PCC Away Day Sat

Derby.

Dear Church Family member,

Questionnaire – September/October 2014

Introduction:

On Saturday October 11th the PCC is having a day away together. We have agreed to use our time do two things. Firstly to review the overall vision we currently have for both our churches and secondly, to specifically review the work at St Stephen’s. We would like all church family members to have opportunity to input into the day. To do that, please read the following information, answer the questions and then return to Rev’d Tim Sumpter by Sunday September 28th (either place at back of each church in the A4 envelope marked Questionnaire or post to the vicarage). The Standing Committee (October 7th) will review the information on October 7th.Please use a separate sheet of paper for your answers if needed and you can of course submit anonymously if you so choose.

Thank you for your time. Please hold the PCC day away in your prayers.

Tim

Our vision:

We have a vision as a church, which encompasses each of our different congregations. Some years ago, the then PCC agreed that we should continue to keep the values of this vision before us, up to the year 2020 and allow them to help us rationalise the resources we have and to proffer us a sense of purpose as Christians, in the context of our fast changing culture. Our vision is enshrined in our Purpose Statement:

Loving God, loving one another and living out God’s love in the world.

Our priorities:

These flow directly from our vision, thus we are a church which prioritises:

Worship(loving God) - as both corporate ritual and personal lifestyle. We believe that one of our unique strengths is the range of different worship styles we offer.

Community(loving one another) - developing relationships as Christian disciples within a local, national and global context, in which human relationships appear to be increasingly fragmenting. We have historically sought to encourage church members to join weekly home groups as places where faith can deepen within relationships with other Christians.

Mission(living out God’s love in the world) - living intentionally as those who seek to share God’s love in both word and deed with those beyond the walls of our church buildings, within our local communities. One could say that a lot of what we so is mission, but our regular Alpha course (and post-Alpha courses) are the ways we currently engage in evangelism.

Questions:

A. Finessing our general vision

1. Does our current Purpose Statementstill encapsulate an adequate vision for our churches?If yes, how could we better use it to set the direction of our church life?

3. In what practical ways could we further develop the three areas of worship, community and mission in our churches?

4. If you don’t believe the Purpose Statement is currently useful, then please explain why not and perhaps offer alternative statements or other ideas that could be considered to help give us a sense of vision.

B. Reviewing our current vision and worship services at St Stephen’:

Over the last few years a number of initiatives have been carried out at All Saints’, IE the 4ALL services, which have contributed to numerical growth at the regular 11.00 am service. The PCC decided earlier in the year to take time to focus on St Stephen’s and how we might seek to develop the ministry there, especially the Sunday morning service. In light of these issues, please take time to reflect upon and answer the following:

1. Is 9.15 am the best time to hold our main Sunday morning service at St Stephen’s? If yes, please give your reasons? If no, please give reasons and offer alternative time or times.

2. Do the current monthly structure (1st Sunday morning, Morning Worship, and thereafter Sung Holy Communion; 3rd Sunday evening, either Evening Prayer, or Compline) and the style of worship still best work to fulfil our vision? If yes, please give you reasons. If you think not, please give reasons and offer some alternatives.

3. In general do you believe it is right to continue to meet in the St Stephen’s church building? If yes give reasons. If no, please offer reasons and alternative venues.

4. In the past it has been mooted that St Stephen’s and Borrowash Methodist could seek to work together more and perhaps worship together using the same building and share resources. Do you think this might be worth exploring? If no, please give your reasons. If yes, please give reason.

5. In what other ways could we develop the work at St Stephen’s over the next few years?