We publish the first of our regular updates on the Fit for Mission process.
During 2022 we did a great deal of work establishing Fit for Mission in our diocese. This will continue into 2023 as the Church Commissioner-funded programme grows and develops. So we feel it is important for the whole diocese to keep track of what has happened and what we have achieved.
So this is the first of a semi-regular series of updates where we take a look at what has happened. And don’t forget you can find all the background detail of Fit for Mission on our website www.liverpool.anglican.org/fitformission
Fit for Mission aims to enable all parishes, church plants, fresh expressions and chaplaincies to fulfil God’s mission and make new disciples. It is a way in which we work toward our vision of asking God for a bigger church to make a bigger difference with more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world. Fit for Mission will support us in working together to face the significant issues that hold back mission and growth such as a deep-seated decline in attendance, a lack of diversity, an increasing administrative burden, and unsuitable, unsustainable buildings.
2022 has been about getting this up and running. We have formed clear Fit for Mission priorities
- Introducing people to Jesus
- Deepening discipleship
- Developing Christian leaders
- Working for justice
These are the bedrock of what we do and what we are trying to achieve. From here comes the people to live out the mission.
These include our talented team at SJH recruited to support Fit for Mission. They are the enablers who have worked to consult with our first cohort of Fit for Mission parishes forming the teams to support local deanery decision-making.
We then have our first cohorts in St Helens and West Derby Deanery. We have worked with both through a period of listening and discernment as individual PCCs decide if they can be part of the process
So
- in St Helens, we have 12 churches working towards becoming a new parish with 6 deciding to remain outside of Fit for Mission.
- In West Derby, we have 9 churches working towards becoming one parish with St John, Tuebrook and St Mary’s deciding to remain outside of Fit for Mission
Clearly, we would prefer all parishes in a Fit for Mission deanery to be in the process. However, we will continue to listen to and talk with parishes who, at this stage, don’t feel they can be involved.
Fit for Mission Cohort 1 is ready for the next step towards becoming a larger parish
In both St Helens and West Derby, prayer is the first priority. The first activity to be set up was prayer in different places and times so people can gather to seek God’s guidance and cover the area in prayer as they go through change.
Very early on they established a number of teams to work on different areas of change, each with a mixture of lay and clergy. The navigation teams have been overseeing all the areas and working through all the difficulties of growing through change.
- In St Helens, the support services team is finalising the shape of their future centralised admin team who will help free clergy and lay people up to spend more time on engaging with their communities.
- In West Derby, the Right Buildings team has started to address our buildings' issues by working through what we need for mission and ministry. The Right Buildings team has worked carefully to propose a plan for the future of their buildings and people’s view from all churches are being taken into consideration. The buildings team will start working on schemes for reordering and partnerships in February.
The navigation teams have both identified some key areas (portfolios) where it makes sense to work together across the larger parish in the long term. Like the change teams, the portfolios are a mixture of lay and clergy each with a shared goal. Look out for updates on these as they get started in the new year.
150 people take part in the Cultivate course
Across St Helens and West Derby over 150 people joined the Cultivate course in September and October. During Cultivate each person explored God’s calls for mission and to reach out to their communities. The final week of Cultivate involved 121 conversations with clergy mentors where each shared what they think God might be saying to them, and what they would like other people to be saying about the larger parish in ten years’ time. Lisa Gilligan, the Change Facilitator for the West Derby deanery says “the response was amazing, with a real sense of God’s encouragement to be bold in the process, and a hope for things to come. The emerging vision seems to be a parish characterised by love for everyone with Christ at the centre”.
With the help of team coaching, provided in the Fit for Mission programme, people in both St Helens and West Derby are enjoying being a team in terms of both a sense of creativity and support.
In a recent clergy meeting, Rev Canon Dr Chris Daniel asked the group to compare what they knew about Fit for Mission before joining, to what they see now. The response they all agreed with was that “what we have now is better than suggested by the paperwork!”.
This is just the start, there is still a lot of work to do and a lot to look forward to in 2023. Both deaneries will continue on the Cultivate pathway and are getting ready to start launching new worshipping communities, as well as to revitalise existing communities.
There is still a long way to go to become Fit for Mission. But, this journey is most definitely filled with a lot of hope and expectation to see what God will do through the people of St Helens and West Derby.
www.liverpool.anglican.org/fitformission
Together we can be Fit for Mission