Fit For Mission

Welcome to our pages that talk about how we are getting Fit for Mission.

In our diocese, we talk about our long obedience to the same direction and we are asking God for a bigger church to make a bigger difference with more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world. Being fit for mission is living that out. It builds on what has come before and enables us to look courageously to the future.

Fit for Mission is built around four basic mission priorities

Introducing people to Jesus
Deepening discipleship
Developing Christian leaders
Working for justice

Getting Fit for Mission is one of the most important and urgent tasks we need to do and we have invested much time listening, praying, and forming under God a way forward for us all. These pages explain more and show how you and your context will fit in.

So in this section, you can find

What will Fit for Mission do?

Jesus calls us to make disciples of all and everyone in our diocese wants to live out that call. Yet over many years church attendance has been in decline and we have reached a crucial point in our diocese where we must increase our capacity to invest in our mission. This decline has meant that over time, more has been expected of fewer people. Never more has the call that the workers are few and the harvest great ring more true. We have a great vision, an inspiring message, desire to serve and change the world. Yet we are frustrated in our efforts.

We know this must change. We need to work together to share the load if we are to be Fit for Mission. We also need to address head-on the complexity of our current ways of working and the issue of our buildings, finding ways to free up our time and end up with the right fit for purpose building portfolio.

Fit for Mission aims to support every deanery in the Diocese of Liverpool to create their own future. There are six elements to this, and for each of them, the programme will make available help and specialist resource.

A focus on developing our discipleship culture through training and support,
This will include delivering ‘Cultivate’, a successful Local Missional Leadership programme. This will enable the mission capacity and skills for local churches to plant new worship communities and justice initiatives.
Creating missional leadership teams of lay and ordained people
These teams will work over larger areas with members taking responsibility for specific mission and worship communities.
Developing agreed mutual support and accountability structures for all leaders
Work towards each deanery having one or two larger Parishes.
Fewer parishes, but more worshipping communities and more justice initiatives. Less bureaucracy, more mission. With a local strategic approach, more diversity of worship will be possible.
Making sure buildings are fit for purpose,
We will have buildings expertise available to assist in making good decisions on use, investment, or closure.
Creating administrative services in deaneries to support and resource your mission

Fit for Mission is about courageously addressing the issues that prevent us in mission, and truly releasing people to their God given calling for the sake of the gospel and of Christ’s Church. Bishop Bev Mason, The Bishop of Warrington.

How will we get there?

Being Fit for Mission is about change from the inside out. It is about local decision-making. It is about each deanery having extra resources and skills available to them to help create the growth culture and supporting structures the deanery needs.