Growing new congregations
The population across the Diocese is expanding and we are seeing rapid social and environmental changes. A population at least the size of Edinburgh will move into this Diocese over the next fifteen years. The New Congregations programme is centered around the aim to grow 750 new congregations over the next decade through church planting and establishing fresh expressions of church.
It is an ambitious aim and if we are to succeed it must be a plan for us all: congregations of every tradition: rural, suburban, and urban parishes and churches large and small. We recognise the faithful work that currently exists whilst looking to those people, neighbourhoods, communities and networks in each area of the Diocese that are unreached and untouched.
Building on the opportunities of lockdown
Watch a webinar from 26 November 2020.
Quick survey
If you are an incumbent in this Diocese, please fill in this very short survey to help us to discover where new congregations exist or have the potential to exist. “Might our Parish have a New Congregation?” is useful background information to how we are defining terms
How will we do this?
Jesus was present and engaged with people and as a Christ-like church we are called to be present and engaged in every community. We want to nurture courage and creativity in enabling as many local churches as possible to pioneer new congregations and we are paying particular attention to areas which, historically, have been under-resourced.
We are doing this in three different ways:
New worshipping communities
New worshipping communities emerge among people who do not normally attend church. They typically (but not always) comes into existence through a small group of Christians who prayerfully listen to their context, find simple ways to love people outside the church, build community with them, share their Christian faith and help people journeying toward Christ to form a worshipping community where they are and connect with the wider church.
Resourcing Hubs
Resourcing hubs are large churches that want to ‘give themselves away.’ They offer resources, ideas, and a forum for learning where it is needed, where it is wanted and in a way that’s right for the local context. We currently have three Resourcing Hubs in the Oxford Diocese with further Hubs in the pipeline. These are Greyfriars, Reading, St Andrew’s, High Wycombe, and St Mary’s, Bletchley, with two further Hubs in Slough and Milton Keynes planned for 2021 and others being identified.
Church grafts & church plants
Church plants take members from an existing congregation to a new place. Church grafts are people moving from one church to another or into a new area of housing. We have seen a strong desire for church planting, grafting and partnerships in the Diocese where the mission strength of one parish can be released to unlock potential elsewhere.
What’s happening already?
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