Creating Strategies (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

To talk through which resources might be best in achieving your strategic objectives, contact Revd Chris Dobson, Adviser for Discipleship and Evangelism.

• Suffolk Discipleship Pathway - Based on ‘Sowing, Reaping, Keeping’ model from Lawrence Sunglehurst’s book, the Suffolk Discipleship Pathway helps churches and small groups to think missionally about how they can provide stepping stones to faith for the people they are in contact with.
• Children’s Faith: A Whole Church Approach to Family Ministry - This new resource from Care for the Family helps think about your church culture, mission and discipleship from the cradle to the grave.
• We are Making Disciples - An assessment tool for churches, small groups or individuals interested in going deeper in discipleship and spiritual formation.
• Holy Habits - Produced by Bible Reading Fellowship and described as a whole church discipleship approach, this provides small group video resources.
• Jesus Shaped People - A comprehensive and all-embracing whole church discipleship adventure for those wanting to reshape their vision and priorities, building on five key priorities in the life and ministry of Jesus.
• The Bible Course - An eight week interactive course giving an overview of the world’s best-selling book to equip in reading the Bible and seeing its relevance to daily life. It can be run online or in groups.
• Small Group Essentials - This course, written by Chris Dobson, is currently being piloted in the Diocese and will be available from September 2024.
• Lyfe - Resources help individuals and small groups to discover a deeper life with God.
• Seven Shifts to Inspire Sunday to Saturday Faith - Guidance for church leaders to make small shifts which help their congregation to see their part in God’s plan for the world.

Supporting Discipleship in the Workplace / Wider World

Although discipleship in the workplace or community may seem irrelevant to the life of the individual parish church, this is where Christians live out their faith and where those who are not Christians see the impact of faith on daily life. God wants the Kingdom to permeate the wider world like salt adds flavour to an entire stew! It is easy for church leaders to feel that they cannot easily impact the workplace or home life of church members, yet their encouragement is vital and has far-reaching consequences. We also notice that our life within the church congregation and our life outside it are connected: confident faith in one area tends to overflow as confident faith in the other. This area is supported by various Mission and Ministry Support team members, please email them for more information.

• Workplace Wayfinders is a group for Christian adults who are trying to find the way to live out their faith in the workplace, and who are willing to known as Christians in the workplace. They meet once per month by Zoom to support one another, pray, and learn about God’s purposes. This area is supported by various Mission and Ministry Support team members, please email them for more information.
• Seven Shifts to Inspire Sunday to Saturday Faith - Guidance for church leaders to make small shifts which help their congregation to see their part in God’s plan for the world.
• Eight Shifts for Churches to Support Everyday Faith - More guidance for church leaders from a slightly different perspective to the above Seven Shifts! These shifts are not about adding new things, but more about doing the things we already do in a slightly different way.
• LICC Fruitfulness on the Frontline - A course which can be run at church level to help the congregation live out their faith in their daily Monday to Saturday lives - whether in paid employment, voluntary work, community involvement or the family.
• 6M People - Another resource by LICC which helps Christians to see six purposes for their daily tasks of Modelling godly character, Making good work, Ministering grace and love, Moulding culture, being a Mouthpiece for truth and justice, being a Messenger of the gospel.

• Reaching the Nones - Resources to equip the church to become missionary disciples so that those calling themselves non-religious can hear the good news.
• Growing Faith Church Army - Free resources offering training in sharing faith.

Free resources offering training in sharing faith

• Envoy - A Church Army resource that offers a step-by-step coaching community developing evangelism and effectiveness in living missionally.
• Nurturing a Faith Sharing Culture - A resource that nurtures a faith-sharing culture and congregation, making evangelism central to the life of a church rather than something done on the margins.
• Alpha - Called the most effective ecumenical movement in the world, this video based programme has been updated in the Alpha Film Series and Alpha Youth Series.
• Pilgrim - A discipleship resource from the Church of England helping local churches create a place where people can explore faith together and how it can be lived out each day.
• Five Steps to Faith - A book offering a short course on the basic Christian story useful for baptism and confirmation preparation and any new enquirers.
• Faith Pictures - A free Church Army resource to help Christians of all traditions talk about their own story of faith with confidence.
• Discovery Series from Our Daily Bread Ministries - A compilation of over 150 topical studies for spiritual growth.
• TalkingJesus - A resource put together in partnership with EA, HOPE, and the Church of England.
• Living and Telling - A course from Agape UK to encourage, train and equip faith sharing as a way of life.
• Urban Theology Union - Discipleship training for those in urban contexts.
• Kingdom Evangelism Pack - A Kingdom Evangelism Pack aimed at lay and clergy to explore evangelism and intentional outreach.
• Christianity.org.uk - A website with answers about the Christian faith, run by the Christian Enquiry Agency (CEA) which could be used on the bottom of church websites or literature.