Mission Network News

Latest Research and Statistics information

Lynda Barley and her team at Church House's Research & Statistics unit send the following information for you to use. There's a bulletin and also a series of graphics each in a .pdf file.

Download stats_bulletin.pdf

Download stats_graphical.pdf (2.8MB file)

Many thanks to Lynda and everyone at R&S for this very helpful data.

Lynda writes:
If anyone needs further information about any of the graphs or would like help in disseminating this information (conference sessions etc) please get in touch with us.

I am bringing out the first of our occasional research based booklets Time to Listen after Easter (available from CHP). It is entitled Christian Roots, Contemporary Spirituality.  The second booklet Churchgoing Today will be published prior to the July General Synod.  These should begin to provide a suitable parish resource to reinforce the messages emerging from our ongoing research and I would be grateful for any help you might be able to give in promoting their use across the church.

Selected further information is also available on www.cofe.anglican.org/info/statistics

Mission 21 conference: brief report

From the Mission 21 organisers:

“Church growing in more ways than we can count”
Research presented at the Mission 21 church planting conference in Sheffield indicated that the church is growing in ways that fall below the radar of most researchers. Results also showed that in the last 5 years more new churches have started in the UK than Starbucks stores.
This growth isn’t confined to just a few denominations or church planting approaches.  Experiences shared included the large projects such as Hillsong receiving 150 new converts every week and the Eden projects in Manchester even impacting the city’s crime levels. But the research also showed that up to 40,000 people gather informally in 2,500 tiny gatherings across the UK.
The diversity of those attending the 8-10 March Mission 21 conference in Sheffield was in itself an impressive display of church unity. The 550 participants came from a large number of church groupings and many parachurch church planting organisations.
Speaker Bishop Graham Cray celebrated what he said was “a glorious diversity of expressions of the church”. General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Paul Weaver underlined the need to continue to find new forms of church saying, “We want to plant the answer, not the problem”. Pastor Agu Irukwu of Jesus House, London, stated: “God is looking for someone to come and sort out a community’s problems. God has a plan for each area.”
Dr Martin Robinson, National Director of Together in Mission, concludes: “The UK church is growing in more ways than we can count. Just because we have trouble discovering it doesn’t mean that God isn’t doing amazing things. And this conference certainly indicates that he is.”
Mission 21 was sponsored by the Group for Evangelisation, Together in Mission and Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Rejesus news

Jeff Bonser at rejesus brings info about their new A4 newsletter.

The accolades continue to pour in about rejesus.co.uk, which is regarded by many as one of the most successful current UK evangelistic initiatives, and visitor numbers are going up and up.

We've now produced the first Rejesus News. Created in the highly original, multi-coloured style of the site, Rejesus News brings you stories from the visitors; the Top 5 content; latest developments; profiles of the creators Bruce and Simon; and how Christian organisations and churches can use rejesus.

Would you be willing to make available copies of Rejesus News (A4 size) within your organisation and include it in any of your mailings and at events  etc? If so click below for order information.
Download rejesus_news.doc

Hey, Christian!

An example of muscular apologetics to encourage you, from the excellent blog  http://thatisnotmyblog.blogspot.com/.

Click on the pic to enlarge it.

Rural Ministry Induction Course

Jill Hopkinson sends details of this induction course.
Roger Morris (Coventry) writes: 'The Rural Ministry Induction Course is an oasis of practical ideas and wisdom in what is otherwise a desert of training opportunities for those entering rural ministry. It provides good quality workshops, reliable facts about rural life and excellent networking opportunities - all within a framework of worship and fellowship. The course has been very much improved in recent years and can now boast excellent feedback from its participants. This course is essential for those making the transition to rural ministry.'
The course is held at the Arthur Rank Centre. It takes place between Tuesday 9 May and Thursday 11 May 2006.  The cost is £165 per person and places can be booked by contacting arcadmin@rase.org.uk or telephoning 024 7685 3060.  The course is particularly suitable for clergy who are new to rural ministry and those of longer standing who would welcome the opportunity to explore rural context, mission and ministry further.
Download a flyer here:  Download rmc_may_06_leaflet.doc
And a booking form here: Download rmic_may_2006_booking_form.doc

Rediscovering Fatherhood: FLAME National Conference, Swanwick, June

Details of the FLAME residential conference (16-18 June) from Sue Burridge, Policy Adviser on marriage & Family issues here at Church House. The Archbishop of Canterbury will be speaking. Details are here: Download flame_conference_leaflet_revised.pdf

Church Schools and mission

Paul Wordsworth, missioner in York (paulwordsworth@missionyork2.freeserve.co.uk) sends details of their "Church-School links project". If this chimes with things you're doing in your area, or to find out more, please contact Paul.
Download details here: Download churchschool_pilot_jan06.doc

blah... Upcoming events from CMS and partners

Jonny Baker at CMS sends this programme of events. Well worth attending if you're in reach.

blah... learning days 2006
For 2006 blah... Is partnering with moot http://www.moot.uk.net and putting on a series of learning days, aiming to take the conversation from blah... evenings a little deeper and with more interaction. You can also find out about the other stuff blah... is up to by visiting http://www.blahonline.net

Each day costs £10 (or £8 if booked online) which includes lunch and drinks. Students pay just £5 (or £4 online), just select the student ticket type when you book.

The first learning day planned for 2006 is...

April 29th  |  Emerging Leadership
with Kester Brewin, Maggi Dawn & Ana Draper
From 10am – 4.30pm at St Matthews, London, SW1P 2BU

Does the emerging church need leaders? Isn't it all about co-producing stuff where we are all 'leaders'
Or is it about renewing leadership, making it less of a one man band and more inclusive and powersharing?
How are we to develop emerging churches/fresh expressions that allow all people to participate and use all their gifts rather than just the few ‘leaders who do everything?
How do we avoid power abuse by over zealous leaders?

Kester Brewin, author of ‘The Complex Christ’ http://www.thecomplexchrist.com, and kickstarter of ‘vaux’ http://www.vaux.net, will guide us in some evolutionary thoughts about leadership.
Rev Maggi Dawn http://maggidawn.typepad.com will reflect on trying to reimagine leadership in the ancient structures of the Anglican Church.
Ana Draper of L8R, who has recently completed her MSc in Psychoanalysis, will guide us in some thoughts about leadership from a psychoanalytical/theological perspective.

Come and join us for a day of discussion and questioning on this hot topic.

To find out more and to book a place visit http://blahleadership.mollyguard.com

We also have two other learning days planned for 2006...

June 17th  |  Christian Formation
with John Drane, Andrew Roberts and Ben Edson
From 10am – 4.30pm at St Matthews, London, SW1P 2BU
Many emerging churches/fresh expressions have emphasised 'belonging without necessarily believing' and faith as a journey of life. But we are left with the question - how do people in new forms of Church find and continue to grow in faith? And what instruction or resources need to be in place to facilitate this important spiritual journey?

This study day seeks to explore practically the issues and potential solutions for contemporary forms of Christian formation and learning.

To find out more and to book a place visit http://blahspiritualformation.mollyguard.com/

25th November  |  New Monasticism
with Roy Searle, Gareth Powell & Sue Wallace
From 10am – 4.30pm at St Matthews, London, SW1P 2BU
There has been a resurgence of interest in the monastic way of life recently and many groups have been considering developing their own 'way of life'. So should we all swear to 'poverty, chastity and obedience'? Or is there another way or rythm that would suit our context?

So come and hear from Roy a founder of the Northumbria community; Sue who is the UK's original abbess and Gareth who is helping moot to think in urban monastic ways.

To find out more and to book a place visit http://blahnewmonasticism.mollyguard.com/

Faith as social capital

Here's an interesting perspective on things from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

They say: "The Government has identified faith communities as important sources of social capital. But religion is also associated with conflict and division. How far is faith in 'faith' justified? How far should faith communities engage with government agendas, and what can they contribute to building bridges and forging links with others?"

Check out their website and download their report here: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0136.asp

"Building Faith in our Future" bulletin

Colleagues at Church House's Cathedrals & Church Buildings division send the following bulletin for you to download: Download building_faith.doc
A snapshot of what it's about is below.

Building Faith in our Future

The Church Heritage Forum published Building Faith in our Future in October 2004. The report focused on how church buildings contribute to the vitality of  communities and sought to promote partnerships to sustain and develop these roles.

We are now working to drive  these objectives by promoting a national  campaign which will  target  decision-makers in Government and other relevant audiences. This is the third e-bulletin since the publication of Building Faith in our Future and it sets out developments to date and asks how you can help as we move the campaign forward

The Building Faith Campaign Messages:

The Building Faith Campaign has three simple messages:

• Churches matter and deserve support
• Without support they are at risk
• We are therefore seeking: better funding (50:50 partnership with the State in funding towards their repair, and a ‘level playing field’ in terms of access to other funding); and to strengthen the Church’s capacity to develop the use of its buildings for worship and mission to the wider community.

Become a Building Faith Supporter:

We need your support.  Join our network of people, at national, regional and local level, within the Church and outside, to be kept informed of developments, approached directly about new initiatives and who will tell us their stories about the achievements of churches in their communities, and spread the word themselves within their locals and regional contacts

To register as a Building Faith Supporter and receive copies of the Building Faith in our Future e-bulletin, please contact: Rebecca Payne at:

Email:  rebecca.payne@c-of-e.org.uk
Phone:  020 7898 1886
Address:        Church House, Great Smith Street, London  SW1P 3NZ
Download copies of the Building Faith in our Future report, latest Key Facts and other information about the Building Faith Campaign from:  www.cofe.anglican.org/about/builtheritage/buildingfaith/index.html

Parish Mission Funding: stories needed

PLEASE READ THIS ONE, PEOPLE.

David Hanson at the Church Commissioners sends the following request. It will be an enormous help if you can provide him with some stories as he asks. This will reinforce the value of Parish Mission Funding, and will help us to advocate its development among all the other demands on the Commissioners' funds.  So please help if you can!

David writes:

The Church Commissioners are hoping to put together an illustrated leaflet about parish mission fund outcomes, now that the fund is well into its second 3-year term. It will go with their 2005 annual report but will also be a stand-alone publicity leaflet for general readers. (The focus will be on local outcomes and input, not on the funding body….)

Does any of you have ready-made news stories about mission fund enterprises that you'd be happy to contribute? If so, please email David Hanson of the Commissioners' staff at David.hanson@c-of-e.org.uk (tel 020 7898 1619) who will be very grateful to receive material. Two or three paragraphs plus a captioned photo or two per item is all they will need. (Please limit attachments to 1MB total.) Within the next fortnight if possible would be great so they can build the material into their production timetable.

International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church

This pretty high-powered journal is edited by Bishop Geoffrey Rowell and Christine Hall. John Drane has guest-edited an edition on the emerging church, with contributions from (among others) Alan Jamieson and George Lings, and review-articles from Graham Cray and others. Full details and an order form are here:
http://www.klisia.net/blog/EmergingChurchjournal.pdf

Church of England: key facts

Three pages of facts and stats on the C of E today from Church House's Statistics Unit.
For example:

• More than 1.7 million people take part in a Church of England service each month, a level that has been maintained since the turn of the millennium. Around one million participate each Sunday.
• Forty three per cent of the population attend church at Christmas  including forty eight per cent in London and twenty two per cent of people affiliated to other faiths. 
• In 2005 forty seven per cent of adults attended a church or place of worship for a memorial service for someone who has died and twenty one per cent were seeking a quiet space.  Both these proportions are increases on thirty seven per cent and nineteen per cent respectively in 2003 and twenty nine per cent and twelve per cent respectively in 2001.
• 86 per cent of the population visit  a church  or place of worship in the course of a year , for reasons ranging from participating in worship to attending social events  or simply wanting a quiet space.

Download the rest here: Download church_of_engla_today_2006.doc

Group for Evangelisation Annual Consultation: June 9

Well worth attending if you can. GfE's Jim Currin writes:

The Group for Evangelisation of Churches Together in England has an Annual Consultation in central London. This has proved to be the easiest place for people to get to, and is put on for national and regional evangelism enablers to meet together once a year to explore a topic of general interest.

This year we shall be thinking of the ‘Social Dynamic of the Gospel’ and various aspects will be explored in workshops, following a keynote address from Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance.

Joel will speak on ‘Kindness and the Cross’ in relating the Gospel to social action.

Workshops will then explore a Roman Catholic view of the social gospel; Soul in the City, Church Planting, and www.setallfree.net etc., all of which have a significant social dynamic to the Gospel today.

More details will come in due course, but please make Friday June 9th and the topic known to colleagues in your region who you think may be interested.

Leadership book review

This review is nicked from the weekly bulletin to Adult Education Officers maintained by my colleague Joanna Cox. The book isn't new, but from the review it might be worth recommending to  some people where you are.

Thanks to Graham Dodds of Bath & Wells, who writes:

Leading Change in the Congregation
Gilbert R Rendle,  Alban Institute Publication 1998,  ISBN 1-56699-187-0

Apparently in 1999 there were nearly 2,000 books published on leadership. This one, published a year earlier, came to my attention recently, probably because both leadership and change are in my face, in my work and in my job description. Leading change is what the vast majority of lay leaders and clergy confront every day in the modern reformation of church. That is one reason why Gilbert Rendle’s book is well worth dipping into and exploring some of his insights. The Alban Institute is a well tested and proven American source of helpful advice, information and training materials for church growth, especially in terms of change. When I visited it back in the early 1980s I could see that it provided clear and thoughtful ways of enabling ministers and members of churches to address some of the many issues of ecclesiology that perplex us today. Over the years I have come to respect its integrity, practical down to earth research and imagination.

Leading Change in the Congregation (paperback - 179 pages) covers topics such as the spiritual assumptions of leaders, the spiritual journey of congregations, emotional change, behaviours and preferences of congregations as they change, and a chapter on systems theory as a way to look at all this. It also provides some brief exercises for leaders as they try to make sense of change. Perhaps the most helpful nugget for me was the description of linear change and chaos change. ‘Linear change’ is a kind of ‘fix it’ change - the worn out battery is replaced so the device works again, the copier won’t work and the faulty part is renewed to fix the problem. ‘Chaos change’ is the sort that needs us to go away turn around three times then return and see the problem afresh. It requires new ways of thinking. Rendle likens it to coping with messiness, a lack of clarity, a wilderness experience such as the Exodus and the Exile. For me the trick in our present church is to get a handle on what needs fixing, and what needs a complete rebuild. A new broom might have both a new head and a new shank, but if it’s new ground that needs breaking, an altogether different tool is needed.

For me there’s a great deal of wisdom in the unassuming style of Rendle. He’s certainly worth a read.

Sheffield Centre: Focus on older people

Sheffield Centre's Mike Collyer sends the latest edition of his very helpful information bulletin on evangelism among older people: Download information_bul12march_06.doc

Philo Trust Spring Newsletter

Download the latest newsletter from J John here (1MB .pdf file): Download newsletter_eshot.pdf

Lay Pioneer ministry

READ THIS, FOLKS! ONE FOR ACTION, PLEASE.

Paul Bayes writes:

I'm attaching a draft of the promised Guidelines for Lay Pioneer Ministry prepared by a joint working group drawn from Mission and Public Affairs, Ministry Division, Fresh Expressions and the Mission Shaped Church working party. You can download it here: Download lpm_guidelines_draft_2.doc

We are sending these out now for wide consultation and invite responses.  It is helpful to receive affirmations that we are moving in a helpful direction as well as suggestions for improving the material.

Steve Croft is handling the drafting process on behalf of the group. Comments from individuals or groups should be sent to Steve via email (steven.croft@freshexpressions.org.uk)

Please mark the subject box of your email LPM Guidelines.

Comments need to be with Steve by 1st May in order to be incorporated into the next draft of the document.

Many thanks in anticipation for your help!

Paul

Mission-shaped critiques

Two years after publication "Mission-Shaped Church" is now attracting a number of interesting theological critiques.

See for example the pamphlet published by SCM and written by Birmingham's Professor John Hull ( for details see http://www.scm-canterburypress.co.uk/bookdetails.asp?ISBN=0334040574) I can see what John is driving at, but personally I feel he has a much bigger agenda than the report was asked to cover, and in the service of that agenda he's hitting out at a straw target rather than the report we actually have. But his pamphlet is well worth reading, and more generally it's good that theologians are articulating their concerns. It will be good to debate them. Gill Poole, Team Leader with CMS Mission Movement in Britain, and member of the Mission Shaped Church working group, has written this in response to John Hull's piece: Download gill_pooles_response.doc

I'm collecting essays and articles like John's which raise issues in the MSC report with a view to sharing them round the place, here on STW and elsewhere. If your diocese has any local examples, or if  people have written to you with their ideas or critiques, could you send them to me? paul.bayes@c-of-e.org.uk

SEITE training post for pioneer ministry

Jeremy Worthen at the South East Institute for Theological Education sends details of a new post there. Please pass this on to anyone you feel might be right for it. Or maybe it could be you!

Jeremy writes:

The South East Institute for Theological Education is currently seeking to appoint a suitable person to a new development post whose focus will be training potential ordained Pioneer Ministers.  We would very much appreciate your help in drawing this appointment to the attention of anyone known to you who might be interested in joining our team in this capacity.

We are aware that the number of people with the relevant experience and skills to take on this position may not be large.  The fact that it is being offered as a half-time appointment for one year only – much as we would like to make a permanent appointment in this area in the future – may further restrict the range of potential applicants.  (The post is initially being funded via a one-off grant from Archbishops’ Council.)  Nevertheless, we hope that the distinctive character of the post may be a good “fit” for some people, for instance someone currently working in the context of Fresh Expressions of Church who may be interested in gaining experience of education and training.

I am attaching a copy of the advertisement for the post which will also appear on our own website (www.seite.co.uk) and on the appointments section of the Fresh Expressions website.  Potential applicants can access all the necessary documentation via our website or by contacting our Administrator (administrator@seite.co.uk).   I would also be very happy to talk with anyone who might be interested in the post if that could be helpful: j.f.worthen@kent.ac.uk

Download more here: Download advert_pmpdo.doc