About the Diocese
A Better Way
SUMMARY
The following text outlines a summary of the full document 'A Better
Way'. All parishes across the Diocese were sent a copy at the time
of publication. We hope to offer the full text online in the future.
A Better Way is a renewal of an early church understanding of ministry,
a ministry which is the outward expression of our inner Christian
faith and discipleship, a ministry in which we are all called
· to love people
· to worship God
· to witness to our faith
· and to serve God's kingdom.
A Better Way can take the Church in this Diocese
· from maintenance to mission
· from looking inwards at what we do as a church to looking
outwards to see how we work with the communities in which we live,
work, worship and play.
· from clergy and licensed lay people being the only resource
for ministry to all Christians supporting and encouraging one another. A Better Way is to do with the ministry
of the whole church, offered by clergy and lay people together.
It is
· about growth, not preservation
· dynamic, not static
· the start of a process that will grow and develop for many
years to come.
It has become clear that reducing numbers in
the Church's ordained ministry has put parishes and ministers under
increasing pressure. However A Better Way is much more than just
a response to this - it is what many in the Church have been waiting
for.
A Better Way is not just about getting the jobs
in the church done. It is about that, but it is also about the church
reaching out into the community by supporting, valuing and enabling
its members who are at work for God in the world.
Lay people who are in full time employment or
caring for families need the support of the church in their day
to day ministry. In relation to ministry, the clergy are there to
exercise caring and encouraging oversight and to enable all of us
to realise and develop our potential as God's ministers.
When these things happen, the
vision at the centre of the report
- To be a Christian community recognised as experiencing and sharing
God's salvation -
can be realised. It's not just a case of doing these things. It's
a case of being seen to be doing these things so that people may
recognise God in us.
A Better Way offers Local Ministry to help this
happen. This is a way to ensure that the whole ministry of the whole
church is offered in each place.
A Better Way is designed to be flexible. It will be for each local
church to work out how they are going to have local ministry in
their particular place.
It is time to take a step back from our
day to day parish preoccupations, important though they are, and
allow God to show us the bigger picture. A Better Way is about a
vision we can all share, it is about the future we can all hope
and work for, it is about where we go from here. Let's travel that
way together!
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