Recognising a healthy, growing church George Rendell - Adviser for Collaborative Ministry Development. It is common today to talk about healthy lifestyle, well being, fitness etc. But when was the last time you talked about these things in relation to your church? Robert Warren in his Healthy churches handbook suggests that there are seven marks of a healthy church. He suggests we ask questions like: Is your church energised by faith? Does it have an outward-looking focus? How does your church seek to find what God wants? How good is the congregation at facing the cost of change and growth? Do they operate as a community of wholeness with Christ at the Centre? Do they make room for all? Is your church content with doing a few things and doing them well? If the answer is yes to each of these questions then your church is pretty healthy. If you are doubtful about any then this might be the place to start taking some action. This workshop will consider how the seven marks of a healthy church can be used to help restore a church to full health. Partnership for Missional Church Paul Rush - Adviser on Evangelism, Ministry Development The church exists by mission as a flame exists by burning. Everything the church does should further the missio Dei, God's ongoing mission of love to his world. We've all got that. It's not a difficult concept. So why aren't our churches living it? Why don't we see it more clearly? Habits. We so easily default to the way we've always done things and the idea is drowned under the weight of 'the way things are'. Partnership for Missional Church is an attempt to learn new missional habits (not just missional ideas) over a three-to-five year period to enable congregations to transition from maintenance to mission. . It's a partnership, churches working together in clusters. It's missional, aiming to move from 'come and see' to 'go and be'. It's church as God had always intended - making disciples who can make disciples who can .... It's only for those churches that want to take mission seriously 'Adam where art thou: getting men to come to Church'. (Glynn Harrison) Professor Glynn Harrison is a Lay Minister at Christ Church, Clifton and a Professor of Psychiatry (as well as a practising clinician) at Bristol University. He has developed both an academic and a practical interest in the concept of 'masculine spirituality', and has spoken at various men's events and seminars. He will overview the challenging research data on men's involvement in Christian Churches and share some ideas on one of the most critical issues facing Churches today. School as Mission Jacqueline Waters-Dewhurst - Diocesan Director of Education, Diocesan Department for Children and Young People In this ever changing world both schools and churches are facing new challenges and opportunities. This workshop will explore how they can support each other in their communities. The workshop will include: • practical ways of getting involved • looking at the ‘rules’ of working as church partners in a school • realistic expectations on both sides • enjoying the rewards and avoiding the disappointments The workshop will be an active exploration of the issues enabling participants to consider the contexts of their own situations and will explain how the Diocesan Department for Children and Young People (formally the Diocesan Education Department) can support and guide parishes and deaneries in this exciting And vital work. How to grow a leadership team Christine Froude – Priest-in-charge of Shirehampton Whether lay or ordained, for those in leadership in today’s church, life seems to get busier and busier. As leaders how can we share the vision, release the energy and spread the load so that the churches we serve become truly missional? How can the gifts and skills of members of our congregations be identified and utilised? How can we encourage and support individuals as they come into leadership roles? The aim of this workshop is to help you to reflect on how you might grow an effective leadership team in your parish, benefice or partnership. We will look at an example of how this was done. We will reflect on how the team was selected, commissioned, managed and supported. We will explore the sorts of issues that arise when leadership teams are being formed and when they are up and running. Please come prepared to share your own experiences of success or failure in this area and any examples of good practice you can offer to others. Making Better Use of the Building Andrew Mottram - Ecclesiastical Property Solutions. Andrew was Priest in Charge of All Saints Hereford during the time it went from being a cold decrepit under-used crumbling pile to a busy (up to 4000 visitors) 7 day a week city centre venue which is described by English Heritage as the ‘iconic example of church redevelopment.’ Through EPS, Andrew and his colleagues are making their knowledge and experience available to Churches across the country. Andrew writes: ‘Many Church communities are keen to re-order their church buildings and make them more suitable for contemporary needs. There are all manner of possibilities to make better use of your church building but knowing where to start can be the problem.’ ‘In view of the number of variables that are characteristic of every Church in terms of the people, buildings and context, it is advisable to ensure there is good preparation to identify the facts rather than make assumptions.’ ‘Before any design ideas are contemplated, there are a number of items that require some preliminary investigation and consultation before a firm commitment can be made to move forward.’ Equipped to grow …. 24/7 Christian service Samantha Rushton is the Adviser for Licensed Ministry. God calls each one of us to live out our faith in the world. Part of that calling is simply to express our love for him and our love for each other wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. But God also calls men and women into specific situations and asks them to fulfil a specific role for which they, and only they, are equipped. Some are called to full time authorised ministry, some to minister in their workplace, others to be a Christ-like presence at the school gate each day. What do you believe God is calling you to? How can you test that call in the wider church? If you’re in a church leadership role, what role do you have in encouraging others to hear and to live out God’s call on their daily lives? What does the Diocese do to help? Come and meet the new Diocesan Adviser for Licensed Ministry and ask the really difficult questions about how to discern Christian vocation in ourselves and in each other. Developing lay involvement in leadership Ian Wills – Vicar of Soundwell Rowan Williams has written: "A healthy church is one in which we seek to stay connected with God by seeking to connect others with God; one in which we 'win God' by converting one another, and we connect one another by our truthful awareness of frailty." (Silence and Honey Cakes, 2003) How DO we all make room for one another to grow to our full potential in the service of Christ? How DO we stay real with each other in taking the Good News of Jesus out into our communities? At St. Stephens we dare to believe we have made a start on these things. We have served, prayed, cried, and loved together, and through those things we have begun to be a team. We know that the more leaders we have the more mission we can do, and that is now our passion. Some of us would be glad to hear your stories, and we will be glad to share ours with you. What do we mean when we speak of community? Emma Ineson Community is not an optional extra but God’s intention for his people. It isn’t just a buzz word, or a strategy for growth, or a new way of doing church, although it may be all of those things. Community is rooted in the heart of a relational God who is Trinity, and it lies at the heart of what it means to be ‘church’. But building community, is not easy! It is a costly adventure that often demands us to live in ways that are intentionally ‘counter-cultural’. In this interactive workshop we will be exploring some of the ‘marks of community’ that might help us develop and live out, in our own contexts, God’s ‘dream for community’. Worship Changes Lives Mark Pilgrim and Diocesan Worship and Liturgy Committee members This workshop will provide ideas on enabling people to grow through worship. It will introduce participants to a new resource which aims to inspire all worshippers to think about how worship changes us. The resource has been designed to energise PCC's, worship planning groups, ministry teams and everyone who wants to think about worship in their local church. Participants will have something to take away and ideas to put into practice in their local context.