I received this from a member of the congregation:



“Suggestion”
(includes some additional description comment for discussion)

 

Principle 1:   we are One Church.

 

Principle 2:   we should spend most of our Corporate Time together as One Church family.

 

Principle 3:   that Corporate Time should have a single, ongoing, consistent goal (until such time as Leadership senses the need to revisit).  We should be able to say “Sunday’s at our Church is about…” and be able to rely upon it so we know what to expect.  Leaders, preachers, and everyone else will recognise this goal in preparation and presentation.

 

Principle 4:   we are relaxed enough to use different styles in delivering the goal in our Corporate Time – but the purpose must be reaching the goal (rather than just trying something different).

 

Principle 5:   it’s fine to have Corporate Time in split groupings – but only where it is required for / complimentary to the delivery of the goal.  (So we need to define the goal before we pre-determine whether we have two congregations.  However, Principle 1 would not preclude us doing a split Corporate Time once a month, if there was a reason under Principle 5).

 

Principle 6:   Other church activity outside of Corporate Time (e.g. house groups, prayer groups, finance team, outreach work, etc.) is equally valuable for Christian Life, and therefore Church Life.  However, such activity is about doing something that is different to our goal on Sundays.
(Note that the above considers both the current Morning Communion and the Sunday Evening services as being group time rather than “Corporate Time”, given the smaller numbers involved.  However, Principle 2 would support both the continuation and growth of these services as “most” of our Corporate Time would still be together.)

 

(of course, the above can be cut and shunted around with other principles).

 

 

The Goal:  Suppose the goal was “The Difference God makes” (or some variation: “God makes the difference” – but the present tense is really important).  This goal would suggest that the services be made accessible for anyone and everyone.  As a result, other church activity would need to deliver Discipleship in a focussed way to support continued Christian growth).

Each Sunday’s Corporate Time would still have an individual theme – but at all times look to recognise through everything that was brought that God makes the difference today.

 

 

A Visual

I see a tree.  The One Church is the trunk.  It gives strength and gets its nutrients from the sun, rain, and unseen root system.  God feeds us and we have a strong trunk.

The trunk supports the branches (our single goal, delivered by our corporate trunk time, should support the branches of our other activity).

So yes we have time apart (we wouldn’t cover so much area if we all stayed in one place the whole time); the branches increase our spread – but the branches only work because of the trunk, and it only works because of the roots.

 

 "A church for all seasons

I suggest we use each building to its best effect in terms of the seasons.

In winter, the church is freezing.  Let's have January and February all together at the school.  There are lots of warm classrooms for youth and children, but why not also for the adults - some of the adults could go to one room for a regular sermon from Andy, others could go to another room with Stephanie and create a banner, a third group could go somewhere with Fiona for an Alpha course.

In summer, numbers are low (especially of children) in both places.  Let's all get together from June to August at the Church on the Common.  We could have a creche at the back, children in the vestry and youth could go to the Vicarage Hall or the Methodist Chapel.

In spring and autumn, apart from Easter, Harvest, Remembrance, etc, why not keep going as two churches - if one or other church needs to sing from CDs from time to time, so be it.  Maybe we could have slightly more joint services than normal in this period, eg for Christian Aid week."

 

 

 “Anyone who receives instruction in the word of God must share all good things with his or her instructor”   (Galatians 6:6)

Allow God to show you what “good things” you have that you could share with your instructors – and what other kinds of support you could offer to the leadership.  Ask God what structures will enable ministers to be the best they can be.  Please pray in particular for the leadership team as they make decisions in these 40 days of discernment.

You are welcome to a prayer meeting at 9.15am at the church

8pm Homegroup leaders meet at the church



 

Here are two influential proposals I've received.  I do stress that because they were sent before the 40 days began, they come from a different context; still, I hope they're helpful.  I don't reproduce them here in order to say "one of these is the way ahead", but in order to encourage others to state their view.  I'm mindful of the comment made by a leadership team member: maybe the big issue is not geography and timing but style and message.

1..."I would like to propose the
following for discussion.
We have 2 services in the  morning at COTC: one traditional one with perhaps Communion 3 out of 4 Sundays with 2 or 3 traditional hymns on CD (or Gift if available)
which they can also follow in our existing books say at 9am instead of
8am Communion. We then all meet for coffee at 10am and start an
informal service at 10.30am with perhaps guitar led singing ... then a slot for drama or something different. then children and MEGA go to classes and we have a second part more like what we usually have at CATS but with a combined choir ... We
could have family communion say monthly and baptism about every 8
weeks with an evangelistic message instead of the usual one in the
series (if too many baptisms they may need to have an occasional 4pm
service).
We would need to get a partitioned area in the Chancel for small
meetings and one of the childrens groups. Glass in the top part for
light and a lower part that could be opened."

2,  “…A simple atomic bomb consists of 2 (or more) pieces of uranium/plutonium neither of which is bigger than the critical mass but their combined size is.   When the bomb is triggered the two pieces are forced together, the critical mass is exceeded and the energy is released.   This is also the principle that nuclear power stations work on.   I expect you’ve got the analogy by now, substitute CoC and CATS for the two pieces of fissionable material and you get my drift.  We need to have one big service a week - I make no proposal as to where it should be - with high numbers of all ages and high energy.   This will be our "shop window" to the world..."

“The fruit of the Spirit is...gentleness, faithfulness and self-control...”(Galatians 5:22)

The word of God is often pictured in the Bible as a seed, planted in human hearts, bringing forth fruit.  In what way would sharing God’s word with everyone in Galleywood bring gentleness, faithfulness and self-control to the community?  In what ways would receiving the word bring these qualities to your own life?

In 2005 a guest preacher felt that God had given her pictures of St Michael’s as a palm tree and as a vine.  In both cases, God’s message was the same: “I’m looking for fruit.”

 

10.30am: A joint Holy Communion service at the school with the themes of  Love and the Word.

5.30pm: All are welcome to a short evening service, focussing on strengths of the church

6.10pm: The leadership team meet to examine  the present strengths of St Michael’s.