God is growing his Church!
Parish leaders, lay and ordained, gathered at the T3 Conference Centre last night for an evening focused on church growth. It was an opportunity to be encouraged by what God is doing in our parishes and to think strategically together.
Alongside our church planting initiative, the diocese is committed to seeing existing parishes thrive and enter a new season of fruitfulness, especially where there has been stagnation or decline.
Archdeacon Mark Harvey, who has special responsibility for this area, hosted the evening. He said that parish rejuvenation begins with recognising there’s a problem and being intentional in addressing decline.
The next steps involve reviewing the effectiveness of the ministry and outreach alongside resources and their use. Finally, a parish should put key elements in place under the Holy Spirit’s leading.
We heard from three church leaders who are going through this process in very different settings: Revd Andrew Frame from Knocknagoney Parish Church at the edge of social housing on the outskirts of Belfast; Denise Wilson, Community Pastor in Bangor Primacy, which is joined with the Methodist Church; and Revd Karen Salmon from Magherally and Annaclone, two small rural churches outside Banbridge.
All have faced challenges, but all have seen growth in their congregations over time and a younger overall age-profile.
Some common threads emerged, one of which was community engagement. Andrew for example has connected extensively with the local Primary School.
Another was accessible, context sensitive worship. Karen Salmon shared how contemporary music is much less effective in her setting and so she has initiated a successful evening service with Gospel Country music.
Each spoke of the importance of prayer which contends for revival and renewal. Denise shared how she has gathered people together for an early morning prayer meeting over Zoom. One of their prayers was for 40 new people in their 40th Anniversary year and God answered!
There are real challenges in church rejuvenation, including a lack of finances and personnel, and it is hard work. This, and the importance of prayer, was highlighted in the panel discussion with Revd Lucy Burden, Mount Merrion Parish, Revd Eben Grobbelaar, Killyleagh Parish, Revd Raymond Kettyle, St John’s, Lurgan and Revd Elliot Swattridge, Groomsport Parish.
When asked the most important priority for church growth, Bishop David said that as leaders we should cry out to the Lord and get to the place where we can’t settle for the way things are. We should also pray that this happens to our people.
He continued, “We need to ask the Lord to raise up leaders for whom evangelism is a real priority. Let's ask God to break our hearts for people who don’t know Jesus. This is the key, and we will find that everything else will fall into place."
Note
Attendance at the evening was hampered by traffic gridlock in the area and we were very sorry to hear hat three carloads of people had to turn back. Please know we are grateful that you tried!
