Peters Pentecost speech struck lots of chords with me this year. He does 4 things, all of which resonate very strongly with the present day:
- Deals with misconceptions ('these people are not drunk'). Often that's the starting point, there is stuff that needs to be dealt with before people will even give the Christian message a hearing.
- Explains what is going on in terms people can understand ('this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel'). As fewer and fewer people are familiar with God or the work of the Spirit, we have to do more explaining, not less. 'Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary' is a dangerous nonsense, preaching the gospel always involves words, because if people are encountering God and seeing him at work they will not often realise what's going on. And most folk are a lot further back than the Pentecost crowd, who knew who the 'prophet Joel' was, the Holy Spirit is an utterly foreign language to them. I've had several recent experiences of seeing God touch the lives of non-Christians or people who are exploring the Christian faith, and actually pointing out to them that perhaps this is God they are experiencing. Otherwise it's just put down as a 'strange peaceful feeling' or a coincidence, or not noticed at all.
- Puts the focus on Jesus - 'God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ'. Peter could have stayed with the phenomena, the amazing gift of languages which enabled dozens of nations to hear Gods' praise in their own local dialect. That in itself would have been enough for most people. But he knows why this has happened - the whole point is that the church should bear witness to Jesus, and that the disciples should make disciples. So he makes it clear that this is all about Jesus.
- Explains how to respond - 'repent and be baptised'. No messing around, no Alpha course, no invitation to join us at our next family service. They are ready there and then if they're willing to say yes to Jesus. Do we have a clear explanation of who Jesus is, and how people can respond to him? I heard during the week of a small group of soon-to-be-vicars who were asked as part of their preparation how they would lead someone to faith in Christ. A depressingly small number had anything approaching a decent and immediate answer to the question. If people can't find the door then they can't get in.
Justin Welby said during the week that evangelism is "emphatically not just a clergy thing, it's a Christian thing." It's bad enough that many clergy can't go through the 4 stages above, it's that we're not equipping our church members to do it either. And here, like many preachers, I'm preaching to myself.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Diocesan Church Growth Strategies 6 - Mission Action Planning & Growth
Mike Chew on Mission Action Planning:
Experience in management at Philips electronics was very similar to his experience of the Diocese of Blackburn: a culture resistant to change, internal conflict, suspicion of top-down initiatives, intuitive rather than strategic leadership, falling performance, losing customers and best employees.
Change in both Philips and in the Diocese involved finding a common strategy process (not a strategy but a strategy process - Mission Action Planning is a process for discerning strategy, which looks different at each local level)
Experience in management at Philips electronics was very similar to his experience of the Diocese of Blackburn: a culture resistant to change, internal conflict, suspicion of top-down initiatives, intuitive rather than strategic leadership, falling performance, losing customers and best employees.
Change in both Philips and in the Diocese involved finding a common strategy process (not a strategy but a strategy process - Mission Action Planning is a process for discerning strategy, which looks different at each local level)
“the most important element of any strategy is actually
desire…if someone doesn’t want to do it, it’s not going to happen, or it’s
going to be done very poorly.” How do we generate the desire for change and growth within the church?
Training leaders and training them to train others "was probably the most powerful thing we did"
2 reviews, in 2007 (after 2 years) and 2010. On both occasions, showed that churches which had engaged most fully with MAPping had grown, those which didn't shrank.
Of the 20 Diocese registering growth 2010-11, 15 are using Mission Action Planning in some form (the national total was 19 at the time, so of the 23 which were flat or declined, only 4 were using MAPs)
Bob Jackson on the national stats:
'it's a little bit early to relax and rejoice' - there's a 100 year long downward trend before the latest minor levelling out. 2000-10 is better than the 1990s, but it's still all negative numbers.
CofE is looking at new membership measures: "church is not an attendance event, its an ongoing community" so things which measure belonging to the community, rather than attendance at events, are closer to the heart of what it is to be the church.
Trialled in Lichfield: usual Sunday attendance of 26,000, worshipping participants 47,000 - on the new measure the Diocese is 75% bigger than the Sunday snapshot would suggest.
Joiners and leavers data: parishes in Lichfield asked to register membership, numbers joining (and why) and leaving (and why). This showed a net increase of 1300-1400 per year, with 50% of the joiners (roughly 4,000 in total) having no previous church background. Also helped the diocese to see how many were joining/leaving through transfers, births & deaths etc. 'Much more useful, richer statistics.'
There are now 1800 registered Messy Churches as of Feb 2013, the number is almost doubling every year, and there are many unregistered Messy Churches too, Jackson estimated 2 for every registered congregation. Average attendance is 55. That's 100,000 people in the registered ones, but membership will be more than attendance because people don't come every week. So there could be up to 400,000 people involved across the UK.
Comment: it's a mixed picture. Part of the energy for growth is coming from a dread of decline, rather than a positive theology of growth as the normal business of the church. Will more positive stats and good news lull us back into complacency? Can we find an engine for growth and change that isn't the prospect of imminent death (not a great motivator) but that is more to do with the love of God and the gospel of Jesus?
On a personal level, this thing about being trained to train others well keeps coming up. I'm not, and I know I need to be.
Diocesan Church Growth Strategies 5 - James Lawrence on Leadership Development
James Lawrence from CPAS on leadership, growth and the Church of England. Excellent input, here's some direct quotes, summaries of key bits, and comments:
"leadership is never about the leaders, it's always about serving the King, and the priorities of the Kingdom."
Why is leadership development important?
- Jesus modelled it
- Research suggests it (clear link between good leadership and church growth)
- Situation requires it: we are in a mission setting, most clergy are not in a ministry they were ever trained for ("anyone trained more than 10 years ago is now finding the church is constantly asking then to do things they weren't trained for"), and there are the financial realities of decline too. However, it is mission which must drive the growth strategy, not clergy or finance.
What sort of leaders?
- licensed leaders in churches
- unlicensed leaders in churches (i.e. everybody! a lot of Fresh Expressions of Church are led by people with no formal training or accreditation)
- leaders in the scattered church - 7 days a week at work and in the community.
What CPAS has learned about leadership development:
- Needs to be creative "leaders are best developed in context, with others, over time, through multiple layers, by leaders" take any one of these factors out and you massively diminish the effectiveness of the development.
- Think theologically: "the Judeo-Christian tradition provides the longest continuous source of reflection on the question of leadership in the whole of human history" (Steve Croft).
We can pick up tips from secular business and leadership thinking, but our root thinking must be theological, there are many seams below ground which we can mine: e.g. that a good Christian leader is not someone with lots of followers, but someone who is following Jesus; that leadership is based on call & covenant, not contract; that vision comes from God, not from human preferred futures. "if we don't go down the mine we will end up with something that is less than Christian leadership."
- Start young:
a) Research on tweenagers shows that the single biggest reason they leave the church is that they weren't asked to contribute anything significant. (my kids both want to operate the powerpoints in church, and my 10 year old is learning how to construct a presentation). Are we teaching our children to consume or contribute? It's a lesson they'll learn for life.
b) Generation Y are a 'different breed' from Gen X, and need to be engaged in leadership in a different way. "it would be a terrible thing if the way we do leadership development only engages with people who are over 35."
CPAS now working with 23 dioceses on leadership development. Also tailoring a set of new resources:
- Lead on e-bulletin (well worth getting, sign up here)
- 'Growing Through a Vacancy' resource for churches currently being piloted and refined, aiming for autumn publication. "A lot of the things that help churches have good vacancies are not rocket science."
- Multi parish benefice work - pilot with 3 dioceses to get clergy learning together about this. Clergy simply aren't trained for this, most of it based on a 1 vicar 1 church 1 parish model (and a lot of ordinands come from this background) "this has to be one of the biggest issues the Church of England currently faces" (note to non-Anglicans: in trying to maintain the parish system and not close any churches, the CofE requires its decreasing numbers of clergy to take on ever higher numbers of churches, grouped in a 'benefice'. Near me in Dorset is one grouping of 13 churches.)
- Resource for Church Councils (PCCs) to think through their local leadership, due in 2014. "we want to change the culture of PCCs in the Church of England."
Lots to think about, I was particularly led to think about my own developing of other leaders. To do it properly, I actually need to spend more time with people as they are actually leading, rather than in 1-to-1s on a separate occasion. It's not just that we need to develop leaders, we need to develop leaders who can themselves develop leaders. "For the sake of many, invest in a few".
And how do we develop our clergy leaders? If development in context is important, the time they spend as curates will probably be more formative than the time in theological study. Do training vicars get ongoing coaching in how they develop their curates? Shouldn't the diocese be approaching growing, well-led parishes with a track record of leadership development to ask them to take on curates, rather than having a bidding process and sharing things out by churchmanship? It should be a basic minimum that every vicar in the CofE has been part of a growing church, and the only way to guarantee that is to make it a basic requirement of every curacy.
I'm more painfully aware than ever that I'm trying to do leadership development without very much idea of what I'm doing or how best to go about it........
"leadership is never about the leaders, it's always about serving the King, and the priorities of the Kingdom."
Why is leadership development important?
- Jesus modelled it
- Research suggests it (clear link between good leadership and church growth)
- Situation requires it: we are in a mission setting, most clergy are not in a ministry they were ever trained for ("anyone trained more than 10 years ago is now finding the church is constantly asking then to do things they weren't trained for"), and there are the financial realities of decline too. However, it is mission which must drive the growth strategy, not clergy or finance.
What sort of leaders?
- licensed leaders in churches
- unlicensed leaders in churches (i.e. everybody! a lot of Fresh Expressions of Church are led by people with no formal training or accreditation)
- leaders in the scattered church - 7 days a week at work and in the community.
What CPAS has learned about leadership development:
- Needs to be creative "leaders are best developed in context, with others, over time, through multiple layers, by leaders" take any one of these factors out and you massively diminish the effectiveness of the development.
- Think theologically: "the Judeo-Christian tradition provides the longest continuous source of reflection on the question of leadership in the whole of human history" (Steve Croft).
We can pick up tips from secular business and leadership thinking, but our root thinking must be theological, there are many seams below ground which we can mine: e.g. that a good Christian leader is not someone with lots of followers, but someone who is following Jesus; that leadership is based on call & covenant, not contract; that vision comes from God, not from human preferred futures. "if we don't go down the mine we will end up with something that is less than Christian leadership."
- Start young:
a) Research on tweenagers shows that the single biggest reason they leave the church is that they weren't asked to contribute anything significant. (my kids both want to operate the powerpoints in church, and my 10 year old is learning how to construct a presentation). Are we teaching our children to consume or contribute? It's a lesson they'll learn for life.
b) Generation Y are a 'different breed' from Gen X, and need to be engaged in leadership in a different way. "it would be a terrible thing if the way we do leadership development only engages with people who are over 35."
CPAS now working with 23 dioceses on leadership development. Also tailoring a set of new resources:
- Lead on e-bulletin (well worth getting, sign up here)
- 'Growing Through a Vacancy' resource for churches currently being piloted and refined, aiming for autumn publication. "A lot of the things that help churches have good vacancies are not rocket science."
- Multi parish benefice work - pilot with 3 dioceses to get clergy learning together about this. Clergy simply aren't trained for this, most of it based on a 1 vicar 1 church 1 parish model (and a lot of ordinands come from this background) "this has to be one of the biggest issues the Church of England currently faces" (note to non-Anglicans: in trying to maintain the parish system and not close any churches, the CofE requires its decreasing numbers of clergy to take on ever higher numbers of churches, grouped in a 'benefice'. Near me in Dorset is one grouping of 13 churches.)
- Resource for Church Councils (PCCs) to think through their local leadership, due in 2014. "we want to change the culture of PCCs in the Church of England."
Lots to think about, I was particularly led to think about my own developing of other leaders. To do it properly, I actually need to spend more time with people as they are actually leading, rather than in 1-to-1s on a separate occasion. It's not just that we need to develop leaders, we need to develop leaders who can themselves develop leaders. "For the sake of many, invest in a few".
And how do we develop our clergy leaders? If development in context is important, the time they spend as curates will probably be more formative than the time in theological study. Do training vicars get ongoing coaching in how they develop their curates? Shouldn't the diocese be approaching growing, well-led parishes with a track record of leadership development to ask them to take on curates, rather than having a bidding process and sharing things out by churchmanship? It should be a basic minimum that every vicar in the CofE has been part of a growing church, and the only way to guarantee that is to make it a basic requirement of every curacy.
I'm more painfully aware than ever that I'm trying to do leadership development without very much idea of what I'm doing or how best to go about it........
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Diocesan Church Growth Strategies 4: Case Study - Exeter
Part of the Church Growth Strategies conference is an invitation to participating dioceses to talk about what is and isn't going on in their county. Here's a bit about Exeter, which was really encouraging:
Very rural diocese, had first round of Diocesan strategy in 2003, trying to draw 500 parishes & 613 buildings (!) into 150 'mission communities' - clusters of local churches with a mission priority and plan.
2008 set a target of 25% growth in weekly attendance by 2013. There was quite a bit of harrumphing around the Diocese at the time. In the end growth 2008-12 has been 11%, which is short of the target (but, Exeter are the 2nd fastest growing diocese in recent years. Setting a target may have poked the diocesan culture with a sharp stick, but it seems to have been a catalyst for growth)
A Million for Mission: the diocese chose to give away £1m of its historic reserves to churches to use in mission. Grants from £1,000 - £100,000 were offered, in two waves over the course of 9 months in 2011-12. Nearly 200 bids came in, and 87 grants to mission projects were made. "there's nothing like throwing some money at Anglicans to arouse interest"
The projects are currently being reviewed, 12 months in. The first 26 have been looked at: these are engaging with 2,146 brand new people, as a direct result of the projects the money has enabled, that the church had no contact with before. Half of these are children (the majority of the projects were aiming at children or all ages) with roughly 500 youth and 500 adults. Already 60 have made a clear profession of faith (e.g. confirmation, a decision to follow Christ following a course) - considering the time that the process of coming to faith takes, that's a very encouraging start.
Giving money away from the Diocese was a "hugely impacting p.r. exercise". Parishes are so used to the diocese taking money away from them, the idea that they were being offered money and asked to come up with ideas was a real novelty, and communicated powerfully that the Diocese was on their side. It also got churches thinking about mission that had previously been asleep.
"being cautious with money is not something the Bible exhorts us to do" (Chair of Finance at Exeter. That's the spirit!)
The biggest impact is with families. The Diocese now has 63 Messy Churches.
What next? A new set of priorities from 2013:
- "create and develop pathways into deeper discipleship and sacramental membership of the church for all those reached through new missional initiatives" i.e. the whole diocese is now addressing the question of discipleship in fresh expressions of church. There's work being done to find the right resources for people on the fringe of faith, Alpha is too far away from the starting point for many.
- leadership training, including asking CPAS to run the leadership training programme (great call)
- developing ministry teams in the mission communities, this can't all be done and run by clergy.
The Million for Mission video is an excellent bit of diocesan communication, and an encouraging 6 minutes viewing!
use the diocesan church growth strategies tag below for other posts from the conference, including the ABofC on evangelism and renewal.
Very rural diocese, had first round of Diocesan strategy in 2003, trying to draw 500 parishes & 613 buildings (!) into 150 'mission communities' - clusters of local churches with a mission priority and plan.
2008 set a target of 25% growth in weekly attendance by 2013. There was quite a bit of harrumphing around the Diocese at the time. In the end growth 2008-12 has been 11%, which is short of the target (but, Exeter are the 2nd fastest growing diocese in recent years. Setting a target may have poked the diocesan culture with a sharp stick, but it seems to have been a catalyst for growth)
A Million for Mission: the diocese chose to give away £1m of its historic reserves to churches to use in mission. Grants from £1,000 - £100,000 were offered, in two waves over the course of 9 months in 2011-12. Nearly 200 bids came in, and 87 grants to mission projects were made. "there's nothing like throwing some money at Anglicans to arouse interest"
The projects are currently being reviewed, 12 months in. The first 26 have been looked at: these are engaging with 2,146 brand new people, as a direct result of the projects the money has enabled, that the church had no contact with before. Half of these are children (the majority of the projects were aiming at children or all ages) with roughly 500 youth and 500 adults. Already 60 have made a clear profession of faith (e.g. confirmation, a decision to follow Christ following a course) - considering the time that the process of coming to faith takes, that's a very encouraging start.
Giving money away from the Diocese was a "hugely impacting p.r. exercise". Parishes are so used to the diocese taking money away from them, the idea that they were being offered money and asked to come up with ideas was a real novelty, and communicated powerfully that the Diocese was on their side. It also got churches thinking about mission that had previously been asleep.
"being cautious with money is not something the Bible exhorts us to do" (Chair of Finance at Exeter. That's the spirit!)
The biggest impact is with families. The Diocese now has 63 Messy Churches.
What next? A new set of priorities from 2013:
- "create and develop pathways into deeper discipleship and sacramental membership of the church for all those reached through new missional initiatives" i.e. the whole diocese is now addressing the question of discipleship in fresh expressions of church. There's work being done to find the right resources for people on the fringe of faith, Alpha is too far away from the starting point for many.
- leadership training, including asking CPAS to run the leadership training programme (great call)
- developing ministry teams in the mission communities, this can't all be done and run by clergy.
The Million for Mission video is an excellent bit of diocesan communication, and an encouraging 6 minutes viewing!
use the diocesan church growth strategies tag below for other posts from the conference, including the ABofC on evangelism and renewal.
Diocesan church growth strategies 3: Archbishop Justin Welby
A few excerpts and quotes from Justin Welbys address on Weds night to the 'diocesan church growth strategies' conference I'm currently at. It was immensely encouraging to find that the new Archbishop had made space in his diary to be with a group of people looking at church growth in the CofE. Here's a few quotes to give a flavour, and a few paraphrases on some of the other key points. Hopefully you'll be encouraged.....:
“it’s incredibly exciting that in (the stated priorities of the church) is spiritual and numerical growth…that would never have happened a few years back, this is something quite new.”
Spiritual Renewal
“A growing church, an evangelistic church, starts with a church that is not focused on anything other than Jesus Christ … it is in the renewal of our spirituality, in seeing Christ and his love for us, that we overflow into the world.”
In his prayer pilgrimage before taking office, the ABC prayed in 6 cathedrals, expectations were that 3-400 might come to each event, the smallest turnout was 2,000, and in total 12,500 people joined in praying. During the week people came to faith "it was about trying to find a way to make it easy for people to encounter Jesus Christ, and focusing on him and not on us and on the church.”
“If (the people of God living in the discipline of regular prayer) doesn’t happen I don’t think a lot else is going to…if there’s going to be effective evangelism, there needs to be a renewal of spirituality.”
Overall it was a clear and simple message, powerfully stated - spiritual renewal focusing on Christ not ourselves, reconciliation (and the church has to get its internal house in order on this) and evangelism. Not much rocket science, plenty of hope and confidence, but courage patience and wisdom required.
On a personal level I was challenged too - can I clearly say what my top priorities are in ministry and leadership, and how I intend to go about them? (I think the answer is yes, but having to identify and clarify them is a helpful process)
see here for other reports from the Diocesan Church Growth Strategies conference. More later.
“it’s incredibly exciting that in (the stated priorities of the church) is spiritual and numerical growth…that would never have happened a few years back, this is something quite new.”
The Archbishops 3 priorities:
- prayer and renewal of the church's spiritual life
- reconciliation, within the church and as an agent in the world
- evangelism
Spiritual Renewal
“A growing church, an evangelistic church, starts with a church that is not focused on anything other than Jesus Christ … it is in the renewal of our spirituality, in seeing Christ and his love for us, that we overflow into the world.”
In his prayer pilgrimage before taking office, the ABC prayed in 6 cathedrals, expectations were that 3-400 might come to each event, the smallest turnout was 2,000, and in total 12,500 people joined in praying. During the week people came to faith "it was about trying to find a way to make it easy for people to encounter Jesus Christ, and focusing on him and not on us and on the church.”
“If (the people of God living in the discipline of regular prayer) doesn’t happen I don’t think a lot else is going to…if there’s going to be effective evangelism, there needs to be a renewal of spirituality.”
“In my own parish over 7 years we
grew a lot, and quite a lot of that started with funerals and weddings and
baptisms and just being human and just being reasonably friendly.” His message wasn't complex - if a church does the basics well (worship, welcome, pastoral care, being human and loving, being able to explain and share the faith) then it can grow.
Reconciliation
To be an agent of reconciliation, the church has to model it. He commented on the way that Anglicans currently speak to each other, both in correspondence (Lambeth Palace gets 15k+ letters a year) and in the blogosphere. Some of the language we use about each other is 'not just a slight failing', and (my words here) we really do need to get our act together and raise the standards we work to and the standards we expect from one another. The church needs to learn to disagree passionately but lovingly, and with great care for each other.
Is the church a safe place for the vulnerable? If we don't get safeguarding right, if we don't properly take care of the vulnerable, then that's not good enough "an ethical institution takes safety very seriously".
Rediscovering the Psalms and their overt highs and lows of lament and praise: “(in the Psalms) there’s
not a lot of ‘O God we’re glad things aren’t too bad at the moment and could be
worse, all things considered.’ " We need a diet of lament and celebration in worship that isn't driven by circumstance.
Evangelism
"Evangelism has to be a priority" and the CofE at present has a bit of work to do on this. Is it on the agendas of our meetings, synods, etc.? It must also be seen as normal for everyone “this
is emphatically not a clergy thing, this is a Christian thing.”
“Dealing with the really hard issues, solidly, is absolutely fundamental.” Churches need to help people with apologetics, dealing with the tough questions, and being able to explain their faith.
“There is no reason why not, in 15-20 years (that) the church could not be twice the size it is now, and more” but that will involved hard work. "A church that is growing will find that everyone is working pretty hard"
“Dealing with the really hard issues, solidly, is absolutely fundamental.” Churches need to help people with apologetics, dealing with the tough questions, and being able to explain their faith.
“There is no reason why not, in 15-20 years (that) the church could not be twice the size it is now, and more” but that will involved hard work. "A church that is growing will find that everyone is working pretty hard"
Overall it was a clear and simple message, powerfully stated - spiritual renewal focusing on Christ not ourselves, reconciliation (and the church has to get its internal house in order on this) and evangelism. Not much rocket science, plenty of hope and confidence, but courage patience and wisdom required.
On a personal level I was challenged too - can I clearly say what my top priorities are in ministry and leadership, and how I intend to go about them? (I think the answer is yes, but having to identify and clarify them is a helpful process)
see here for other reports from the Diocesan Church Growth Strategies conference. More later.
Diocesan Church Growth Strategies Quotes 2: George Lings on Fresh Expressions and Church Planting
Fresh Expressions research in 6 dioceses, with 6 others in process, gave us a blitz of stats and insights from the Church Army's George Lings in session 2. Here's some of the highlights and quotes:
"representative accurate information will serve the church better than national guesswork"
361 Fresh Expressions identified in the first 6 dioceses studied (Liverpool, Leicester, Derby, Norwich, Canterbury, Chelmsford), total attendance over 14,000. "in all cases the growth from the fresh expressions of church more than reverses he decline in these dioceses in the 5 years of reported figures 2006-10"
Lots of the fresh expressions of church (fxc for short from now on!) start small - about 3/4 begin with a team of 3-12 in size, and most have a membership in the 20-50 range. It's 'many small things, not a few big ones'. Lots of them grow quickly to 30-50 members, then plateau, there seems to be a natural size limit. Finding the natural size is important.
Over 50% of them meet on a Sunday, big variety in how many meet weekly, from 28% in 1 diocese to 65% in another
About 20 different types identified, Messy Church is the most popular, and most are aimed at all ages, very few really specialised ones (such as skateboarder or surfer church, as featured in the early fxc dvds)
The research excluded a lot of things which claimed to be fxc but werent, in some dioceses 60% were ruled out. Some were existing things rebranded as fxc. "a bicycle could be called a fresh expression of horse, but that wouldn't really help us"
There seems to be a clustering effect "what is veiwable starts to become doable", so if there are some fxc in a locality, other local churches are more likely to have a go.
There are a significant proportion of members who are either de-churched or non-churched. Only around 25% of the membership are Christians who were already church members, and many of these were from the initial set up teams. For every 1 church members sent to set up a fxc, 2.6 are added to the church. That's an amazing multiplier. For most of us 10% growth over 5 years would be great. Fxc are seeing 250% growth in the same timescale. "There is nothing else like this effect in the whole Church of England"
Fxc are working in a whole range of settings, from UPA to suburban to new town to rural. The majority of people who come are from the immediate area. More and more fxc are being set up to enable the church to reach into cultural diversity (e.g. different age groups) rather than to reach 'unreached' part of the parish or geographical areas: "parish works nearly perfectly with area, but it is not designed to recognise or respond to cultural features" but fxc can.
The vast majority of fxc are doing discipleship in one form or another - courses, mentoring, small groups etc. Those that don't tend to have a higher mortality rate.
About half take place in church buildings, though it varies - in Liverpool 60% occur in more neutral venues. It's all about what makes for most accesibility.
So far in the 6 dioceses, despite finding quite a few fxc which went across parish boundaries, 'we met no serious conflict over this issue'
The majority are lay led, and this is a growing trend. There are an increasing number which are led by lay people with no kind of formal training/accreditation at all (e.g. Reader, employed church staff). "we are entering the era of the lay-led church" (hooray!!)
Only 48% of the leaders are full time (most of these men!) 33% are leading fxc in their spare time.
That'll do for now. It was tremendously encouraging to hear, and raised a stack of questions as well - e.g. whether some of the questioning about the nature of church and mission that is put to fxc could be put to our inherited churches as well, and whether the level of experimentation and re-imagining of ministry that's going on can only happen in new forms of church.
But who would guess, from the headlines and the media narrative, that across the CofE 1 in 10 of our worshippers is a member of a newly planted church, and that over 10% of our churches have been started in the last 20 years? It's an interesting contrast with the rate of closure of church buildings in yesterdays church commissioners report: I question whether we could do more pruning in order to create space for more growth. Or maybe it's better to sidetrack clergy with the care and maintenance of ancient buildings and traditions and let the lay pioneers just get on with it?
Justin Welby next post, use the diocesan church growth strategies tag for others from the conference.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Diocesan Growth Strategies: Quotes 1
High Leigh has wifi, so here's a few quotes from the first session of the Diocesan Church Growth Strategies conference, from a very quotable diocesan missioner:
"sometimes people in the diocese, when you talk about church growth,
people respond rather dismissively, as if this was the triumph of shallow
marketing over deep theology and rootedness.” (that one got a few nods from our corner)
“I want to stop evangelism being a dirty word
in this diocese.”
“Making new disciples and growing them in the faith: anything
less is not only disobedience to the Lords command, but also guarantees that we
are working on a very short time-line.” (speaking in the context of a diocese that had seen a recent sharp decline in membership. i.e. the choice is mission or death, though we shouldn't need it put in such stark terms to concentrate our minds)
“Our (church) culture is probably more powerful than our strategy. Our
strategies can be powerful signifiers of cultural norms, but if our strategies
and our culture are not aligned, culture wins.” (i.e. you can have as many statements, plans and bits of paper as you want, but a memo is no match for hearts and minds.)
v encouraging to hear a couple of dioceses talking about cathedrals planting new congregations in neighbouring areas.
(Explanation: the conference has reps from various Dioceses in the south of the UK, hearing from different dioceses about their growth strategies, hearing from various specialists (George Lings from Church Army, James Lawrence from CPAS, Rachel Jordan the CofE's national mission specialist, and the ABofC himself later this evening) to learn from each other and work out best practice for dioceses who are seeking to encourage growing churches. So far so good.)
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
How is an Anglican Welcome different from a Methodist Welcome? Not a Lot.
It's both encouraging, and slightly discouraging, to find that both the CofE and the Methodist church now have a good set of resources to help church focus on becoming more welcoming: both having a welcoming building, and being a welcoming people.
The Anglican resource is the superb Everybody Welcome course, which has been around for a couple of years. We're using bits of it at our local Deanery Synod (gathering of local CofE church reps, once a term): using a DVD clip to highlight an issue, and sending everyone back to their churches with a couple of the checklists to fill in to help them review an aspect of the life of the church. Then at the next meeting, we'll hear back how they got on, what they're going to do about it, and highlight another issue.
The Methodists now have their own resource, First Impressions Count, which covers a lot of the same ground, using a lot of the same tools - video clips, checklists etc. It's a bit briefer and less in-depth, but looks good and covers a lot of helpful material. It may be easier to use 'off the peg', whereas Everybody Welcome needs more preparation, but also goes into more detail.
Whilst it's good to see both of these national churches recognising a need and filling it with a good resource, I wonder why 2 sets of people needed to do 2 separate projects producing 2 separate resources. There is so much common ground that it would surely have been easier to have adaptable versions of the same thing? We've managed it with Mission Shaped Ministry/Mission Shaped Intro...
The Anglican resource is the superb Everybody Welcome course, which has been around for a couple of years. We're using bits of it at our local Deanery Synod (gathering of local CofE church reps, once a term): using a DVD clip to highlight an issue, and sending everyone back to their churches with a couple of the checklists to fill in to help them review an aspect of the life of the church. Then at the next meeting, we'll hear back how they got on, what they're going to do about it, and highlight another issue.
The Methodists now have their own resource, First Impressions Count, which covers a lot of the same ground, using a lot of the same tools - video clips, checklists etc. It's a bit briefer and less in-depth, but looks good and covers a lot of helpful material. It may be easier to use 'off the peg', whereas Everybody Welcome needs more preparation, but also goes into more detail.
Whilst it's good to see both of these national churches recognising a need and filling it with a good resource, I wonder why 2 sets of people needed to do 2 separate projects producing 2 separate resources. There is so much common ground that it would surely have been easier to have adaptable versions of the same thing? We've managed it with Mission Shaped Ministry/Mission Shaped Intro...
Eurokey Cokey
A disharmony in several parts:
Clegg: You Put Your Whole Self In
Farage: You Put Your Whole Self Out
Cameron: In? Out? In? Out?
Ed: Um
Ed (the other one): That's not fair!
All: You do the Eurokey Cokey and you turn around, barely noticing that voters have lots more important things on their minds.
Cameron: That's what it's all about, well it is today anyway, well when I say today I mean 2017, we're on the side of people who frown hard and want to get re-elected. I mean, work hard and want to get on.
Conservative MPs: Hear hear hear hear hear hear sack him.
Clegg: You Put Your Whole Self In
Farage: You Put Your Whole Self Out
Cameron: In? Out? In? Out?
Ed: Um
Ed (the other one): That's not fair!
All: You do the Eurokey Cokey and you turn around, barely noticing that voters have lots more important things on their minds.
Cameron: That's what it's all about, well it is today anyway, well when I say today I mean 2017, we're on the side of people who frown hard and want to get re-elected. I mean, work hard and want to get on.
Conservative MPs: Hear hear hear hear hear hear sack him.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Mind and Soul
Somewhere there is bound to be a study on the optimum number of e-newsletters it's possible to receive, before the information overload means that you may as well not receive any at all.
At the weekend, an update arrived from Mind and Soul, a superb resource on Christian faith and mental health, bringing together articles, conference presentations, events, online directory etc., an excellent way to gather all the relevant material in one place. What stuck out was one vicars account of his trouble sleeping (which struck a chord) and this extremely helpful series by Adrian Warnock on mental health, including several posts on specific conditions (depression, schizophrenia etc.)
Though a few of us have been plugging away at this for a while now, there seems to be an extra level of interest among Christians in mental health issues, partly propelled by Katherine Welby's courageous admission of her own depression, and the encouraging levels of sympathy and support that resulted.
Next month the chaplain of our local mental health unit, plus one of the nurses, are coming to take a service on Christianity and mental health. It's probably the first time the subject has been overtly addressed in our church. I hope and pray that for those who suffer, it's encouraging and supportive, and for those who don't, it helps us understand and show informed Christian compassion.
Mental health, depression, and related issues probably affects more of us, and in more profound ways, than Europe, immigration, taxation and press regulation. It's something every church, and every Christian, should be clued up on. Not just to spare sufferers the dreadful experience of crass 'prayer ministry', but to aim much higher, that the church can be a place of understanding, support and acceptance.
At the weekend, an update arrived from Mind and Soul, a superb resource on Christian faith and mental health, bringing together articles, conference presentations, events, online directory etc., an excellent way to gather all the relevant material in one place. What stuck out was one vicars account of his trouble sleeping (which struck a chord) and this extremely helpful series by Adrian Warnock on mental health, including several posts on specific conditions (depression, schizophrenia etc.)
Though a few of us have been plugging away at this for a while now, there seems to be an extra level of interest among Christians in mental health issues, partly propelled by Katherine Welby's courageous admission of her own depression, and the encouraging levels of sympathy and support that resulted.
Next month the chaplain of our local mental health unit, plus one of the nurses, are coming to take a service on Christianity and mental health. It's probably the first time the subject has been overtly addressed in our church. I hope and pray that for those who suffer, it's encouraging and supportive, and for those who don't, it helps us understand and show informed Christian compassion.
Mental health, depression, and related issues probably affects more of us, and in more profound ways, than Europe, immigration, taxation and press regulation. It's something every church, and every Christian, should be clued up on. Not just to spare sufferers the dreadful experience of crass 'prayer ministry', but to aim much higher, that the church can be a place of understanding, support and acceptance.
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Punctuating Julian of Norwich: new insights revealed
Deeper research into various ancient mystical writings has revealed a new side to some of our favourite spiritual sayings.
Julian of Norwich, celebrated in various places yesterday, is famous for her visions and words of wisdom. Most quoted, perhaps, is "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
But so much, of course, depends on context. As Julian was illiterate herself, there is the chance that the saying has been wrongly transcribed, especially with regard to punctuation. Instead, Mother Julian is newly revealed as patron saint of the vague and indecisive generalisation, a perfect role model for Anglicans everywhere:
"All manner of things shall be, well.... all manner of things shall be, well...... and all manner of things shall be, well......"
Meanwhile parallel research elsewhere in Europe uncovers more ancient truths. "Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary" is commonly ascribed to St. Francis. In other words, St. Francis never said it, but an otherwise questionable idea gains specious credibility and profundity by being linked with a dead mystic who can't answer back.
Again, there is suspicion of both a transcription error, and later additions the original text. Source critics, working on the accepted academic premise that modern scholars have a deeper insight into the message of historic figures than the historic figures themselves, suggest that the original saying was:
"Preach the gospel at all times. Use words."
The addition of 'if necessary' and revision of punctuation looks like a later textual addition by universalists and people who've lost confidence in speaking about Jesus, dateable to the late 20th and early 21st century.
Julian of Norwich, celebrated in various places yesterday, is famous for her visions and words of wisdom. Most quoted, perhaps, is "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
But so much, of course, depends on context. As Julian was illiterate herself, there is the chance that the saying has been wrongly transcribed, especially with regard to punctuation. Instead, Mother Julian is newly revealed as patron saint of the vague and indecisive generalisation, a perfect role model for Anglicans everywhere:
"All manner of things shall be, well.... all manner of things shall be, well...... and all manner of things shall be, well......"
Meanwhile parallel research elsewhere in Europe uncovers more ancient truths. "Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary" is commonly ascribed to St. Francis. In other words, St. Francis never said it, but an otherwise questionable idea gains specious credibility and profundity by being linked with a dead mystic who can't answer back.
Again, there is suspicion of both a transcription error, and later additions the original text. Source critics, working on the accepted academic premise that modern scholars have a deeper insight into the message of historic figures than the historic figures themselves, suggest that the original saying was:
"Preach the gospel at all times. Use words."
The addition of 'if necessary' and revision of punctuation looks like a later textual addition by universalists and people who've lost confidence in speaking about Jesus, dateable to the late 20th and early 21st century.
Betting shops 'blight on our high streets'
The recent Future of Britain report asked consumers what would constitute their ideal high street. Top ranking were a bank, a chemist/health store, newsagents and family butcher/baker. Bottom of the list came a pawnbroker (3%) and a bookmaker (9%). To quote the report:
The fate of the high street is one of the issues that most concern the British public. The study found that 76% of adults are concerned about the future of our high streets and a significant proportion would back a limit on the number of pawnbrokers and betting shops allowed to open in local areas....the vast majority of British shoppers regard betting shops and pawnbrokers as a blight on our high streets.
You don't have to look very far for the evidence. A cafe on our estate sadly had to close earlier this year due to lack of trade. The new owners of the unit are
the sign went up a couple of weeks ago, and our first local bookies is opening soon. Earlier this week the outlet right next door, a hairdresser, announced it was closing down. People have already noted that having a bookies next door would put people off using the place. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes harder to let the unit as well. Sadly the bookies seems to outlast better shops - in a neighbouring estate the current line-up is a fish and chip shop, charity shop, bookies and tattoo parlour. Not so long ago we had a post office and fruit and veg shop.
The betting industry works hard to keep politicians onside, and problem gambling is on the rise, despite the recession (or maybe because of it - the industry seems to target poorer areas). Research suggests that if you increase access to gambling, that has a knock-on increase on problem gambling. But we can't just blame other people, local communities have to use the shops they want to keep: ASDA will keep trundling on, but the small business down the road depends on local people to use it. And if we don't, people like Ladbrokes will move in.
The fate of the high street is one of the issues that most concern the British public. The study found that 76% of adults are concerned about the future of our high streets and a significant proportion would back a limit on the number of pawnbrokers and betting shops allowed to open in local areas....the vast majority of British shoppers regard betting shops and pawnbrokers as a blight on our high streets.
You don't have to look very far for the evidence. A cafe on our estate sadly had to close earlier this year due to lack of trade. The new owners of the unit are
the sign went up a couple of weeks ago, and our first local bookies is opening soon. Earlier this week the outlet right next door, a hairdresser, announced it was closing down. People have already noted that having a bookies next door would put people off using the place. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes harder to let the unit as well. Sadly the bookies seems to outlast better shops - in a neighbouring estate the current line-up is a fish and chip shop, charity shop, bookies and tattoo parlour. Not so long ago we had a post office and fruit and veg shop.
The betting industry works hard to keep politicians onside, and problem gambling is on the rise, despite the recession (or maybe because of it - the industry seems to target poorer areas). Research suggests that if you increase access to gambling, that has a knock-on increase on problem gambling. But we can't just blame other people, local communities have to use the shops they want to keep: ASDA will keep trundling on, but the small business down the road depends on local people to use it. And if we don't, people like Ladbrokes will move in.
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Church of England: Not Levelling Out
If you don't like stats and bad news, look away now.
Yesterday the Church of England published its annual attendance stats for 2011, there were some encouraging signs, though as British Religion in Numbers points out, there were plenty pointing the opposite way too. The headline was that average weekly attendance was broadly flat 2010-11, some indicators (baptisms, Christmas) were pointing upwards, and the Church of England was actually doing ok, thankyou.
Wanting to compare with more than one years data, I used the very handy little Excel sheet that the CofE have made available with all the 2001-10 data. (The other statistical upside of comparing over more than one year is that the 2010 stats appear to have been revised downwards between their first publication last year, and their use as a point of reference this year. If you use the figure currently on the Excel sheet, we're actually looking at a 2.2% decline 2010-11, rather than the reported 0.3% decline, so I'm seeking clarification.)
Here's two tables on Adult Average Weekly Attendance, i.e. the average number of adults attending CofE services across a 7 day week. Firstly, comparing 2011 with 2008. As you can see, the 'levelling out' is fairly minimal even in the short time frame of 3 years:
3 Dioceses are growing, 4 are broadly flat, and the other 37 are shrinking. This is bad.
And here's the same data compared over 10 years, with the change 2001-11
This is very nearly as gruesome as the table in Bob Jacksons 'Hope for the Church' looking at Diocesan attendance change in the 1990s. The stats on children and youth are slightly better than this across both 3 and 10 year comparisons, but still heading downwards in most places, and in the Church of England as a whole.
I'm going to a conference organised by Jackson next week, on what makes for an effective Diocesan growth strategies. By the look of the above, we need them, and few more so than my own diocese.
So again BOILING FROG ALERT TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Each year a small decline looks 'manageable'.
But if you take a longer view, we cannot sustain (and in many places we are not sustaining) a model of church, leadership, parochial system, clergy, ordination, sacraments, mission etc. which worked fairly well for several centuries but works no longer.
It may be that this is just the baseline that Justin Welby needs to bring about some radical changes, but the more we console ourselves with the few rising stats, the more we will miss the bigger reality, and the less motivated we will be to do anything about it. The Guardian's Andrew Brown seems to get this better than many Anglicans.
Update Weds lunchtime: the effect of the downwards revision of the 2010 stats means the following:
1. Reported all-age weekly attendance, using original 2010 figures:
2009 1,130,580
2010 1,116,080 (-1.3%)
2011 1,091,484 (-2.2%) i.e. an accelerated rate of decline, year on year.
2. Reported all-age weekly attendance, using revised 2010 figures as issued yesterday:
2009 1,130 580
2010 1,094,600 (-3.2%)
2011 1,091,484 (-0.3%)
Revising the 2010 figures downwards means that decline 2009-10 was under-reported, and I'm not aware of any reference to this in the data. There are some genuine oddities in the original 2010 figures (e.g. a big jump in Canterbury attendance, which may explain the drop in 2011 reported yesterday), so there probably was some ironing out to do, but that's quite a significant bit of ironing.
Update May 16th: I've spoken to someone involved with the statistics, and yes there's been some double checking of the 2010 stats and ironing out of anomalies (e.g. double counting of some congregations, with Fresh expressions both recorded in the stats of the parish church, and on their own separate stats form). More effort is going in to getting the stats accurate, (and a new membership/joiners/leavers measure is being trialled in a couple of Dioceses), but the revision downwards wasn't reported. We'll simply have to wait and see whether the same level of revision hits the 2011 figures in 12 months time.
Yesterday the Church of England published its annual attendance stats for 2011, there were some encouraging signs, though as British Religion in Numbers points out, there were plenty pointing the opposite way too. The headline was that average weekly attendance was broadly flat 2010-11, some indicators (baptisms, Christmas) were pointing upwards, and the Church of England was actually doing ok, thankyou.
Wanting to compare with more than one years data, I used the very handy little Excel sheet that the CofE have made available with all the 2001-10 data. (The other statistical upside of comparing over more than one year is that the 2010 stats appear to have been revised downwards between their first publication last year, and their use as a point of reference this year. If you use the figure currently on the Excel sheet, we're actually looking at a 2.2% decline 2010-11, rather than the reported 0.3% decline, so I'm seeking clarification.)
Here's two tables on Adult Average Weekly Attendance, i.e. the average number of adults attending CofE services across a 7 day week. Firstly, comparing 2011 with 2008. As you can see, the 'levelling out' is fairly minimal even in the short time frame of 3 years:
Adults a.w.a change
|
3 yr (08-11)
|
Lichfield
|
-5.1%
|
Bristol
|
9.0%
|
Carlisle
|
-5.2%
|
Exeter
|
5.2%
|
Salisbury
|
-5.5%
|
Newcastle
|
1.3%
|
York
|
-5.5%
|
Norwich
|
0.7%
|
Guildford
|
-5.7%
|
Coventry
|
0.6%
|
Chester
|
-5.8%
|
London
|
-0.4%
|
Rochester
|
-5.9%
|
Derby
|
-0.7%
|
Wakefield
|
-6.0%
|
Sheffield
|
-1.3%
|
Chichester
|
-6.0%
|
Leicester
|
-1.3%
|
Portsmouth
|
-6.7%
|
Gloucester
|
-1.5%
|
Ely
|
-6.8%
|
Oxford
|
-1.5%
|
Europe
|
-6.8%
|
Hereford
|
-1.7%
|
St. Albans
|
-7.5%
|
Winchester
|
-2.0%
|
Manchester
|
-8.3%
|
Chelmsford
|
-2.7%
|
Birmingham
|
-9.7%
|
Ripon & Leeds
|
-3.1%
|
Sodor & Man
|
-10.8%
|
Southwell & Nottingham
|
-3.4%
|
Southwark
|
-11.0%
|
Liverpool
|
-3.6%
|
Truro
|
-11.1%
|
Durham
|
-3.7%
|
Bath & Wells
|
-11.4%
|
Peterborough
|
-3.8%
|
Bradford
|
-13.6%
|
St. Edms & Ipswich
|
-3.9%
|
Canterbury
|
-13.7%
|
Total Church of England
|
-4.9%
|
Blackburn
|
-14.3%
|
Worcester
|
-4.9%
|
Lincoln
|
-14.9%
|
3 Dioceses are growing, 4 are broadly flat, and the other 37 are shrinking. This is bad.
And here's the same data compared over 10 years, with the change 2001-11
Adults a.w.a
|
10 yr (01-11)
|
St. Albans
|
-10.6%
|
London
|
8.5%
|
Rochester
|
-10.8%
|
Hereford
|
0.2%
|
Bristol
|
-11.0%
|
Europe
|
-1.3%
|
Guildford
|
-11.1%
|
Newcastle
|
-3.9%
|
Peterborough
|
-12.2%
|
Ely
|
-3.9%
|
Wakefield
|
-12.9%
|
Manchester
|
-4.4%
|
Norwich
|
-13.9%
|
Ripon & Leeds
|
-5.3%
|
St. Edms & Ipswich
|
-13.9%
|
Coventry
|
-5.3%
|
Lichfield
|
-14.6%
|
Southwark
|
-5.4%
|
Birmingham
|
-15.7%
|
Derby
|
-5.8%
|
Chester
|
-16.0%
|
Gloucester
|
-6.1%
|
Salisbury
|
-16.0%
|
Exeter
|
-6.1%
|
Bath & Wells
|
-16.8%
|
York
|
-7.7%
|
Lincoln
|
-17.3%
|
Winchester
|
-8.0%
|
Sheffield
|
-17.5%
|
Chelmsford
|
-8.0%
|
Liverpool
|
-18.3%
|
Leicester
|
-8.3%
|
Canterbury
|
-18.5%
|
Oxford
|
-8.6%
|
Sodor & Man
|
-19.5%
|
Carlisle
|
-8.7%
|
Portsmouth
|
-19.8%
|
Chichester
|
-9.2%
|
Worcester
|
-19.8%
|
Southwell &Nottingham
|
-9.4%
|
Bradford
|
-22.0%
|
Total Church of England
|
-10.4%
|
Truro
|
-22.6%
|
Durham
|
-10.6%
|
Blackburn
|
-23.8%
|
This is very nearly as gruesome as the table in Bob Jacksons 'Hope for the Church' looking at Diocesan attendance change in the 1990s. The stats on children and youth are slightly better than this across both 3 and 10 year comparisons, but still heading downwards in most places, and in the Church of England as a whole.
I'm going to a conference organised by Jackson next week, on what makes for an effective Diocesan growth strategies. By the look of the above, we need them, and few more so than my own diocese.
So again BOILING FROG ALERT TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Each year a small decline looks 'manageable'.
But if you take a longer view, we cannot sustain (and in many places we are not sustaining) a model of church, leadership, parochial system, clergy, ordination, sacraments, mission etc. which worked fairly well for several centuries but works no longer.
It may be that this is just the baseline that Justin Welby needs to bring about some radical changes, but the more we console ourselves with the few rising stats, the more we will miss the bigger reality, and the less motivated we will be to do anything about it. The Guardian's Andrew Brown seems to get this better than many Anglicans.
Update Weds lunchtime: the effect of the downwards revision of the 2010 stats means the following:
1. Reported all-age weekly attendance, using original 2010 figures:
2009 1,130,580
2010 1,116,080 (-1.3%)
2011 1,091,484 (-2.2%) i.e. an accelerated rate of decline, year on year.
2. Reported all-age weekly attendance, using revised 2010 figures as issued yesterday:
2009 1,130 580
2010 1,094,600 (-3.2%)
2011 1,091,484 (-0.3%)
Revising the 2010 figures downwards means that decline 2009-10 was under-reported, and I'm not aware of any reference to this in the data. There are some genuine oddities in the original 2010 figures (e.g. a big jump in Canterbury attendance, which may explain the drop in 2011 reported yesterday), so there probably was some ironing out to do, but that's quite a significant bit of ironing.
Update May 16th: I've spoken to someone involved with the statistics, and yes there's been some double checking of the 2010 stats and ironing out of anomalies (e.g. double counting of some congregations, with Fresh expressions both recorded in the stats of the parish church, and on their own separate stats form). More effort is going in to getting the stats accurate, (and a new membership/joiners/leavers measure is being trialled in a couple of Dioceses), but the revision downwards wasn't reported. We'll simply have to wait and see whether the same level of revision hits the 2011 figures in 12 months time.
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