PARISH RENEWAL PROGRAM
HTW involvement in the Parish Renewal Program: Refining our Mission Action Plan
Our Parish Council has engaged with the Diocesan Parish Renewal Program during March and April this year. To do this we formed a Mission Action Team (MAT) to engage in 3 Workshops associated with the Program. The Mission Action Team includes:
The aim of the Parish Renewal Program is to help parishes to relate their resources and energy towards the Diocesan vision “to make the word of God fully known” across the Diocese of Melbourne. The program is grounded in concepts of mission through service, and making disciples who actively obey Jesus’s teachings.
Parishes of between 65 and 150 regular worshippers that want to build their mission impact at neighbourhood level – and are prepared to invest time and resources into this in fresh ways – have been involved in the program. Participating parishes join a cohort of similar-sized churches, and use a program’s planning framework (the ‘Pathways’ model) to re-think how their church can serve and welcome their local communities in ways that resonate with them.
This is the program we have been involved with recently. During the initial workshop (12th March) members of our MAT considered how HTW looks to outsiders. In the second workshop (16th April) we used the Pathways model to identify the different ways in which our church – HTW - engages people in their journey to and within the Christian community. From this ‘Pathways’ session we recognised there was a significant gap in the way we engage people in the ‘Embracing the Gospel’ phase of the Journey. We also saw that we were not being effective in moving people beyond Potential Contact or being In Touch to the next phases of Belonging and Embracing the Gospel and applying it in their everyday living. And so we used the Pathways Implementation workshop (30th April) to imagine fresh ways of being more mission shaped in our dealings with those people with whom we have contact and are in touch (our Mission Focus Groups).
Initially we used an art exercise based on the parable of nurturing the barren fig tree to explore how we will grow our church. We pictured the roots of our tree (church) as comprising our:
From these roots, we saw that the HTW ‘tree’ (church) is able to sow seeds in the community through:
Based on our Pathways Implementation discussions, we refreshed our Mission Focus and our priorities for action at HTW.
Refreshed mission focus
Our key Mission Focus Groups (MFG) are:
Finally, we agreed that our MAT should meet monthly to review and refine our actions regarding the three top mission priorities we identified:
The MAT will meet monthly – after the First Sunday service ideally. Scheduling the MAT meeting in this way should minimise logistical difficulties, by having the meeting on the same day as a worship service, so we ‘catch’ people when they are at the church site each month at a set time. We discussed having the meeting at around 11.30 or 12 noon at Cirino’s coffee shop (back room). We will use these meetings to monitor progress and agree on what is to be done to ensure we move towards continuing growth of the church over the years to come.
In this way, we aim to use the Pathways learnings to help us achieve the aims we have set out in for HTW in our Mission Action Plan for 2016-2020. Our involvement in the Parish Renewal Program has given us a clear focus on what needs to be done, by when and by whom, so that we build the church’s connection with the community and our body of Christ into the future. This will be a work in progress, and everyone is encouraged to participate and contribute their ideas and energies to take the work forward.
Our Parish Council has engaged with the Diocesan Parish Renewal Program during March and April this year. To do this we formed a Mission Action Team (MAT) to engage in 3 Workshops associated with the Program. The Mission Action Team includes:
- The Ven Bill Beagley
- Scott Phillips
- Sandra Lewin
- Margaret Burt
- Laurence Gray
- Chris Ringrose
- Sue Wragg
- Judy Whelan
- James Mulholland
- Carol Willis
The aim of the Parish Renewal Program is to help parishes to relate their resources and energy towards the Diocesan vision “to make the word of God fully known” across the Diocese of Melbourne. The program is grounded in concepts of mission through service, and making disciples who actively obey Jesus’s teachings.
Parishes of between 65 and 150 regular worshippers that want to build their mission impact at neighbourhood level – and are prepared to invest time and resources into this in fresh ways – have been involved in the program. Participating parishes join a cohort of similar-sized churches, and use a program’s planning framework (the ‘Pathways’ model) to re-think how their church can serve and welcome their local communities in ways that resonate with them.
This is the program we have been involved with recently. During the initial workshop (12th March) members of our MAT considered how HTW looks to outsiders. In the second workshop (16th April) we used the Pathways model to identify the different ways in which our church – HTW - engages people in their journey to and within the Christian community. From this ‘Pathways’ session we recognised there was a significant gap in the way we engage people in the ‘Embracing the Gospel’ phase of the Journey. We also saw that we were not being effective in moving people beyond Potential Contact or being In Touch to the next phases of Belonging and Embracing the Gospel and applying it in their everyday living. And so we used the Pathways Implementation workshop (30th April) to imagine fresh ways of being more mission shaped in our dealings with those people with whom we have contact and are in touch (our Mission Focus Groups).
Initially we used an art exercise based on the parable of nurturing the barren fig tree to explore how we will grow our church. We pictured the roots of our tree (church) as comprising our:
- Gifts/talents
- Fellowship
- Links with the broader church
- History of involvement in Williamstown
- Prayerfulness
From these roots, we saw that the HTW ‘tree’ (church) is able to sow seeds in the community through:
- Music (Welsh choir, carol services)
- Film nights for church members and friends
- Weddings
- Baptisms
- Fundraising events (linked with other community organisation networks such as Inner Wheel)
- Emergency Relief (in collaboration with Anglicare and Sunshine Magistrates Court).
Based on our Pathways Implementation discussions, we refreshed our Mission Focus and our priorities for action at HTW.
Refreshed mission focus
Our key Mission Focus Groups (MFG) are:
- Young Families with Children/Teenagers (MFG A)
- Vulnerable People in our community (MFG B): This group encompasses
- Older people at risk of social isolation
- Parents facing challenges in raising children/teens
- People experiencing economic and social disadvantage.
Finally, we agreed that our MAT should meet monthly to review and refine our actions regarding the three top mission priorities we identified:
- Conduct follow up visits to Baptism families (to build the Belonging step with people in our MFG A)
- Establish a ‘buddy system’ for vulnerable people (to build the Belonging step with people in our MFG B)
- Develop and run a community forum on Domestic Violence, to facilitate community discussion and learning about ‘respectful relationships’ and ‘loving relationships’ in a Christian context of a talk by Bill on C’S. Lewis’ book The Four Loves. (This will help us build the Embracing the Gospel step for people in both of our MFGs).
- Baptism family visits
- ‘Buddy system’ for vulnerable people
- Forum on Domestic Violence
The MAT will meet monthly – after the First Sunday service ideally. Scheduling the MAT meeting in this way should minimise logistical difficulties, by having the meeting on the same day as a worship service, so we ‘catch’ people when they are at the church site each month at a set time. We discussed having the meeting at around 11.30 or 12 noon at Cirino’s coffee shop (back room). We will use these meetings to monitor progress and agree on what is to be done to ensure we move towards continuing growth of the church over the years to come.
In this way, we aim to use the Pathways learnings to help us achieve the aims we have set out in for HTW in our Mission Action Plan for 2016-2020. Our involvement in the Parish Renewal Program has given us a clear focus on what needs to be done, by when and by whom, so that we build the church’s connection with the community and our body of Christ into the future. This will be a work in progress, and everyone is encouraged to participate and contribute their ideas and energies to take the work forward.