1 / 24

Towards Vibrant Communities: A Presbytery Mission Plan

This plan outlines strategies for implementing a mission-focused approach within the Westminster Presbytery, reflecting core principles and goals at the assembly, board, and presbytery levels. It emphasizes empowering local congregations, prioritizing outreach, and fostering corporate leadership. The plan includes goals such as developing strategic regional missional plans, training local leaders, exploring new funding methods, and planting new churches. Additionally, it advocates for bivocationalism, community-based approaches, and flexible church models. By initiating a presbytery-wide strategy rooted in core principles, the plan aims to enhance mission effectiveness and engagement across the region.

fallon
Download Presentation

Towards Vibrant Communities: A Presbytery Mission Plan

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Towards a Presbytery Mission Plan • Westminster Presbytery May 2013

  2. Lessons from PCI • Three levels of Discussion: • Assembly-agreed vision and principles

  3. Lessons from PCI • Three levels of Discussion: • Assembly-agreed vision and principles • Assembly Mission Board strategy

  4. Lessons from PCI • Three levels of Discussion: • Assembly-agreed vision and principles • Assembly Mission Board strategy • Presbytery implementation

  5. The Vision • “Vibrant communities of Christ, serving and transforming Ireland”

  6. Core Principles - Assembly-level • The Local Congregation is the primary unit of mission • The Centre exists to resource the grass-roots, not vice versa

  7. Core Principles - Board-level • Those presently outside take precedence over those inside • People take precedence over plant • Teams take the place of “solo artists” • Leadership becomes truly corporate and courageous

  8. Core Principles - Board-level • Go out to where people already are • Proclaim the Good News with sensitivity, courage and confidence • Pepare to be flexible • Resources - human and financial - follow priorities

  9. Core Principles - Presbytery-level • Single-centre ministries are most effective • Team ministries are most effective • Resources normally allocated on basis of vision and “kingdom potential” not just population or finance

  10. Goals: Presbytery-level • Only Congregations with clear missional goals will normally be allowed leave to call • Identify key strategic population centres and develop regional missional plans for each region

  11. 19 churches: 9 Ministers Old Presbytery of Donegal

  12. 14 churches: >16 people Full-time 3 Ministers 1 lay ev’list 1 yth devpt. worker 1deacon(ess) Part-time 1 Minister 1 Planter 2 evangelists 3 seniors pastors 3 yth workers + 6 Accred. preachers Northern Circuit X Central Circuit X X X Southern Circuit X Old Presbytery of Donegal

  13. Goals: Presbytery-level • Train local leaders for the new reality • Students to get exposure to missional and contextual ministry at College

  14. Goals: Presbytery-level • Investigate new ways of funding Bivocationalism Support-raising Redundant property Auxiliary Ministries

  15. Goals: Presbytery-level • Find alternative ways of supporting isolated congregations

  16. Strong-weak / Urban-rural unions

  17. Strong-weak / Urban-rural unions

  18. Goals: Presbytery-level • Develop a planting strategy and plant two new churches in next 5 years

  19. Take account of emerging planting research • Less can be more • Community-based • Hub with satellites • Variety of funding and leadership models • Built-in reproducibility • Take a serious look at bivocationalism

  20. Advantages of bivocationalism • Builds in inter-dependence from the start • Develops a healthy theology of work and vocation from the beginning • Natural way of developing missional relationships • Avoids unhealthy Sacred-Secular / Clergy-laity divides • Can take into account contextual sensitivities • Finance

  21. Goals: Presbytery-level • Initiate a Presbytery-wide strategy based on core principles and agreed priorities

  22. Weaknesses of process • A Paper Exercise? • Too top-heavy? • Implementation: vested interests

  23. Strengths of process • Focuses attention on Mission and Vision, rather than A,B,C (Accounts, Buildings & Congregational size) • Starts with congregation, empowers Presbytery to ask hard questions • Encourages local self-sufficiency • Gets things done!

More Related