| Vision In Action Update A big thank you for everyone’s help with distributing the” pass it round” packs, the launch service and creating the vision plan from the parish away day.
Hopefully you will have had sight of your “pass it round” pack which includes the finalised vision plan for the parish.
The vision plan outlines some tangible changes for the parish and they are broken down in to 5 areas. Below is a brief summary.
Outreach
- A welcome pack for all new members
- An exploring faith course
- Create Fresh expressions of church
Community
- Design non church based worship
- Improve appearance of our churches
Worship
- Identify 12 key Christian events and design specific worship
- Encourage diversity of worship styles
Communication
- Create a robust contact database
- Create conherent methods of communication
Resources and Governance
- Detailed parish constitution to be created
The packs go in a great deal more detail but hopefully this gives you a taster. All these plans/suggestions came from the parish away day, so you might see your own idea!
Welcome Packs
This aim received a very high level of support during our parish Vision Day at Cantell earlier in the year. To quote one participant, it was said (very loudly and clearly) “We should produce something in print to give to newcomers to welcome them”
Sounds like a good idea. But, who are the newcomers?
- Jane Smith’s Aunt Edna is staying with Jane for the weekend and has come to church with her.
- A mum and her three children have come to church for the first time and seem to be familiar with finding their way through the service books
- Gordon Jones has noticed that a couple have moved in opposite his house
- A young couple seem to be looking for somewhere to get married next year
- And a middle aged woman, who nobody knows, is sitting in the back row.
Aunt Edna is an occasional visitor and potentially a regular one; the first family seem to be churchgoers – they could be visiting, be looking for a new church, or have recently moved to the area; Gordon Jones’s neighbours may have no interest in God or church whatsoever; the engaged couple may or may not come again; and the middle aged woman?
Clearly, there are several categories of newcomer and ultimately we would like to produce a Welcome Pack to cater for all these groups, but as a priority the feedback on the Vision Day (and subsequently) has suggested that we should initially focus on people like Gordon Jones’ neighbours. We want to initially produce a leaflet that all of us can have a copy or two of at home to pop through the door (or even better accompany with a personal visit) should we notice that new people have moved into our street. This will welcome the newcomers to the neighbourhood and to the church: outlining, in brief, details of the locations and services that go on in North Stoneham and Bassett Parish.
Ultimately, though, this will become one leaflet within a much larger Welcome Pack, catering for all of the newcomers mentioned above. It is envisaged that a well designed cardboard outer pocket will hold a number of smaller flyers and leaflets. These might include a leaflet focusing on activities for young people; the church’s music; finance; social activities; worship …. Perhaps we should include not just church information but information about the area; local beauty spots to visit; and farmers markets to shop at. What do you think? The Outreach Group (incorporating others who have indicated that they would like to be involved with this in their Pass-It-On-Pack response) will be thinking about and writing the material for the pack over the next few months. Your ideas are welcome! … Please pass them on to any of the Outreach Group members: Eileen Brown, Chris Day, George King, Elizabeth Porter, or Diana Sparkes.
Talking and listening
One of the top priorities from the vision day was to improve communication across and within the churches of the parish. Many people acknowledged that we have some excellent tools to communicate. Our weekly news letter, our monthly magazine and our excellent web site. So we have the tools, it is just how we use them. The contributors on the vision day suggested some practical improvements:
- Communicate to people in their chosen means, for example email or by letter
- Produce a robust contact database that included everyone involved in the parish
- Clergy to focus on a few key points each Sunday in the notices across all churches
- Improve notice-boards
- Listen
What have we done so far?
- The contact database is up and running. We have some 220 names already on the list, many of whom were not on the electoral roll.
- The weekly newsletter has been enhanced and made more focussed
- Working with the worship group we plan to improve
publicity for services
Iona Pilgrimage
A number of people have said they are interested in a pilgrimage to Iona next Autumn. The pilgrimage would last for some days. Iona Abbey is run by the Church of Scotland but is open to all Christians and is set on the beautiful Scottish island of Iona, off the Isle of Mull. Everyone who has experienced Iona will share its spiritual power. We are keen to lead this pilgrimage but we need some ideas of numbers who would come.
Are you interested? What concerns would you have? Please give any comments to a member of the PCC or ministerial team.
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