In the latest and final episode of the Reconciling Mission podcast season 1, host Mina Munns sat down with Revd Lydia Morey, priest-in-charge of St Peter’s Penhill and St Philip’s Upper Stratton in Swindon, to talk about why failure isn’t something to fear.
Lydia serves in what’s known as a ‘priority community’: an area recognised for high levels of deprivation. Her parish ranks as the 173rd most deprived parish in the Church of England, a fact that her Church Council recognises.
When she joined the Reconciling Mission programme, Lydia found a refreshing approach to community engagement, “It wasn’t just about ideas or strategies,” she said. “We were trusted to discern for ourselves what mission could look like in our local context.”
Trying new things
During Advent last year, the church invited everyone, including preschoolers and the local Brownies, to create pictures for their house windows, somewhat like the rainbows people made during lockdown. These were intended to form a neighbourhood art trail, ending with a community carol sing where everyone could bring their pictures and join in.
“It didn’t quite take off the way I’d hoped,” Lydia admitted. “Maybe it was the first year, maybe we needed to work on publicity, but it didn’t spread across the whole community the way that I’d dreamed it might.”
Mina commented, “Somebody once said to me, ‘If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.’ Because mission is about trying things, isn’t it? Sometimes they don’t work the way you planned, but it’s worth doing anyway.”
Modelling courage for the church
For Lydia, this mindset has changed not only how she leads but how her congregations approach mission. “They’ve got used to me now,” she smiled. “They know I’m not too worried about failing. If something doesn’t work, we just say, ‘Okay, let’s tweak it and try again.’”
That spirit of experimentation, she believes, builds confidence in others. “When people see that it’s okay to get it wrong, it frees them up to have a go. We stop worrying about perfection and start focusing on connection.”
Learning to let go
Reflecting on the Reconciling Mission programme, Lydia said it helped her to see mission less as a performance and more as a process. “It’s about being open to God, to our neighbours, and to what might emerge,” she said. “If we hold things lightly, even our mistakes, then we leave space for the Holy Spirit to surprise us.”
👉 Learn more about the Reconciling Mission programme and how it supports churches to take faithful risks in their communities at reconciliation-initiatives.org/reconciling-mission.