The Church exists to help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care.
As part of a fresh approach to every aspect of Our Calling in the light of the pandemic the church will from Sept 2020 onward be considering how to Learn and Care Together ‘as never before’ – see below for material relating to this which will be added over the coming months;
A Prayer for Learning and Caring
‘Teach me my God and King, in all things thee to see,
and what I do in anything to do it as for thee’.
Loving God, teach us to care ‘as never before’,
to care for those, whom we have ‘passed by on the other side’,
to care in ways that will be more than a temporary sticking plaster.
And help us to care for one another, as we offer ‘mutual support’,
‘in our world wide task of caring
for the hungry and despairing’.
And as we care, help us to learn
– the power of your love. Amen.
Some key questions to guide us
What church activities help us most to deepen our faith in God?
How effective are our small groups, in linking faith to everyday life?
Are there peripheral activities we should stop, to make time for our training and learning needs?
What activities make it easy for others to join us? What links do we have with groups using our premises?
What are our plans and targets for developing our life together over the next year?
Looking back at 2016-2017
We encouraged people to join a small group in October (see worship section) and February as we focused on Mark’s Gospel and the practical application of Jesus’ teaching on discipleship. We started two new groups meeting on Thursday nights (WR) and Friday afternoons (QP) to look at the ‘Follow Me – Mark’ material
In our preaching and teaching we try to encourage individuals to apply what they have learnt as they put their faith into action and learn through their experience. Discipleship is a form of apprenticeship where we learn ‘on the job’.
It is not helpful to label any church group or activity as peripheral as it may (yet) be the means for some to grow in their knowledge and understanding of Jesus. We plan to encourage all our groups, regular activities and one off events to become more open to the involvement of others, and more spiritually welcoming and user friendly to newcomers, through the 2017-2018 Church theme of ‘Outward Generosity’.
As well as the focus on reaching out in new and better ways to others, the Church Theme for 2017-2018 will set clear targets for the support of the church both financially and in terms of time and expertise , and encourage the giving of the church to the wider ‘work of God’ both at home and overseas
Areas that need to be addressed:
Learning from others
A District Training Day on the use of the internet will be held in our church in October.
We need to share more deeply and learn from other churches in CTB (Churches Together in Billericay).
We need to attend relevant training days elsewhere.
In what ways can we build on our links with the church in Kenya and receive from them
Clearer expectations
We need to be clear what we expect from our church leadership both paid and unpaid and what they in turn expect from the church members
