The Priorities of Our Calling

1. The Priorities of Our Calling Priorities intopractice a short guide

2. Our Calling The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God’s love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission • We seek to do this through: • Worship • Learning & Caring • Service • Evangelism Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

3. Priorities for the Methodist Church To proclaim and affirm our conviction of God’s love in Christ, for us and for all the world; and renew confidence in God’s presence and action in the world and in the Church The Priorities are a vision for change and for hope in the Church. God is calling us to pull together in developing the Priorities In churches, districts and the Connexional Team, with imagination and courage Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

4. Priorities for the Methodist Church Underpinning everything we do with God-centred worship and prayer Dynamic God, dancing through creation, you dare us to be different. You grant us a glimpse of your kingdom: where creation is liberated, nations are healed and people are reconciled to one another and to you. Save us from making your vision a daydream. Lead us by your Spirit to do your will, that here and now your earth and your people may know healing, wholeness and hope. Amen Caroline Ainger, Methodist Relief and Development Fund Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

5. Priorities for the Methodist Church Underpinning everything we do with God-centred worship and prayer The Methodist Conference offers a wide variety of experiences. Through its worship, debates and many informal contacts, the Conference seeks to discern how God is at work. It also seeks to help the Methodist people witness to God’s love in ways that make sense in today’s society. The Conference therefore assesses proposals prayerfully against the Priorities agreed for the Methodist Church. These Priorities have to be put into practice in every part of the Church. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

6. Priorities for the Methodist Church Underpinning everything we do with God-centred worship and prayer The 2007 Conference has had to assess the results of the Team Focus process. This has sought to work out how the Connexional Team should change in order to support a Church that is changing in response to the Priorities. Are these proposals to the glory of God? The Conference endorsed the aims and emphases proposed for the reconfigured Connexional Team, its ways of working and the outline of the management patterns, which now move forward for implementation in September 2008. This booklet invites you to look at the Team Focus decisions in the light of the Priorities. It also invites you to look at the opportunities they present for your church, circuit and district. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

7. Supporting community development and action for justice, especially among the most deprived and poor - in Britain and worldwide What does your church do to promote justice? • Run a community project? • Organise Christian Aid Week collections? • Invest ethically? • Build a link with an overseas church? • Support a workplace chaplain? ‘The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.’ John Wesley Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

8. Supporting community development and action for justice, especially among the most deprived and poor - in Britain and worldwide What do you need from the Connexional Team to further this Priority? Overseas contacts? The World Church Relationships staff will know our partner churches Advice on best practice? The Team will link up networks of experts • Effective lobbying of Government? • Public Issues staff will work in an ecumenical team • Major issues will be addressed by focused projects Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

9. Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and faith in ways that make sense to all involved Methodism expresses its evangelism in many different ways. The cutting edge of the work is done through personal relationships at local level, not by connexional staff in offices. But most churches feel they need more help to fulfil the task, as Our Calling put it, ‘to make more followers of Jesus Christ’. Evangelism enablers around the Connexion already help churches with this challenge and will continue to work in partnership with Team members. So how will the reconfigured Connexional Team provide extra help? Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

10. Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and faith in ways that make sense to all involved The Team will work to help churches understand the cultures within which British Christians operate. The increased number of staff working on evangelism will work closely with those who have made a particular study of contemporary understandings of spirituality. An early project will focus on how to reach the cultures of young people who are outside the Church. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

11. Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and faith in ways that make sense to all involved The Team will learn from the evangelism of partner churches around the world. Staff working on our World Church Relationships will be fully integrated with staff supporting the British Connexion. The Team will put the latest skills in communication at the service of our evangelism. Communication professionals will be promoting the Church’s communication of its story and mission as well as ensuring effective internal communications. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

12. Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and faith in ways that make sense to all involved The Team will structure and manage projects with an emphasis on evangelism. Project staff will draw in expert resources to develop experimental work in response to requests from around the Church. The Team will provide grants for local initiatives. A substantial amount of money each year will be reserved for innovative local mission projects, especially where they could be pointers to ways forward for the wider Connexion. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20 (NRSV) Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

13. Priorities for the Methodist Church Encouraging fresh ways of being the Church Traditional ways of being the Church nourish and stimulate thousands of Methodists. But these patterns appeal less and less to the younger generations as the age profile of British Methodists shows. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

14. Priorities for the Methodist Church Encouraging fresh ways of being the Church So we need what the Archbishop of Canterbury calls ‘a mixed economy’ with different ways of being the Church flourishing alongside each other. The Connexional Team will have a particular role in helping to explore less established ways of expressing our faith. The Conference has asked the Team to help the Church with creative, innovative, risk-taking. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

15. Priorities for the Methodist Church Encouraging fresh ways of being the Church The Team will help in several ways • A responsive Team: with fewer permanent staff posts, there will be more scope for time-limited projects and temporary contracts to respond to new opportunities. • Training officers: the resources available will include a network of training officers based in the regions and nations of the Connexion, to help equip the local church for local challenges. • District development enablers: these new posts, funded centrally, will give extra resources for districts as they work out new patterns of church life in response to this Priority and others. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

16. Priorities for the Methodist Church Encouraging fresh ways of being the Church The Team will help in several ways • Missing Generation Project: one of the first major projects for the Team will be to explore how we can best reconnect with younger adults. • Under-19s Project: another early project will address how to build bridges to that large majority of young people and children who nowadays have no contact with the Christian community. • Ecumenical commitment: tackling the fresh expressions agenda is a task for the churches praying and working together. The Team will seek to work ecumenically wherever possible. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

17. Priorities for the Methodist Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible Being people-centred... ..means processes should be simplified • Property processes are being simplified and paper reduced. • The many connexional committees and reference groups are all to be reviewed. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

18. Priorities for the Methodist Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible Being people-centred... ...means giving the Team a human face • A friendly Help Desk will answer your questions. ...means supporting lay people as much as the ministers • Work on discipleship will support the whole people of God. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

19. Priorities for the Methodist Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible Being people-centred... ...means respecting all people • The Team will continue to give specific energy to work promoting equalities and diversity. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

20. Priorities for the Methodist Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible Being flexible... ...means recognising the diversity of local situations ...means shaping the Team’s leadership and management structures to maximise collaborative and co-ordinated working Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

21. Priorities for the Methodist Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible Being flexible... ...means promoting projects suggested from any part of the Connexion ...means having a responsive and flexible Team structure capable of adapting without major upheaval Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

22. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. It’s a New Day – New Ways of Working Values to underpin Ways of Working • Centrality of the gospel • Incarnational theology • Love, value, care and esteem of self and others Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

23. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. It’s a New Day – New Ways of Working Values to underpin Ways of Working • Trust, honesty and openness • Personal and professional integrity • Equality, fairness and justice • Characteristics of Methodist discipleship Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

24. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. It’s a New Day – New Ways of Working Many Church members see the Church lagging behind the ways of working which are taken for granted in other places. As part of reconfiguring the Connexional Team, the intention is to introduce the best of those practices, adapted for the work of the Church. The working style will emphasise a collaborative culture which stimulates new ideas. The Team needs to be known for its innovation, bold risk-taking and ability to grasp unexpected opportunities. An opportunity to really appreciate the skills of colleagues and be energised. Unsolicited comment from a current Team member Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

25. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. It’s a New Day – New Ways of Working The Team will make much more use of networks than in the past. Much more of its work will be delivered through projects, with clear objectives, timetables, budgets and management. The Team will also develop further its partnerships with many other organisations and agencies. A leaner, fitter Team... more for less. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

26. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Building Rapport Support for districts As well as serving circuits and churches, the reconfigured Team will improve its services to districts in a number of ways. It will always recognise that the districts are themselves very different from each other. • Additional resources will be made available to update and improve communications between the districts and other parts of the Connexion. • Direct support will come from the district development enablers, paid for from the connexional budget. They will complement the new regional training officers, and the existing district evangelism enablers. ...the whole body, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love Ephesians 4:16 (NRSV) Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

27. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Building Rapport Support for districts • Work continues on how to simplify the property regulations so that sponsors of projects and their districts have clear and manageable roles. Similarly, work has begun on how to draw into one simplified process the very many different ways in which connexional grants are agreed at present. Wherever possible, decision-making will be devolved to the districts with their better knowledge of the mission possibilities in a particular place. Specialist staff support from the Connexional Team will continue to be available, albeit sometimes funded by those who choose to use this service. ...the whole body, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love Ephesians 4:16 (NRSV) Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

28. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Rediscovering Hidden Treasure Using financial resources creatively The aspirations for the reconfigured Team have to be within a responsible financial framework. In fact there is much good news in this area. • The real value of the Assessment contribution required from local churches towards connexional costs will be reduced over the period 2008-11. • The Assessment request of each local church will be clearly divided between the shares needed for circuit, district and connexional expenditure. • Within the connexional budget, there will be income streams reserved for supporting local mission projects in line with Priorities. Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

29. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Rediscovering Hidden Treasure Using financial resources creatively • There will also be some income set aside for promoting innovative mission. For the medium term this can be supplemented by spending some reserves. • The Gift Aid Recovery Service for local churches will continue. • The basic costs of running the Connexional Team will be reduced by the 30% requested by the 2005 Conference Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

30. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Making Connections – Getting help from the Connexional Team On some subjects, the Team will assist the work of local churches by reinforcing local efforts with action at a national or international level. An example would be when the Church joins its ecumenical partners to lobby Government. On other subjects, the help will be more direct... • Help Desk • accessible to all • personal approach • handles e-mails, • phone and letters • service ethos • aims for excellence Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

31. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Making Connections – Getting help from the Connexional Team On some subjects, the Team will assist the work of local churches by reinforcing local efforts with action at a national or international level. An example would be when the Church joins its ecumenical partners to lobby Government. On other subjects, the help will be more direct... • Personnel advice • help with lay • employment terms • best practice advice • support if problems • arise • knowledge of Church law Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

32. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Making Connections – Getting help from the Connexional Team On some subjects, the Team will assist the work of local churches by reinforcing local efforts with action at a national or international level. An example would be when the Church joins its ecumenical partners to lobby Government. On other subjects, the help will be more direct... • Website online resources 24/7 • complements Help Desk • supports local church office holders • helps general public understand Methodism • updated regularly • easy to navigate Priorities into Practice: Team Focus

33. A newly configured Connexional Team means…. Making Connections – Getting help from the Connexional Team On some subjects, the Team will assist the work of local churches by reinforcing local efforts with action at a national or international level. An example would be when the Church joins its ecumenical partners to lobby Government. On other subjects, the help will be more direct... • Ecumenical complexities • best practice advice • legal expertise • encouraging local initiatives • providing grants Priorities into Practice: Team Focus