We Will Be More Compassionate in Serving Communities with the Love of God the Father

St Thomas Oakwood, London N14

We will be more compassionate in serving communities with the love of God the Father.
To enable this, we will by 2020,

realising that all we do should be done prayerfully:

What / How
1 / Serve the community with Christian parent & baby and toddler groups /

Continue to support, facilitate and pray for existing groups, which include 2 morning parent & toddler groups and ‘New Kids’
Limit the hiring out of our church halls if it would result in a negative impact on our ability to run the above groups
Develop a succession plan for the key role of adults running these groups
Carry out an annual review of current pre-school provision with a view to expanding it as and when facilities & staff become more available

2 / Provide lively Christian activities for local children in @toms and Holiday Club /

Continue to support, facilitate and pray for existing groups, which include @toms, @tomix, Holiday Club, Cricket Club and Fusion
Limit the hiring out of our church halls if it would result in a negative impact on our ability to run the above groups
Develop a succession plan for the key role of adults running these groups
Annually review the on-going suitability of the halls for specific activities, and seek alternative venues or invest in additional ‘fabric’ to make the halls fit for purpose

3 / Care for elderly people’s and others’ well being /

Continue to resource the post of Well-Being Coordinator
Establish an identified and organised team of volunteers to support this role
Increase the number of visits being carried out

4 / Seek to promote and nurture marriage /

Run a marriage course every two years
Advertise the course and encourage church members to invite friends
Where required, provide baby-sitting by suitable DBS-checked church members to enable couples to attend

5 / Provide support and training for parents in our church and the community /

Run a parenting course every two years
Advertise the course and encourage church members to invite friends
Where required, provide baby-sitting by suitable DBS-checked church members to enable couples to attend

6 / Offer opportunities for senior people to gather for community and challenge /

Continue to support, facilitate and pray for existing groups and events, which include the Over 60’s Holiday Club and the Thursday Fellowship group
Provide an environment which is suitable, and provide transport for events
Establish an identified and organised volunteer support group
Actively engage with elderly people in our church to find out their views on activities with a view to increasing the current range and frequency of events
Encourage and equip church members to invite friends and neighbours to events

7 / Seek to build links with schools and any other local institutions /

Have open and positive communication with local schools
Continue to invite local schools to visit St Thomas in support of their national curriculum objectives
Increase links with local uniformed organisations (for example offering them a visit to St Thomas to work on ‘Faith Badge’)
Continue to book men’s / women’s dinners at local restaurants
Seek to support local and other charities, providing opportunities for cake sales, coffee mornings, concerts etc.

8 / Work with initiatives to provide food for food banks and care for asylum seekers /

Continue to be a collection point for food donations
Provide a welcoming and supportive environment for asylum seekers in our parish

9 / Be a congregation that is outward looking and concerned for the global community as well as the local parish /

Provide regular updates during services and in the weekly newssheet on the mission work we support at St Thomas
Include appropriate raising of awareness of global issues in Sunday School classes
Seek to partner with churches in other parts of the world

We will be more confident in speaking and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To enable this, we will by 2020,

realising that all we do should be done prayerfully:

What / How
1 / Facilitate and promote group discipleship /

Have engaging, praise-filled Sunday services that teach us to live the gospel
Improve prayer meeting attendance through encouragement and positive reminders of the blessings of the prayer meeting to encourage more participation
Encourage participation in fellowship groups (home groups, women’s and men’s groups, prayer triplets)
Encourage members to participate in regular one-to-one discipleship such as spending time reading the Bible with others

2 / Facilitate and promote individual discipleship /

Encourage through teaching, conversations and example:
Personal prayer and daily Bible study
Giving of time and money
Development of personal ministry for service in the church
Applicationof the gospel to one’s own circumstances / life

3 / Facilitate and promote children and youth discipleship /

Encourage and support children from Christian families to grow into mature adult Christians, by providing support to parents in their Christian responsibility to teach their children, and having:
Energetic, well-prepared, gospel-centred lessons
Youth workers and teenagers who are good role models
Teach young people to develop an understanding of the gospel
Teach young people to develop a Christian worldview and equipthem to relate to unbelieving cultures
Encourage fellowship amongst the youth

4 / Facilitate and promote training for discipling others /

Equip regular members to be leaders of ministries through mentoring/ apprenticing and formal training groups
Equip adults for friendship evangelism
Equip adults in the church to minister to one another using God’s Word

We will be more creative in reaching new people with the good news of the Gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit. To enable this, we will by 2020,

realising that all we do should be done prayerfully:

What / How
1 / Praying together:
Facilitate and promote prayer meetings, small groups, prayer triplets and services for God to open hearts in our community to the truth /

Explore new ways to ensure, as part of our prayer network, that we keep all those in our congregation involved and praying for our weekly prayer topics
Supplement our prayer with the Prayer Mate app and encourage its use
Ensure the leaders of our small groups are informed and keep the members informed about, and involved with, the prayer needs of our church and mission partners abroad
Support / nominate someone to think this through and organise this(not necessarily a member of staff)
Review and look at ways to improve and develop the monthly prayer meeting, so that it is seen as an important, relevant and attractive event in the life of the whole church, second only to attending the Sunday worship
Consider topical prayer meetings for special issues facing our church family

2 / Foster evangelistic meetings, courses and initiatives, in small groups or church-wide (e.g. Life Explored) /

Set up a small evangelism steering committee of keen members, chaired by the Vicar, to think through, co-ordinate, promote and facilitate this area of work

3 / Improve our skills at everyday evangelism /

Arrange evangelistic meetings and apologetics events to support our personal evangelism
Bring in external expertise to teach us about everyday (personal) evangelism

4 / Communicate the gospel through our website and social media and explore other ways of raising our profile in the community /

Find and use expertise in social media

5 / Improve our ability to attract the ‘unchurched’ to St Thomas Church /

Encourage contacts to draw in the ‘unchurched’
Enrich our music ministry, sport ministry and other creative arts
Constantly be on the look-out for creative gifts and interests among the congregation, in order to gather church members and outsiders together to pursue their interests on church premises
Invite baptism families back annually, and hold an annual bereavement service
Develop personal evangelism through door to door contact

6 / Pilot and evaluate new models of services /

Utilise visuals and video in the Sunday services
Have services staff-led with strong lay support
Explore issues such as time constraints
Review how our services would appear to outsiders

7 / Consider a church plant / split the Sunday service /

Encourage the staff to consider the possibility of a plant, or two main morning services, and evaluate the desirability of this, and share this with the PCC each year

8 / Facilitate the appointment of youth workers, volunteers and other staff /

Support this through giving and prayer

9 / Support for gospel work and mission, with the emphasis on our mission partners around the world /

Support missionaries through giving and prayer
Increase the number of people who receive missionaries’ prayer letters
Encourage more missionary visits, and find other ways of getting to know our mission partners
Consider finding someone from the congregation to encourage more people in learning about our overseas mission partners

Final Version adopted by the PCC, 7 Nov 2016