'Setting God's People Free' - ministry on the other 6 days of the week, and who does it

A great opportunity lies before us. It is the same opportunity that has presented itself to the Church in every decade for the last 100 years. It is an opportunity that arguably has not been fully grasped since the days of Wesley. 

Will we determine to empower, liberate and disciple the 98% of the Church of England who are not ordained and therefore set them free for fruitful, faithful mission and ministry, influence, leadership and, most importantly, vibrant relationship with Jesus in all of life? And will we do so not only in church-based ministry on a Sunday but in work and school, in gym and shop, in field and factory, Monday to Saturday?

A new report 'Setting God's People Free', has just been published by the CofE in advance of next months General Synod. It tackles head on the need to equip all the members of the church, not just clergy, for full-time ministry:

According to a survey of 2859 respondents conducted in 2009 (82% had been Christians for over 10 years, 67% in some kind of leadership role in the Church, 1204 were Anglicans):
- 59% of those in working age said that the most challenging context to be a disciple of Christ was the workplace. 
- 62% of those in full-time paid employment experienced little, not much, or no help/preparation from the life and ministries of church to deal with the issues they faced at work.
-  47% said they did not have a story to tell about how God has worked in their lives (Note 82% had been Christians for over 10 years). 
-  59% (of Anglicans surveyed) said that their church does not equip people well for life in today’s world at home, work, or elsewhere.

This is shocking, but at last its being noticed and taken seriously by the whole church, not just by a few voices in the wilderness like the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, whose insights are a key part of this report.

A couple of stories from the report, to illustrate the kind of ground it covers:
“I teach Sunday school 45 minutes a week and they haul me up to the front of the church to pray for me. I teach in a school 45 hours a week and the church has never prayed for me.”- Comment from a teacher

Curt is a policeman in his 40s. At an evening for 15 Christian men they are all asked, “What are you good at in the Lord at work?” No one says anything – Southern reserve perhaps. So the leader asks them to 14 write something down on a post-it note. “Well, now you have done that, you might as well read it out.” Curt goes first. He speaks hesitantly, “I work at No 10 as part of the Diplomatic Protection Group. It’s a pretty macho team.” The people in the room don’t find it hard to imagine why. These are men and women wearing Kevlar and toting submachine guns and Glock pistols, people who are prepared to shoot to kill and put their lives on the line for others. Curt continues, “Over the years there’s been quite a bit of conflict in the team but I’ve found I’m quite good at bringing people back together.” That’s all he says. And he looks a bit embarrassed and looks down at the coffee table. And then someone says, “You’ve got a ministry of reconciliation.” And Curt breaks into a smile the width of the Thames. And then someone else says, “You’re a peacemaker”. Blessed are the peacemakers. Here’s a Christian teaching people to forgive one another, teaching other police the ways of Jesus at No 10 Downing Street. But Curt hadn’t been able to read his own life through the lens of the Biblical and so he hadn’t realised how God had been working through him. Lay people don’t just need theological resources to grasp the range of ways they can be fruitful for Christ in the world, they need the theological imagination to see the ways they already have been. 

I've not managed to read it yet in full, but its excellent stuff if the CofE can actually get to grips with it. With the track record of the current leadership, I have no doubt it will - one key culture change in the CofE is that it no longer thinks that you change things by producing a report. Releasing all Gods people in ministry, all the time, will mean a big change in the way that clergy and the employed leadership of the church operate, what we prioritise, how we preach, and how we see ministry. Good. Bring it on.

Ofsted Sunday School Raids: Disappointing News

Schools inspectors will not be allowed to raid Sunday schools, Scouts' meetings or Christian summer camps, David Cameron has promised MPs. (source)

Awww, what a shame. Imagine the frisson it would add to the average Sunday school if it had the chance of being raided at any moment by besuited people with clipboards. 

Jesus radicalised his disciples: they left everything to follow him, and 10 out of the 12 died as a martyr, one other died in exile, because of Jesus. So I hope any inspector would detect signs of radicalisation, and be able to recognise that being radical comes in more than 1 form. 

A New 'Nooma' ? - Great meditation on Thankfulness

Once upon a time lots of people got very excited about Rob Bells 'Nooma' DVDs, at the time a new and clever way to communicate. They're still worth a look:


There are now Christian DVDs everywhere, but these have grabbed me recently. A local church is doing a series on '7 life-changing habits', here's the clip for 'Thankfulness', and each theme comes with an accompanying pdf for personal or small group use.



"we are already the richest and most well-developed generation in history, and yet we are also the most in debt, medicated, depressed, overweight, stressed-out, addicted generation in history."

Knowing Your Helicopters

Westland helicopters is by far the biggest employer in Yeovil, over 3000 work there, plus hundreds at associated businesses in the area. Last week they had a celebration to mark 100 years on the site, including fly-pasts by some rare aeroplanes.

One of our church, who works there, said how great it was to hear the sound of the engine of the rare planes. I was thrown, my assumption was that the sight would be the striking thing, but for him it was the sound. Many people locally can tell by the engine sound which helicopter or plane is flying overhead. He explained that when you hear the sound several times a day, over time it becomes pretty easy to identify which is which.

Later the same morning, I was chatting to another church member, about God's guidance, and how we work out what God is saying. How do we discern the sound of God's voice from the sound of the crowd, our own wishful thinking, or the received wisdom of our church? The experts on our doorstep at Westlands would say that the discernment comes from regular exposure. The more we read and recieve of scripture and the words of Jesus, the easier it will be to identify the whirring downdraft of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.

Developing Discipleship in the CofE: more words you never thought you'd read

"...We need set our reflection on discipleship at the heart of all we do.

The call to grow the Church is a call to make disciples, who will live out their faith in the whole of their lives.

The call to serve the common good is a call to every Christian disciple to make a difference in their home, in their workplace, in their wider community.

The call to re-imagine ministry needs to begin with the call to every Christian to live out their baptism, their lifelong commitment to Christ.

from Steven Crofts introduction to the new Developing Discipleship report, released as part of a batch of materials trailed yesterday by the 2 Archbishops, in their drive to renew the CofE as a community of missionary disciples. In what I think is a first, there's even an official comments thread on the report, it'll be interesting to see how that develops. 

The report is part of a process begun a couple of years back to look at the key priorities of the Church of England, and to explore how the CofE can make them a reality. It's designed as an introductory paper to a General Synod debate on discipleship, and a longer process of discussion and development over the coming years. The report is only 11 pages long, and quite a bit of it would make good material for small group study in the average church.

DD puts discipleship at the heart of the CofE Together as the Church we are the Body of Christ, a community of missionary disciples. This missionary discipleship is the foundation of every Christian’s vocation to work and service. Nurturing this sense of discipleship across the Church is therefore vital as the Church of England seeks to serve the common good through the life and service of every member. Nurturing discipleship is the very essence of promoting spiritual and numerical growth. Nurturing discipleship lies at the heart of re-imagining both lay and ordained ministry. 

the three bits in bold (my doing) are the three named priorities of the national CofE.

As with yesterday, it's worth taking a moment to think about how revolutionary this all is. A few years ago I asked around my Diocese, and various CofE bodies, to see if there were local churches like mine which had designed their teaching and adult learning around the agenda of 'making disciples'. It seemed a bit of a no-brainer, after all, Jesus devotes a large chunk of his time to it, and it's at the heart of his parting instructions to the infant church. I think I found one church that was wrestling with this. Whole-life discipleship goes way beyond imbibing the odd teaching series, it covers character, calling, gifts, skills, attitudes and experiences, and it's shaped by teaching, life, prayer, spiritual disciplines, training, learning and practicing new skills (e.g. how to listen well, how to pray for someone, how to share your faith), life in community, formal and informal learning experiences and the chance to reflect on them, mentoring, and being thrown in at the deep end. Traditionally the CofE has relied mainly on repeated liturgy/worship, and monologue sermons following a repeated rolling cycle of readings to do the job. It takes only a brief glance at the gospels to work out that this isn't a strategy based on the example of Jesus.

The report notes that we lack a 'coherent and concisely stated common understanding of discipleship'. (David Cooke could have told you that) Lacking this, we have reduced Christian ministry to the life of the church, and have lost the vision of discipleship as a 24/7/365 lifestyle as much to do with work as with worship.  there has been some reflection on licensed lay ministry but very little on the service offered by the majority of Christians for the majority of time through their discipleship. If we are not careful, the language of discipleship contracts to cover only those who have a recognised ministry.

The paper helpfully suggests some practical ways forward:

• 'Ten Marks' which Dioceses are encouraged to adopt and promote, which can be applied at congregational as well as Diocesan level (see below)
• new theological work on discipleship: long overdue, apart from LICC and Graham Cray, I can't think of many people writing in depth about this at the moment for the UK context. (But it has to be practical too: theology is great, but we also need to engage with how people's lives, characters, attitudes and habits are shaped, and how that can best be done within local Christian community)
• a new catechism - a resource for developing adult disciples across the church. 

Here are the '10 marks' in brief, a fuller version is towards the back of the Developing Discipleship paper:

1. …A lifelong journey of discipleship and growth in Christian maturity is supported and

modelled by all.

2. …The importance of discipleship in daily life is affirmed.

3. …Gatherings for worship celebrate the discipleship of all the baptised.

4. …Disciples are equipped to help others to become followers of Jesus.

5. ..…Diocesan work on vocations is based on the principle that all the baptised are called

into God’s service.

6. …Good practice in facilitating learning and formation is developed.

7. ..…Gifts of leadership are recognised and developed among all the baptised. 

8. …Innovation and experiment are encouraged in mission, ministry and discipleship.

9. …Specific diocesan policies and plans promote discipleship development

10. …Diocesan resources are committed to the development of the whole people of God.

On the face of it, there's nothing controversial here, but just imagine what it would look like if this was the common everyday practice of your local church. 

These are exactly the right questions for the Church of England to be wrestling with. You wait 500 years for something exciting to happen in the Church of England, then it all comes along at once.... 

update Thinking Anglicans is keeping a rolling blog of the discussion papers as they are released. 

Bacon and Eggs

There was a story told (probably apocryphal) in seminary about how crusaders, as they were preparing for battle, would be baptized with their sword hand out of the water.  The soldiers would march through the water, with the water washing over thier heads, but their hands held high out of of the water.  They didn’t want to baptize the hand that would be used to kill their enemy.   Everything else had been consecrated and set apart for God, but their hand was their own, to do with as they please. (source)

I'm not sure where I first heard this one, but the image of holding things 'out of the water' is a powerful one. It's probably easier for other people to spot what's in your upraised hand, but we don't always welcome that kind of feedback. How fully immersed do we want to get?

I heard it put in another way in this book by Gavin Calver: When it comes to a cooked breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.

Mike Pilavachi speaks of a young man he was dealing with, who split up with his long-term girlfriend because there might have been someone better out there. He makes the comment that whilst older people give a sharp intake of breath at this point, folk in their 20s and 30s often shrug and say 'fair enough'. In a commercial culture which is constantly offering 'upgrades' to the technology we have come to depend on, commitment to a particular make & model is actually a hindrance to getting the best. Consumerism erodes a sense that commitment is a virtue.

The crusaders story reminds us that we're not the first ones to struggle with the notion of 100% commitment. But how do we talk about a discipleship which costs everything in a culture of chickens?

Andy Hawthorne/Stephen Nolan interview: an inspiring 26 minutes of radio

If you've not heard Stephen Nolans recent 5 Live interview with Andy Hawthorne of the Message trust, then listen to it here. Brilliant. Nolan isn't a Christian by any definition, but he's clearly struck by both Andy's story, and who he is:

"There's something thats kind of drawing me to the expression on your face, you've got this radiance about you, this exuberance, this happiness about you, I'm just intrigued as to what this is all about..."

"Even if (you're deluding yourself) you're getting a contentment and joy that non-believers don't have."

"I've desperately wanted to believe in God for a very long time, but I don't want to bluff myself."

Hawthorne is completely up front about his faith, and I would love to be 30 years into ministry and still have the passion and enthusiasm that he's got.

Neil Baldwins 'Marvellous' faith

“Every morning I get up and pray. Prayer is the best gift you can have.” I ask him whether his faith comes through in the documentary and he smiles. “My friends who came along to the premiere said ‘you’ve put God in it first’ – and that’s it how should be. Sometimes Christianity is not portrayed very well. If you’ve got no Lord, you are lost. God is always working in me, and through all the people that I’ve met.“

Really enjoyed 'Marvellous' the other night, the true story of Neil Baldwin, which showed his great faith as well as a brilliant sense of fun and positivity. Read the rest of this interview with the Diocese of Lichfield here. 

Church Leaders: The Legacy Thing

I'm enjoying, and being challenged by, Tim Chesters 'Unreached: Growing Churches in Working Class and Deprived Areas'. It's packed with good insights - e.g. on the contrasts between middle and working class culture (e.g. on reliability - middle class meaning = chronologically reliable, turning up on time etc., working class = emotionally reliable, there for you when you need them).

Here's a bit that's got me chewing: bits in brackets are my paraphrases. And it applies in any culture.

"What is church growth? According to the parable of the sower (where 3/4 of the seed is wasted) it's not about numbers, but about the fruit of changed lives...the size of our Sunday congregagtion can all too easily become the focus and measure of how we feel about ourselves. (But) the goal is not numbers, but heart change. 

This brings a very different focus to the ministry. We don't need to feel insecure about leading a small church. Jesus has a small 'church' who all ran away when the crunch came! It means we can be bold in challenging unbelief, because we're not worried about people not attending....It means we can and will rely on God...when we aim for heart change, we are forced to realise it is not under our control (and therefore we pray more)

It means we leave a legacy. A church in our areas fell apart when the pastor left. The pastor had been caring, but had not taught the gospel or confronted sin. When he left, there was nothing. I want to leave behind a legacy of changed lives."

All too often we leave a legacy of changed premises (according to the wife of one theological college head 'show me a vicar who has been in post 7 years and I'll show you a building project'. Guilty m'lady) but not changed lives. The former is easier than the latter. We find ourselves encouraging deeper involvement in the church, rather than deeper growth in discipleship.

I want to leave behind a legacy of changed lives, for Jesus. Chester is reminding me why I do all this in the first place, and making me wonder about whether I'm aiming for that legacy, or something else.

A theology of terrible things

"In the course of this month I’ve lost most of the use of my right hand because of a stroke, together with something akin to neuralgia, also connected with the stroke, which causes a continual, throbbing headache. It’s a long haul, and the future is uncertain, but medication and hard work are already beginning to show results. The thing I want to make clear, though, is that, however shitty things get, they will never be a measure of God’s love for me or those who are close to me.  Terrible things happen to Christians. They die in car crashes. They become paralysed. Businesses fail. Dreams plummet. Nightmares become reality. Our leader was crucified. If we can’t beef up our puny little theology by embracing and incorporating these inescapable facts we might as well give up our ridiculous faith and join the Ember Day Bryanites. They do coffee and biscuits. They’ll do.

            Not for me. I’m in for the long haul..."

From Adrian Plass's website

Whatever

"All our tasks certainly matter to God. on that, the Bible is startlingly clear: 'whatever you do', Paul writes, 'work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.' (Col 3:23-24)

Whatever you do. Not some things you do, not 47% of the things you do, not the things you do in the church, but whatever you do. And God would hardly ask us to do whatever we do with all our hearts, if it were not of some significance to him, even if we ourselves may not think it significant."
(Mark Greene 'Fruitfulness on the Frontline')

"It is easy to quote Jesus famous saying 'My kingdom is not of this world', but what John actually wrote is 'my kingdom is not from this world.' (John 18:36), with the clear implication that, although derived from elsewhere, Jesus kingdom was definitely for this world." (Tom Wright, Acts for Everyone)

Came across both of these in the last 24 hours, they seemed to belong together.

Really enjoying the Mark Greene book, very good accompanying DVD, superb resource for everyday discipleship.

The Complaints Queue

It occurred to me during a talk I heard to day at (ironically) the Bishops Palace in Wells, that I do far too much moaning and not enough thanking. Early candidate for a Lent discipline this year is to spend 40 days being grateful, rather than adding to the complaints queue.

Or I may just settle for quitting alcohol, social media, cake and unhealthy snacks, and take up running on a daily basis. It'll probably be easier.

Thankyou to David Wells for an inspiring and challenging day today.

"If my sense of what I should do doesn't fit with the Bible, then I'm wrong" ABofC

Excellent snippet of the ABofC on God's guidance, and how you navigate your way when lots of people are trying to tell you what they think God wants you to do. Really helpful stuff on guidance and decision making of any sort. Ht Vic the Vicar.

And that's an excellent looking clergy shirt, if anyone sees them on sale somewhere, let me know.

General Synod on 'The Priority of Evangelism and Making New Disciples'. No, you're not dreaming.

Following this afternoons debate on 'Intentional Evangelism' (which prompted some wag on Twitter to ask what 'Unintentional Evangelism' might look like), the CofE General Synod passed this motion:

'That this Synod in the light of the priority of evangelism and making new disciples:

(a) support the formation of an Archbishops' Task Group on Evangelism with the terms of reference and timetable as set out in GS 1917 and urge that its members include:

(i)  staff of Anglican home mission agencies with expertise in helping local churches engage in effective evangelism and disciple-making, and

(ii)  those with a proven record in those disciplines at local level".'

(b) call upon the Task Group to make its first priority a new call to prayer;

(c) commend to the Task Group an initial programme for its work around the seven disciplines of evangelisation as set out in the same paper; and

(d) call upon every diocesan and deanery synod and every PCC to spend the bulk of one meeting annually and some part of every meeting focusing on sharing experiences and initiatives for making new disciples.'

(e) urge every local church in 2014 prayerfully to try tat least one new way, appropriate to their local context, of seeking to make new disciples of Jesus Christ.".'

Bits in italics are amendments added during the debate. 

One concern already voiced is that 'top-down' initiatives from the CofE rarely work, and that encouraging evangelism and disciple-making needs to happen from the bottom up. What the top can provide is accountability, encouragement, permission, and reshaping of structures. Sections d and e won't amount to very much unless bishops, archdeacons, clergy and church members all pick them up and run with them. But if they become standard practice, then they could make a huge difference. 

I'm encouraged by the fact that both Archbishops have made this a priority, both in Synod agenda terms, and in their own commitment to it - up to 6 meetings a year on the task group for up to 5 years. This is the kind of long-term leadership we need to bring about a change of culture and practices. It can't happen soon enough.

For snippets from the main background paper to this debate, have a look here.

And for a penetrating insight into Synod processes, try this. Really, try it. 

Practivism

"Pray we must, but prayer must never be an escape from reality. Prayer cannot preserve a man from the insistent cry of human need. It must prepare him for it' and sometimes he will need to rise from his knees too soon and get to work - even when he does not want to." (William Barclay)

"...Give me grace to call on thee at all times by diligent Prayer.Ah Lord, I know my Devotion has dailymany unavoidable and necessary interruptions,and I cannot always be actually praying,all I can do is to beg of thy Love,to keep my heart always in an habitual disposition to Devotion,and in mindfulness of thy divine presence..." (Thomas Ken)

Not sure if these appeal to me because activity comes more naturally to me than prayer, or because they ring true.

Why should we trust the gospels?

Great post, downloadable talk, handout and slides at Mark Meynells blog.

Had an 'I love the internet' moment as I found them.

It took us 2,000 years, but we made it

The Church of England has just published a new discipleship resource, roughly 2 millennia after Jesus made discipleship the top priority for his followers after his resurrection. This is, apparently, the first discipleship course ever commissioned by the bishops of the CofE. It's a recognition, perhaps, that the standard Anglican practices of attending worship and hearing the same 3-year cycle of readings repeatedly preached doesn't do the job of making disciples.

I've ordered the introductory pack and it'll be interesting to see what approaches it uses. Having something which both forms and informs is vital - I've experienced 'discipleship' courses which fill the head with knowledge and assume the heart will follow.

Here's an overview of the 8 sections of the course, there's some good quality people involved, and it looks to be booklet based (rather than presentation or DVD based). That's a plus in places without the computer literacy or hardware, but a minus in other ways. There are some audio and video files to go with the sessions, which hopefully come on a DVD with the booklets.. More when my parcel arrives! In the meantime there are some pdf sample sessions. I do like the way the session is set up, good mixture of input, reflection, discussion and spiritual exercises.

Precious Trust

Excellent and thought-provoking piece by Nigel Traynor, reflecting on Rowan Williams book 'Tokens of Trust', and what it means to be a 'professional Truster', as a priest in the community. 

Some of the relationships I have had in the parish have been fleeting but trusting. Strangers have trusted me with their secrets, others with their weddings, baptisms and funerals: Precious moments of privileged trust.

Others have not trusted, a working relationship yes, but not trust. I wonder when there is no trust then comes fear and self-reliance. I am aware when my trust is at its least I rely upon what I know and can do. And nothing much is built or done. Willams’ book reminds me the Father trusts creation to its people, the Father trusts the Son with the kingdom, the Father entrusts a fragile Church with the Holy Spirit. Jesus trusts us enough to go home to the Father.

I am asking myself why have some not trusted me and opted for something else, fear and control.  The lack of trust results in relationships that are fragile and unfruitful. I have noticed when trust is not common currency the phrase “God has told” (me) is used. Reflecting on the gospels I am not sure Jesus ever says “God told me”. It is the most non-Christian phrase in use today. It is used by fundamentalist to attack and disarm the enemy because there is no trust.

Some of my most painful experiences have been were trust has been broken. My natural tendency is to withdrawal my trust and be more self-reliant. But in the long term as the professional Truster I am not afforded that for long, because it cripples me. If I cannot trust my community how can I trust God?

Your SHAPE For God's Service: superb course on spiritual gifts and calling

Last year we used an excellent course for Lent, 'Your SHAPE for God's Service', designed to help people discern their own gifts and calling. 

The course is based on material from the Purpose-Driven Life, that personal gifts and call can be found at the intersection of 5 factors:

Spiritual Gifts

Heart (what you're passionate about)

Abilities ('natural' abilities)

Personality

Experience (the key experiences that have shaped you)

The course involved a certain amount of 'homework', - e.g. handing 2 other people a list of common natural abilities and asking them to tick the ones they think you've got. For a few people this was a bit threatening, for others it was incredibly affirming - Brits aren't brilliant at giving feedback, or saying 'you're really good at x', and for some this was the first time they'd had any kind of affirmation in certain gifts and skills. 

One result of the course was a number of people enthusiastically getting stuck in to new areas of ministry: from pastoral work to youth and children, to making cups of tea and coffee. For others, you could see the lights going on as they realised that what they did in their workplace day to day was using a God-given talent and could be done in His service. 

The course has been rewritten and improved, and is now available as a free download courtesy of the lovely people at the Arthur Rank Centre. It's the kind of things we're likely to run again, and I know of one other church which uses it as a follow-up to Alpha. Highly recommended. 

Diocesan church growth strategies 7: church growth research

David Goodhew from the Centre for Church Growth research took us through some of the strands of research work currently going on. A few headlines and comments:

 - The bulk of people who become Christians - 80% - have done so by the age of 25.

 - Tracking affiliation to the Christian faith as declared in the census, for each age cohort the line is basically flat - i.e. there's very little change from age 20 to age 80 as people age. But with each new age cohort, affiliation is lower. Once people reach adulthood, their views are basically set for life.

 - 54% of immigrants to the UK are Christians, and black and minority churches are one of the fastest growing sections of the UK church, with over 1/2m members, and 1m black and ethnic minority members in all churches. In the borough of Newham, population 300,000, over 200 new churches have been started up in the last 20 years.

 - 2950 new churches were opened in England in 1989-2005, 2680 opened in 2005-10.

 - There's some interesting clustering of new churches/ church plants in certain areas, e.g. along 'trade routes' (e.g. more going on in York than in Hull). Mapping church plants within Dioceses shows clusters in certain areas, as though having local examples of new initiatives and fresh expressions of church triggers other people to have a go.

 - The CofE doesn't have much of a theology of church growth, there's a challenge to make the case that "numerically growing the church is theologically respectable". We're good at quarrying the tradition for spirituality and liturgy, but how about for mission practice and evangelism?

 - Being a fully sacramental church means taking baptism as seriously as communion. "a church that is eucharistic but not baptismal is semi-sacramental."

 - our definition of mission is probably too broad. We're happier to talk of Fair Trade as mission than evangelism. Within the '5 marks of mission', it feels like some are more equal than others "we need to jack up the church growth end, as it just gets swamped by the rest...we need some positive discrimination."

Overall it was just encouraging to hear stories of growing churches in the UK context, the CofE can get fatalistic, or so used to decline (after 100 years of consistently experiencing it!) that we cease to believe in the gospel and give up. I could relate to what he said about evangelism/church growth not feeling theologically respectable, that echoes conversations I've been involved in within this Diocese, that people would rather talk about growth in 'depth' than growth in numbers, as if one were superior to the other. Jesus called us to do both: making disciples involves people becoming disciples and growing as disciples. There's nothing theologically superior about closing a church in a generation with great pastoral care whilst everyone else in the parish went untouched by the gospel.

There are various strands of research currently going on within the CofE, with an anticipated report at the end of this year. These include in-depth profiling of 4000 churches to identify the key features of growing churches, material on cathedrals, church planting, multi-parish benefices and team ministries. The FX research is being published diocese by diocese already - see my report on George Lings for some of the data from this.

Here's other posts from the Diocesan church growth strategies conference, including Justin Welby, James Lawrence & Bob Jackson.