VISION

The statement on our website reads:
"Our worship is at the centre of our life and many different activities flow from it as we seek to reach out into our community. We impose no conditions upon those who come through our doors, other than a willingness to be open to the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ"

Our Strengths

The following were identified as our strengths at a recent Vision Day:
Inclusiveness and welcoming

Our Goals

Growth of the Church

It is recognised that we need to develop new ways of taking God's message to those currently outside the church. In order to achieve this we will need to communicate better, both amongst ourselves and out to the community

Worship

There is agreement that we should maintain traditional forms of worship as well as explore ways to develop new and different styles. The introduction of further family orientated services is one such consideration. We seek to give our eucharistic worship some fresh forms of expression. It may be necessary to undertake some re-ordering of the church, and improve some of the facilities, in order to provide a more flexible environment in which to conduct our worship

Young People

There is a need to attract and retain more young people. It is envisaged that this may be achieved by growing links with local schools and organisations, as well as encouraging teaching directed at young people, such as Youth Alpha. There should be promotion of better facilities and resources for young people. The new incumbent should inspire and enable the training of adults to encourage and nurture young people on their own journeys of faith. In the spirit of the Deanery Plan we should work with other churches to develop initiatives directed at young people.

Community Service

We need to take the church out to the people and provide support to the community via programmes such as the Pastoral Care Scheme. All forms of ministry need to be supported and encouraged. The further development of chaplaincy teams and our healing ministry have already been identified as ways to move forward.

Teaching

We need to ensure the spiritual growth and renewal of the congregation. There is a desire to increase our biblical knowledge and deepen our faith through teaching. We would look to the new incumbent to provide some of this teaching although spiritual growth should also be achieved through House Groups and holding appropriate courses such as Alpha. These will also provide opportunities for increased fellowship.

Giving