This is the expanded version of the presentation on our parish vision I gave to the AVM this morning.

1. SIGNS OF GROWTH

2. LAST YEAR…
AT THE AVM

3. WE HAVE A (FIVE
YEAR) DREAM...

4. OUR DREAM...
St Gwladys’ a thriving, lively, growing church made up of all
ages. Full of joy and the power of the Spirit. A really safe,
welcoming and family friendly atmosphere where children are
allowed to be children and each one is accepted and
appreciated for who they are and challenged to grow as
disciples of Jesus.
Passionate worship and relevant, challenging Bible teaching.
Recognisably Anglican in feel. Deep Christian relationships of
prayer and accountability with each other. People living out
lives of intentional mission in Bargoed. New people every week.

5. OUR DREAM…(CONT)
Lives changed. Marriages/relationships
transformed. Poverty being overcome. A caring
and healing community. Lay gifts prominently
used in every aspect of church life.
Mission teams from St G’s reinforcing
churches in Deri and Brithdir and equipping/
releasing them into mission.

6. THE MASTERPLAN…
(OR THE MASTER’S
PLAN…)

7. THE PLAN FOR GROWTH
Focus on Mission & Evangelism
Remove barriers to people finding out about Jesus
Great welcomers welcoming people really well
Develop a church culture where we are equipped and
empowered as disciples of Jesus and released into
mission and ministry

8. HOW ARE WE DOING
ONE YEAR LATER?

9. FOCUS ON MISSION & EVANGELISM
Street teams at Bargoed Town Events like Christmas
Market and Spring Fayre offering healing ministry
and general prayer
Evangelistic focus at Christmas services & special
events like Caerphilly Carol Service.
We had over 800 people in for Christmas Carol
services who don't usually come & the feedback was
great!

10. FOCUS ON MISSION & EVANGELISM (CONT…)
Alpha Course ran last Autumn. Alpha Banner
outside Church.
Hog Roast and Barn Dance was a great night out
and we learned loads for the future.
St G’s Church Hall Project
CAP Debt Centre

11. OUR VISION
Tackle the related problems of poverty of
opportunity, poverty of community, social
exclusion, material poverty and spiritual poverty
in a holistic way.

12. THE MEANS
Use our Church Hall and the paid employees to enable a
range of groups and activities which meet our vision.
These will be run by both ourselves and outside partners.
They will provide opportunities for both Church and
Community Volunteers who themselves will benefit from
the training and experience provided.

13. Setback with Mary-Bridget relocating to Devon
But we were awarded £227,000 by the Big Lottery
Fund and now we’ve got a fantastic new team…
Miriam
Project Coordinator
Aimee
Volunteer Support Worker
Deb
Administrator
PROGRESS

14. Things really beginning to flourish.
New Volunteers
Exciting new partnerships with Mind, Communities
First, Parent Network, Interserve and the Job Centre.
Revenue from Hall Hire for 2014 was over £17000.
(nearly 3x 2012 figure)
PROGRESS (CONT…)

15. FUTURE PLANS
Build on these great foundations
Raise funding for phase 2 of the Building Redevelopment
Work with Purple Shoots on ways to help people start
small businesses
Youth Work?

16. CHRISTIANS AGAINST POVERTY
CAP Debt Centre
Open Now! Covering CF81,
CF82, NP24 and NP12
Providing world-class solutions
for people with debt problems
Money Course
Coming Soon…
Come and find out
more on CAP Sunday -
May 31st
Covering Rhymney Valley by partnering with other churches

17. CHRISTIANS AGAINST POVERTY
Come and find out
more on CAP Sunday -
May 31st
Covering Rhymney Valley by partnering with other churches
CAP Debt Centre
Waiting to hear about a
£10,000 grant that would
allow us to employ Beth for
24 hours a week as Debt
Centre Manager
Please Pray & Help Us
Spread the News!

18. Weighed down by debt?
We can help for free!
0800 328 0006

19. Simpler service
Fewer books
Improved singing
Relevant Biblical preaching
St G's website
REMOVING BARRIERS

20. STGWLADYS.ORG
Launched August
2014
Looked at by 1694
people
Who visited a total of
2518 times, viewing
5821 pages.

21. Some miss the organ.
Some find the screen hard to see.
Some liked the old books.
Worry we're becoming somehow less
Anglican.
Anxiety over plans for further changes.
REMOVING BARRIERS... IS
COSTLY

22. Our organist resigned, despite my asking him
to stay, and organists don't grow on trees...
Plus the singing is better to guitar and piano.
We are actively looking for a pianist/
keyboard player who will help us expand our
repertoire. Any suggestions?
There are seats closer to the screen and we're
trying black and white to make it clearer.
REMOVING BARRIERS... IS
COSTLY BUT...

23. I'd suggest that by making things easier for newcomers
we're becoming more Anglican. We're now much
closer to the mainstream of the Anglican tradition.
The current pattern of services has been recognised by
the PCC as unsustainable and a barrier to mission. Not
making necessary changes will be worse.
Look at recent Baptisms for proof it's working - much less "us
and them".Visitors joining in and engaging with God through
our worship.
REMOVING BARRIERS... IS
COSTLY BUT...

24. REMOVING FURTHER BARRIERS...
All congregations consulted in March 2015 over
service times and patterns in the Parish. The new
PCC will reconsider the issues in light of the
received feedback and make a recommendation.
Revised Holy Communion service booklets for
St. G's in the next few months.
Change is a normal part of a healthy Church.

25. WELCOMING
A strong area!
Could we leave seats at the back?
Sometimes might need to be sensitive to the
person and be a bit more low key.
Keep up the good work!

26. DEVELOPING OUR
CULTURE
Karen to head up Prayer Ministry Team. Will approach
people and invite to training. We will commission them
during a service and release them to exercise this ministry
on a Sunday.
Stewardship course.
Preaching and teaching over time will help us embody our
values.

27. Remember, this is
Jesus picture of His
Church...

28. SO ARE WE GROWING?
"I planted, Apollos watered, but God
gave the growth." 1 Corinthians 3:6

29. MORNING ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
Jan 2013 April 2013 July 2013 Oct 2013 Jan 2014 April 2014 July 2014 Oct 2014

30. CHRISTMAS ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
30
60
90
120
Christingle Carol Service Midnight Communion Christmas Day
2012 2013 2014

31. EASTER ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
Maundy Thursday Good Friday Easter Sunday

32. HOW ARE WE DOING?
There are definitely
signs of growth!

33. SUMMARY
A mixed picture.
Spiritual growth happening. More of God’s presence. People
growing in God. New boldness in praying for people and sharing
our faith.
Strong numerical growth in 2013. Numbers down in early 2014.
Since then numerical growth has resumed and looks to be
continuing this year.
Good figures at Christmas and Easter are signs of a growing
fringe.

34. MORNING ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
Jan 2013 April 2013 July 2013 Oct 2013 Jan 2014 April 2014 July 2014 Oct 2014

35. MORNING ATTENDANCE AT ST G’S
A mixed picture
Strong growth in 2013
People left in early 2014, which affects the figures
but growth is continuing….

36. CHRISTMAS ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
30
60
90
120
Christingle Carol Service Midnight Communion Christmas Day
2012 2013 2014

37. EASTER ATTENDANCE - ST G'S
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
Maundy Thursday Good Friday Easter Sunday

38. HOW ARE WE DOING?
There are definitely
signs of growth!

39. STEWARDSHIP IS ONE OF
OUR MAIN CHALLENGES

40. YEARLY BALANCE
-£18000.00
-£13500.00
-£9000.00
-£4500.00
£0.00
£4500.00
£9000.00
£13500.00
£18000.00
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

41. DEFICITS ARE NOTHING NEW!

42. DEFICITS ARE NOTHING NEW!

43. TOTAL GIVING
£0.00
£10000.00
£20000.00
£30000.00
£40000.00
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

44. AVERAGE GIVING
£0.00
£2.75
£5.50
£8.25
£11.00
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Giving per person per week

45. GROWTH - A CHALLENGE
We hope you are excited by this vision.
It's bold, relevant to our context and it's working.
We need 4 things from you...

46. WE NEED...
1. Your prayers.
2. Your time.
3. Your patience.
4. You to prayerfully consider your level of giving.

47. RAISING OUR GIVING
Our giving per person last year was £10.74 per
week.
But running the church last year cost us
£16.35 per person per week.
So to pay our way we need to raise our giving
by £5.61 per person per week.
To tithe our giving we’d need to raise an extra
£7.42 per person per week.

48. RAISING OUR GIVING
Not everyone can easily afford that!
But giving to God’s work is part of what it
means to follow Jesus.
So please prayerfully consider whether you
can give the extra to enable the great things
we’re doing as a church to continue!

49. RAISING OUR GIVING
Also please consider using the Gift Direct
Scheme, instead of standing orders or
envelopes.
Experience shows that Regular, Proportional
Giving is the best way to support the work of
the parish & Gift Direct is the best way to do
that.