards 10 years – unshamedly long term because sustainable growth in the church requires firm foundations: no easy answers Builds on Bishop Graham’s Vision for Survival to Revival which encouraged parishes to take ownership; to feel that there are things we can do to move our churches forward; to be more outward looking

OUR MISSION By God’s grace, to grow God’s Kingdom in Cumbria Bishop James presented a new Mission Statement: Each part of this is important. - Kingdom of God – because this is what Jesus told us to build - Grace – because everything is achieved by the Grace of God, not by our efforts alone - Cumbria – a vision for us to embrace the whole county, not simply those who come to church

OUR VISION Is to see our Churches growing Disciples of all ages. And a new Vision Statement Growing disciples is the key to growing the church and growing the kingdom of God. Again, this is what Jesus did.

FIVE MARKS OF DISCIPLESHIP Maturity in Faith Prayer and Worship Community engagement Evangelism Quality of Relationships 5 marks or themes that Discipleship can be grouped under. Bishop has identified a range of things that we would see if these marks were being displayed by the church. A picture of a healthy, growing church. These are set out in the following 5 slides. Not expecting all these things to be happening everywhere or all at the same time. Some of the things identified will be for whole Deaneries to work on or that will be addressed by the Bishop and his Staff. But he wants us in our church to be thinking about which of these is relevant to us and how we could get on with them.

1. Maturity in Faith Adult Christian Basics Generous giving Use of gifts Growth in vocations Intern programme Discipleship training

2. Prayer and Worship Prayer groups Varied worship styles ‘Fresh Expressions’ Network Youth Churches Exploring Special Occasions School involvement

3. Community engagement Social Action projects Multi-purpose buildings Charitable involvement Urban and Rural contacts Ministry at work Deanery links

4. Evangelism Church attendance Mission Action Plans Process Evangelism Parish evangelists Equipping for witness

5. Quality of Relationships Ecumenical county Small Groups Social activities Trained Welcomers Support for Family Life

INGREDIENTS OF OUR STRATEGY Local Leadership Local Ministry Local Planning Comprehensive Mission There are a number ingredients that have been identified if the Diocese as a whole is going to show all these marks of discipleship in 10 years time. Bishop James spoke about 4 of these in particular: 1. the importance of leadership in local churches – not just the vicar but a leadership team 2. the need to put the most possible resource into local ministry. So every effort will be made to maintain the number of clergy on the ground. Continuing to control central costs in the Diocese so that more money can go into local ministry. Obviously this is dependent on local churches continuing to give realistically, since the vast majority of the Dioceses’ income is from parishes and the vast majority of its expenditure is on local ministry. In the next 10 years the number of stipendiary clergy will fall because of retirements, so it will be very important to grow non-stipendiary and Lay Ministry to compensate. 3. the important of every parish, every church having a clear sense of its own direction – a Plan for what it’s going to do and how it will develop over the next few years. This is sometimes called Mission Action Planning, and Bishop James would like every parish to produce a Mission Action Plan. There will be support available for parishes in doing this. 4. and finally, recognising that our churches are currently not attracting many younger people or children; and actually only attracting a small minority of the population generally, a need to come up with ideas for reaching out to the whole population of Cumbria. This may require new approaches – sometimes called Fresh Expressions of Church. It will certainly require us all to be more confident about our Christian faith and being prepared to engage more as a church with our wider communities.

NEXT STEPS Listening to God – the foundation for Planning Identifying partners, including: - schools - other parishes and denominations Offering feedback and suggestions Being confident and enthusiastic Bishop James has asked us to start with these things: Prayer and discernment, listing to what God is saying to us – this is the foundation for planning. Effective Parish plans cannot be produced without it. Identify others who we can work with. Bishop James very committed to ecumenism, working with other denominations. But we must also look to see what our neighbouring parishes are doing and how we could work with them more. And with our schools when it comes to children’s work. Bishop is also interested in our feedback on the vision and what he can do to help us implement it here in our parish. Finally, Bishop James invites us to face the future confidently and enthusiastically.