St Andrew’s Church [Photo courtesy Pat Lake]
St Andrew’s Church Growth Action Plan was developed in 2014 and presented to the church at the 2014 AGM. It will be reviewed in subsequent AGMs.
Five Year Vision
By 2019 we will, if God wills …
Be known as a “Vibrant community with a vibrant faith”.
Wouldn’t that be fabulous? But to achieve that, what will we aim to do in our life together as church?
Grow in discipleship
- Grow our congregation numerically
- Increase active discipleship amongst church members through teaching and learning
- Provide and take advantage of opportunities to discuss and develop our faith.
- See more people actively involved, and working towards “every member ministry”.
Be representative of our community
- See families and children joining us
- Make consistent provision for children
- Provide opportunities for young people to develop their faith and be involved in church life.
- Become a “church family” where all ages, from 0-100+ are welcome and valued
- Ensure services give a breadth of styles and types of worship.
Be a welcoming church
- Make the building a welcoming environment for all who come in.
- Ensure all levels of capability and disability are catered for.
- Make our publications attractive and accessible to all.
- Be warm and friendly to newcomers
Care for and support one another in the church family and the community
- Include more purely social events in our calendar of activities
- Explore ways of developing our pastoral ministry
- Seek to maintain and improve ways of supporting the elderly, housebound and unwell
This is a “Big Ask”! So we have split our 5-year vision down into smaller, one-year chunks. Over the page is our plan for this coming year. We’ll review at next year’s APCM just how we have progressed, and what the next stage might be.
One Year Plan 2014-2015
As we move towards our five year vision this year we will …
Grow Discipleship
- Run three, six week bible study courses during the year. Objective – 50% of congregation to attend at least one course.
- Establish occasional “Pints of View” evenings in the pub and/or “Tea and Talk” at Church.
Be a welcoming church
- Establish a group to consider how to improve the welcome we afford to visitors to church.
Be representative of our community
- Set up and train a children’s and youth ministry team and raise the profile of children’s work (Sundays and midweek) within church and the community.
- Provide a Sunday School group in each of the 11am Communion services.
Care for and support others in the church family and the community
- Maintain and develop the involvement of church members in care for the community
- Plan for at least 5 purely social events for church members and friends during the year.