Discussion Morning
On Saturday 12th January 2008 around 30 members of the congregation gathered in Fellowship House to discuss the life of this church. We looked at four areas: Pastoral Care; Nurture and Education; Worship and Spirituality; and Outreach and Evangelism. It was encouraging to see how much we were doing already and the huge number of people who contribute to the work and mission of the church. We then brainstormed to see how we could improve and develop this work and some key themes emerged, namely
Welcome - How do we help people to step across the threshold?
Integration - How can we help people to belong?
Teaching - How do we encourage people to develop their faith?
Communication - what are effective ways of promoting what we do?
A more detailed summary under the four headings is given below.
Pastoral Care
Welcome
Love of neighbour is at the heart of the gospel. Newcomers need to be made to feel welcome and encouraged to become active and involved members of the congregation. To this end:
- careful thought is needed as to how the entrance to the church could be made more welcoming.
- Steps could be taken to help people to get to know each other, and
- a system put in place to make sure that someone notices if a person is ill or upset or seems to have stopped coming to church. Provision of transport to and from church could be extended.
Groups
Groups could be encouraged to foster fellowship and support, and social activities could be arranged for all age groups, with provision of crèche facilities where appropriate. It was felt that more might be provided for specific groups, eg. people living alone and the bereaved. It was also suggested that there might be a men's breakfast. It might be helpful if more members of the congregation were trained as counsellors/listeners.
Communication
It was felt that we need to find better ways of communicating our services and activities (both within the church and in the wider community).
Nurture and Education
There was a strong feel that more study groups, seminars, lectures and home groups should be encouraged, each being widely publicised. Involvement of outside speakers/leaders and local schools or businesses would ensure that discussion remained relevant to daily life. Resource packs need to be available and constantly updated.
There was also a sense that people needed to understand their own faith and liturgy and then move on to work at understanding other faiths.
Worship and Spirituality
The range of service styles on offer was appreciated. Again the subject of teaching and discussion arose, with provision of opportunities for discussing sermons as one suggestion. The involvement of children in worship was considered an area for development. The creation of quiet spaces and quiet time for prayer was discussed. It was mentioned that both within the services and immediately before services, there was little time to be still.
Outreach and Evangelism
Charities
Stronger links could be created with charities that we support.
Publicity
We need more and better publicity and greater involvement in Village events, such as the summer fair. Outdoor services might raise our profile, as would eye-catching notices in the Garden Hall and in the field.
Schools
Stronger links could be created with local schools.
First impressions
We needed to be more aware of first impressions, so that when people come to the church for a baptism or wedding or at Christmas, they feel welcomed. It was felt that the church entrance and cross aisles were cluttered and created an unfavourable impression.
Liturgy
Again there was an emphasis on understanding the liturgy and making it accessible. It was stated that children should be involved more in the services.
Summary
Much of what was said could be summed up as "Let us get to know each other and our neighbours better, support each other, have fun together, and help each other to deepen our faith".
The next step will be to take these views and work out practical steps (organisational or structural) that can be taken to improve our welcome, our publicity, our understanding of the gospel and our involvement with the wider community.
If you were not able to be present at the Discussion Day, but have strong views about this might be achieved, please feel free to give me your views. It would be helpful if they could reach me by 10th February 2008.
Mary Bide , tel 0208 946 2830.