2. Evangelism Year

3. Thinking ahead about...

4. How it came about Replacing Northern College Worship Days What might be most useful to churches? A prompt to start planning sooner ‘Thinking ahead for Autumn Festivals’ in Kirkham URC Materials hidden on the URC website ‘Thinking Ahead about Easter’ in three venues across NW Synod in January 2010

5. How might our churches make fresh connections?

6. 1.By developing who we already are and what we already do

7. How might our churches make fresh connections? 2. By using our existing special events and special efforts...

15. How might our churches make fresh connections? 3. By developing people’s existing gifts and skills

16. How might our churches make fresh connections? 4. By redeploying our time and effort (not by asking everyone to do more – unless it energises them)

17. How might our churches make fresh connections? 5. By reaching further out to more people and digging deeper into the story and meaning

18. How might our churches make fresh connections? 6. By starting thinking far sooner to allow planning ahead

19. How might our churches make fresh connections? 7. By thinking outside our regular organising boxes

20. How might our churches make fresh connections? 8. By involving the usual people and some who’ll be surprised to be asked

21. How might we make that happen?

22. 1. By organising prompting events for clusters of churches

23. How might we make that happen? 2. By trying to ensure that churches hear about them and want to use them

24. How might we make that happen? 3. By encouraging churches to ‘bring a car-load’

25. How might we make that happen? 4. By trying to get a good mix of people from each church to attend

26. How might we make that happen? 5. By starting the time together with telling our stories & sharing our ideas

27. How might we make that happen? 6. By offering a chance for shared re-engagement with the Bible

28. How might we make that happen? 7. By encouraging everyone to start working on their own church’s situation

29. How might we make that happen? 8. By sending people back to their churches to enthuse and involve others while there’s still time to plan ahead

30. What we found when we tried it out...

31. What we found when we tried it 1. People were stimulated by hearing each other’s ideas

32. What we found when we tried it 2. People greatly appreciated the prompt to think ahead

33. What we found when we tried it 3. Over 80 people came to our three Easter prompt events in January 2010 – despite the weather!

34. What we found when we tried it 4. We keep hearing of new things churches tried as a result of the prompt

35. What we found when we tried it 5. The event and the meeting with other churches was central – not just the materials

36. What we found when we tried it 6. Rolling this out for Vision4Life Evangelism Year would mean running events for clusters of churches

37. What we found when we tried it 7. We could share the idea, our enthusiasm and prompt events - it would all depend on interested Synods

38. What we’re asking you to consider doing

39. What we’re asking you... 1. Check what you and other Synod movers and shakers think about the idea

40. What we’re asking you... 2. Check whether running Thinking Ahead events in January and in May/June would fit into the Synod programme for 2011

41. What we’re asking you... 3. Work out who in the Synod needs to take enabling decisions

42. What we’re asking you... 4. Work with others to identify a group of 4 or 5 to attend a 1-day start-up event in September ‘10

43. What we’re asking you... 5. Let the Synod’s Thinking Ahead planning group plan – but keep in touch

44. So, what do you reckon?