Doncaster Circuit

1

• Doncaster Circuit
• A
• Policy for Mission

2

• Purposes
• To encourage our churches to proclaim and affirm
  their 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.
• To make disciples of Jesus Christ
• To make best use of our human and physical
  resources to this end.
• To develop structures of good governance that
  enable us to meet these aims

3

• Core Values related to Our Calling
• Worship
• Explore and develop ways in which we might
  provide new and varied examples of God centred
  prayer and worship.
• Explore and develop new ways of being church.
• Ensure that worship experiences engage with the
  unchurched or with groups on the edge.
• Use our range of buildings more effectively.
• Explore worship as a lifestyle.
• Developing the role of fellowship groups.

4

• Core Values related to Our Calling
• Learning
• Develop a greater understanding of the world
  church both in terms of learning from it and
  supporting its work.
• Deepening spirituality and nurturing faith.
• Improving the way we communicate issues and
  publicise issues and events.

5

• Core Values related to Our Calling
• Caring
• Explore what works well in our churches.
• Develop courses that support work in pastoral
  areas
• Deepening and developing our understanding and
  experience of Christian fellowship.

6

• Core Values related to Our Calling
• Service
• Identifying local community needs and how they
  might be met.
• Continuing the work with refugees, asylum seekers
  and immigrant communities.
• Working with others in disadvantaged communities.
• Enhancing our work with children, families and
  young people.
• Town centre witness

7

• Core Values related to Our Calling
• Evangelism
• Developing and expanding the caring sharing ethos
  of friendly welcoming communities.
• Sharing our Christian outreach with other church
  groups (ecumenical initiatives)
• Developing and sharing outreach activities to
  specific communities such as Open the Book work
  in schools.
• Creating a culture where making disciples is seen
  as the responsibility of us all and which becomes
  the norm.
• Encouraging people to know how to develop faith
  sharing opportunities.

8

• Principle issues that effect us in next 5-10
  years
• Challenging a culture of maintaining the status
  quo and moving towards a mission focused culture.
• We have a large number of aging congregations and
  small church congregations
• Our physical presence is not always related to
  population centres
• Some buildings are not fit for purpose.
• We continue to struggle with an infrastructure
  that is not easy to change
• Effective and efficient deployment of staff and
  resources
• The need to work together with other churches and
  denominations

9

• Some positive moves
• We have been actively engaged in a process of
  reviewing the life of our circuit and seeking to
  be proactive with regard to the need for change.
• To this end the circuit has appointed stewards
  for growth and development a reflection of the
  importance of this issue.
• The circuit has been able to encourage and
  support outreach at places such as Hexthorpe,
  especially in terms of the Iranian Community.
• Unlocking church capital to spend on mission
  related activity.
• Deployment of Lay workers on key areas for
  development
• Churches are becoming increasingly aware of the
  importance of Mission.
• Some are recognising the value of amalgamating to
  develop stronger worship communities.
• We have increased the number of Local Preachers

10

• Some Priorities for the next Five years
• Creating a culture that focuses on making
  disciples.
• Engaging more effectively with families, children
  and young people.
• Get alongside people and their problems.
• Explore new ways of worship both in terms of
  Sunday Services and those that occur at other
  times and in other places.
• Transform church and circuit governance to
  enhance our effectiveness, making better use of
  time and resources.
• Create a programme of learning opportunities to
  match training and skills needs.
• Provide appropriate pastoral care to aging
  congregations.
• Developing our relationships and sharing of
  mission with other Christian churches and groups
  through practical, measurable outcomes.
• Explore issues related to the location and number
  of churches to reflect a better match of churches
  to population centres.

11

• Next Steps
• To respond to the Mapping the Way Forward Group
• To determine specific priorities
• To set specific and measurable targets related to
  our core values and priorities
• To determine which group will undertake this
  process