Diocesan Roadshows 2004
Building Stronger Parish Communities
- Making it work
Revd Dr Jonathan Gibbs
In his address at last autumn’s Diocesan Roadshows, Bishop Peter gave us a penetrating analysis of the issues facing the Church in contemporary Britain and an inspiring call to respond to those challenges with flexibility, imagination and commitment. No-one is suggesting that there are any magic answers or quick-fix solutions, but the Bishop has given us a strong lead, encouraging us to look to the future with both faith and confidence.
The responsibility now falls to us in the parishes and deaneries of our Diocese to work out what it means for us to “build stronger parish communities” – not by importing ready made solutions from elsewhere, but by working with the Spirit to discern God’s will and way for the Church in our own locality.
As Stephen Regan showed in his presentation “Stories of Faithfulness”, stronger parish communities does not necessarily mean bigger or richer. It means instead that we are learning to work with God faithfully and effectively in ways that reflect the needs of the communities of which we are part. It’s not about imitating what’s been done elsewhere – it’s about having the courage to take risks and try new things with God and for God on our own patch and in our own way.
A big part of that can, of course, be as a result of learning from others through allowing our shared ideas and experiences to help one another. That can happen within a church locally, through getting a group of people together to talk, to pray and to experiment with new ways of doing things. It can happen ecumenically in a local community, or between a cluster of churches within a deanery. But it always happens most effectively when we get together rather than trying to work it all out by ourselves. Is that kind of conversation and dialogue happening in your church and locality?
It can happen too when we draw on the resources that are available to us through the wider church. In our Diocese we have a fantastic team of people, full-time and part-time, at Church House and elsewhere, who are ready to help us to fulfil our calling the build these stronger parish communities. Every month there are courses on offer on ministry, mission, worship and witness, either offered through the Diocese or being put on by individual churches or deaneries. Look out for them and use them to help you!
Bishop Peter has challenged us to think and to act flexibly, bringing out things old and new from the store-house of God’s grace. As a Church we are committed to bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to each new generation, and in our increasingly diverse society that means finding more and more new ways of expressing the love of God in Christ through both word and deed. The Spirit of God works through both the traditional and the modern – and each has a place within the economy of God.
We need to rejoice in the diversity of God’s grace and of the world in which we live and to recommit ourselves to the work of the gospel, confident in our faith and ready to respond to the challenges that lie ahead – whatever they may be, practical, financial and above all spiritual. We need to look for ways of building stronger parish communities in which the love of God is seen and experienced more fully day by day. The responsibility is ours and together, by the grace of God, we can make it work.
The Revd Dr Jonathan Gibbs
Chairman, Roadshow Steering Group
Jonathan Gibbs