discussion paper for MC Committee

1. Sing A New
Church Into Being
Towards a Strategy of Mission
For the Metropolitan Church

2. An Overview of Our Mission
What We Do Already
• Worship
• Prayer & Spirituality
• Building Community through care and social activity
• Social Action
• Growing in Discipleship
• Evangelism

3. Worship
What We Do
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Sunday worship each week
• Well planned
• Special worship for festivals
• Wide range of people deliver
• Good, professional, standard of
music and preaching
• Planned only by Andy
• Only three preachers
• Only one musician
• Worship rota effected by transitory
nature of our church

4. Prayer & Spirituality
What We Do
• Daily Devotion sent by email
• Self-Guided prayer/meditation on
the website for each day of the
week
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Around 90 people receive it.
• Content varies for Advent/Christmas and Holy
Week/Easter
• Good feedback received
• Very professional
• Web material Suits those who are less verbal.
• Written only by Andy
• Devotions suit those who like verbal stimuli
• Unsure how well the 7 web devotions are
used.
• Nothing done, outside of worship, for
corporate prayer.

5. Building Community
through care and social activities
What We Do
• Social events on ad hoc basis – ie
Shrove Tuesday, Passover, Advent
Tea, Christmas Meal, very
occasional outings with WStN
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Socials around food usually very
successful.
• We manage to fund places, where cost is
involved, for those without means.
• Food based activities not great for
everyone.
• Infrequent.
• Doing little to care for those who drop off
our radar.

6. Social Action
What We Do
Strengths & Weaknesses
• General Ministry with LGBT asylum
seekers in church – welcoming,
befriending, advocacy, food bank.
•
•
•
•
• First Wednesday
•
•
•
•
Enhances and enriches our congregation.
Opens us to see the world as it really is.
Educates us re homophobia.
Allows us to secure grant funding for some
core activities as well as this specific ministry.
Some may be alienated by a multi-racial
church
Many asylum seekers don’t remain with the
church after gaining status.
Makes demands of Andy’s time (but is now
funded for that time)
At the moment only run by Andy.

7. Growing in Discipleship
What We Do
• Book club (in past)
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Allowed thoughtful reflection, greater connection, and
interesting discussions related, often, to discipleship.
• Sessions on URC beliefs
• First two sessions really well attended. Some WStN
involvement.
• Lenten Sessions in 2013
• Very well attended.
• Good discussions
• Ecumenical
• Good start, poorly attended after a while. Not cost
effective for rental costs of church.
• Less than a quarter of members have come
• Dependent on Andy

8. Evangelism
What We Do
• Website
• Pride
• Visitors
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Excellent professional website which is easy to navigate and a mine of
useful information. Most visitors say they come because of website., but
is it an issue dependent on just Walt and Philip to maintain?
• Professional display and information material which needs to be
rebranded.
• Pride provides excellent networking opportunities for Andy with other
LGBT leaders but Lifestyle Expo not a really efficient use of our time given
it’s a three day commitment. It is VERY dependent on Andy. Many
volunteers this year from asylum community, less from settled members.
• Many visitors come to church and we’re good at harvesting contact
information and getting them on e-list and reasonably successful at
helping newer people integrate
• Could we be more focused on the needs of visitors? IE do we give to
them, and regular congregation, opportunities to grow and develop in
the faith?

9. Sing A New
Church into Being
What Next?

10. Evaluate and Plan
• Honestly evaluate what we do – ourselves and as a church
• Plan for what we already to and to work out a, few, things we could do
differently in order to help us enhance our mission.
• Any such goal setting process needs to be owned by wider congregation and
Andy needs to be seen as a resource but not necessarily the lead on every area.
• An enhanced leadership team needs to be developed which includes, and can
run alongside, the Committee under the authority of the Church Meeting.