Mission – Development Plans (a tentative suggestion) Mission: The Diocese of Lincoln is called by God to faithful worship, confident discipleship and joyful service. Vision: To be a healthy, vibrant and sustainable church transforming lives in greater Lincolnshire. Putting the two together – intention is to grow the Church through faithful worship leading to confident discipleship and out into joyful service which sees lives and communities transformed across great Lincolnshire

From Anecdote to Evidence - One of many recent published reports to learn from and help us

From Anecdote to Evidence 18 month programme – funded by C of E – focused on C of E – trying to establish factors lead to Church Growth …. Headline figure 9% decline nationally ‘all age weekly attendance’ last decade … (Lincoln figure 23% - we have to do something different)! Real picture shows … 18% grew, 55% stable, 27% declined …

From Anecdote to Evidence Executive Summary ‘There is no single recipe for growth; there are no simple solutions to decline. The road to growth depends on the context, and what works in one place may not work in another. What seems crucial is that congregations are constantly engaged in reflection; churches cannot soar on autopilot. Growth is a product of good leadership (lay and ordained) working with a willing set of churchgoers in a favourable environment’ – Professor David Voas

Strategy – What do we intend to do? Five headlines But last headline is where we actually need to start!

Strategy 1– What do we intend to do? Strategic Recruitment And Deployment Right People into Right Structures ‘50’ new posts allocated according to need and mission potential – using AtE, RfM, National Stats restoring the ‘backbone’ – to enable us to function Creative use of remaining posts …… Pioneers/ Fresh Expressions / Y & Cd’n / Deanery Mission Facilitators …..

Strategy 2 – What do we intend to do? Focused Missional Leadership Training & Support I year Lincolnshire ‘Leadership’ Course …. Lincolnshire ‘Church Growth Course’ ….. ‘Action Learning Groups’ …… Recognised priorities …..

Strategy 3 – What do we intend to do? Intentional Mission Planning All parishes / benefices / mission communities engaged in appropriate DDP process (according to mc categorisation) leading to focused / realistic growth plans focused around diocesan priorities of faithful worship, confident discipleship, joyful service

Strategy 4 – What do we intend to do? Intentional Resourcing and Support YoD and YoEW – attempting to restore/recover the heart of the diocese without which all plans will fail Transformation & Social Justice Fund to help make ‘growth’ plans a reality Outward facing Diocesan Resource Centre – officers / centre to resource, encourage and support plans Programme of Episcopal & Archdiaconal Visitations – connected to MDR – to reconnect parishes / build confidence/trust within the diocese

Strategy 5 – What do we intend to do? (Which is actually strategy 1 – where we need to start) Start (and end) by remembering growth is God’s job not ours - 1Cor 3:5-7 ‘God who gives the growth’ Act and plan accordingly All the above underpinned by Prayer and a faith that is shaped by God, and expects and relies on Him to act ‘Transformation’ that starts with us …bishops, archdeacons, clergy, synods, churches, individual Christians out in the world ……

Concluding thoughts ‘Only hermeneutic of the gospel is a group of men and women who live it’ Leslie Newbigin – I think(!) …..has to be real for us, if we want it to be real for others! ‘Between the ghosts of the past and the unlikely fantasies of the future there is a middle way. This is the way of carefully planned gradual ongoing church growth.’ … could we aim in our churches for 5% a year? ‘This is the way which combines courage and vision, without at the same time eschewing down to earth realism. To follow this way we need to pray the prayer of a person who knows his weakness, but who has placed faith in a great God. We need to follow a good plan, a sound strategy that we believe will bear fruit. We need to make the commitment, along with others, to a sacrificial living of the cross. We need to place a trust in God whose will and purpose it is to produce growth in the middle of wilderness’ – Robin Gamble – ‘The irrelevant church’  Does this feel right / is there anything obvious missing?  Feedback thoughts to