Towards a Mission - Christ Church Brunswick

Towards a
      Mission...
...that began 2000 years ago in
Jerusalem, began at Christ
Church Brunswick 160 years
ago, and has grown afresh over
the past two years

         Action
We have a God who acts in
history, sending his Son to draw
men and women to himself
We join in his sacred activity as
we worship and serve him with        PLANNING FOR
purpose and serenity
                                       NEW LIFE
            Plan                          @
‘At the appointed time God sent      CHRIST CHURCH
his Son’ (Hebrews 1)
                                      BRUNSWICK
God had a plan and has a plan
for us. Our task is to discover it    2018—2021
and do it...

So why a Mission Action Plan?
•     To focus our energies and attention towards the development and
      growth of our parish
•     To ensure that God continues to be worshipped, praised, and
      served in Brunswick
•     To help the Mission and Vision statements agreed by our Parish
      Council in 2016 be more than mere words!

                        Our Mission Statement
    We come together as disciples of Jesus worshipping and proclaiming
    him through Word and Sacrament, serving him through our love and
                             care of others.

                         Our Vision Statement
      To be known as a Christian community where all are welcomed,
    respected and invited to experience the joy of knowing God’s grace.

           Of course, we are not starting from scratch!
There have been many signs of blessing in recent years, adding to all
that has gone on before. These are some of them:
•     From an admittedly low base, the 10 a.m. congregation has grown
      considerably in the past two years—over 100% (see next page)!
•     More people are sharing in the leadership of that service through
      serving, reading, interceding, and offering hospitality.
•     Our choir is growing.
•     The daily pattern of worship has been extended to include Evening
      Prayer and intercessions. Often prayers are also said at midday.
      Mainly led by lay people, the daily rhythm is the heart of parish life
      and the key to renewal

•   The church and garden are again open to the public, and there are
    signs that they are much valued and well used
•   A ‘Year for God’ pastoral scheme has been established.
•   The vicarage has become one of the key ‘hubs’ for the parish
    community, and is used for a new informal Sunday evening opportunity
    for worship, teaching and fellowship.
•   Communications have improved - with the wider world through our
    renewed website, and within the congregation by an internal weekly
    email sent to 130+ people
•   Grants for $260k have been secured to repair our leaky church roof,
    and weekly ’live’ giving has
    increased by 30% in the past year
•   The Op shop has a new lease of life
    with volunteer leadership

Not so much a group of churchgoers but
a community of disciples..

The surprise of 2017!
Unexpectedly, a parcel of land adjacent the church on Sydney Road
came up for sale in early 2017. Through the swift action of the
Parish Council, and with the assistance of the diocese, loans were
secured to allow us to purchase the land.

Bought with the hope that we might have a visual and potentially
missional presence on Sydney Road, it was not the intention that
the land be developed as primarily income generating.

To pay for the purchase is a major challenge and there will be
considerable work to be done with our partner, the diocese, to test
the long term viability of the project. Viability will depend on the
development or realisation of other assets, enough to cover the
purchase cost.

This Mission Plan and parish efforts over the next few years will
depend very much on the outcome of future decisions about the
land which will need to be made during the latter part of 2018.

             How it might look if viability is established..

This is a THREE YEAR PLAN
There are clear aims for the first year with follow on action for the
second. The third will build on and complete, and during that year we
begin to set the next set of aims.

It’s a PLAN THAT REFLECTS OUR MISSION AND VISION STATEMENTS
and is:

    •      Challenging

    •      Realistic

    •      Intentional

    •      Open to change for good reason

Once agreed it becomes a measure of our faithfulness

                         OUR KEY INTENTION…
        ...is to grow from being a small to a medium size worshipping
   community (140 adults) over the next three years, that is, by our
                       annual meeting in October 2021.

This is a considerable challenge, but it highlights our belief that there is
  nothing more important that we do at Christ Church than make and
    nurture disciples of Jesus, disciples who worship and serve him.

                       GROWTH CHANGES THINGS
   Trusting that it is God who gives the growth, the challenge to the
    existing church community is to give ourselves to the necessary
             changes to make such growth possible if God wills.

If we are to grow in depth of discipleship and in number
      over the next three years it will bring considerable
                              challenges:

•     The limited size of the church building means we will need to
      establish a new congregation, probably meeting on Sunday
      evening. What sort of format and style should it have?

•     The demands that growth brings, both pastorally and liturgically,
      cannot be sustained by one full time ordained minister. A team
      approach to ministry must be developed. Leadership styles among
      both clergy and lay leaders have to change to allow for growth.

•     The ‘feel’ of Christ Church may change. A small congregation by
      and large knows each other and knows everything that’s going on,
      or at least as much as it wants to know. People know their place in
      a small church and know what to expect. As growth happens life
      becomes a bit more complicated, authority and decision making
      must be more dispersed, which requires more trust, and makes
      communication a bit more of a challenge.

      Sometimes church growth brings unhappiness, and
                        conflicting emotions.

Everyone generally wants the church to grow, but it can feel
disconcerting. The pastor can seem more distant and suddenly things
are happening that you may know nothing about!

    Understanding the dynamics of growth can help deal with some of
                            these confusions

.

And so to the specifics of the plan…
                         OVER THE NEXT YEAR
Aim 1 : We will continue to develop a well-organised and intentional
ministry of welcome by

1.   forming a group of appropriately briefed lay people to act as
     welcomers and guides in the church and Bardin Centre.

2.   improving our capacity to provide refreshments for a growing
     congregation.

3.   providing appropriate literature about our life together and the Lord
     we serve for both newcomers to the congregation and occasional
     visitors to the open church.

4.   developing a pattern of welcome gatherings for new folk
     introducing them to Christ Church, including the opportunities
     available for giving.

Aim 2 : We will begin to develop a greater sense of a ‘ministry team’ at
Christ Church by

1.   continuing to provide the necessary finance for the current
     provision of one full time ordained minister, and continue the ‘Year
     for God’ pastoral assistant scheme

2.   continuing to develop the ministry of lay people in a variety of
     forms, including the leadership of the daily prayer pattern, and in
     the leadership of various committees and task groups

3.   developing our PROPERTY STRATEGY to make provision for a future
     household of students, contributing to the life of the parish as
     appropriate.

...and in year two

4.   extending the provision of pastoral assistants by the additional
     appointment of a theological student living in the vicarage with the
     provision of a suitable honorarium, and with a particular brief to
     assist in the establishing of a second congregation

AIM 3 : We will develop a more intentional ministry to children by

1.   continuing to encourage children to participate in the liturgy through
     serving at the altar

2.   relocating the children’s corner from the back of the church to the
     rear of the Lady chapel on Sundays to ensure greater ‘sight lines’ and
     engagement

3.   providing suitable material relating to the theme of the liturgy for
     children visiting the corner

4.   beginning a teaching and activity opportunity on Sunday or on
     another day of the week for children and young people

AIM 4: To continue the process of encouraging discipleship by

1.   continuing to develop the Meet Up @ 5 program

2.   establishing further opportunities for Bible study, for example a
     Friday lunchtime Bible Study in the foyer of the Bardin Centre as part
     of making Friday a ’hub’ day for parish activities
...and in year two

3.   seeking to establish a regular outreach event to engage people not
     currently involved in the Christian community in discussion and
     reflection

AIM 5 : We will begin the process of establishing our presence on
Sydney Road should the financially modelling prove viable by

1.   demolishing the existing sheds, reducing the size of the wall and
     providing gates to establish the connection between the church,
     the land, and Sydney Road.

2.   working with a design consultant and others for both a long term
     vision for the site and temporary provision to begin to make it
     usable and ‘green’.

3.   seeking some early revenue for the site while not compromising
     the sense that the site is now church property

4.   beginning the process of reflection about how the site might be
     used evangelistically, for example at the March 2019 Sydney Rd
     Street Party.

AIM 6 : Begin the intentional improvement of the church building by

1.   developing an ongoing maintenance plan for our heritage listed
     building and examination of the major repair issues as we wait for
     the roof slate to arrive

2.   creating a movable raised dais to improve sight lines for the now
     established nave altar

3.   re –roofing the church building

4.   developing a comprehensive and costed program for the
     redecoration of the church to begin in Year Three.

AIM 7: Agree a viable property and financial plan that
enables the development of the overall site in line with
our agreed mission requirements by
1.   agreeing what’s required of the parish to enable the mission of
     the church to be sustained and developed for the foreseeable
     future in line with past and ongoing discussions at parish council
     and with the wider Christ Church community

2.   developing a staged plan for the delivery of the above, setting
     priorities and assessing the financial constraints and opportunities

3.   clarifying the various property titles that cover our overall site and
     their implications for development.

Postscript from the vicar and churchwardens…

This mission action plan is a sign of hope and confidence first of all in the
faithfulness of God toward his people, and in the renewal of our parish life
over the past two years. It presents us with a purposeful way forward. The
challenges that face us with regard to property are important; more
important is winning souls to Christ and deepening our own discipleship and
the quality of our worship. There is much for us to get on with!

The purchase of the land on Sydney Road in 2017 happened in the context of
our beginning to explore how to make best use of our property assets for the
purposes of the Gospel.

Necessity demanded a quick purchase, a decision made by the parish council
in conjunction with the diocese. We are now waiting for a report by
independent financial consultants about whether the hoped for and
necessary development of other parts of our overall site will make the
purchase financially sustainable in the longer term, without detracting from
the day to day life and energies of the parish.

When that report is available and has been digested by the parish council and
our diocesan partners we will be in a position to call together the parish
community to discuss and reflect together about the way forward.

This is an adventure!

Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that the decision to purchase the
land has galvanised us into a more intentional and forward looking approach
to our life and mission.

God has blessed us, and we can have a good hope that his blessing will
continue.

+Lindsay OGS Cecilia Fairlie Mary Harris Adrian Nye

Christ Church Brunswick

 ENTER THE MYSTERY