Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme

Much of the church’s recent outward missional engagement has been focused on various forms of evangelism which seek to attract new Christian disciples, in order to grow the church. In the Church of England, this has been the primary focus of the major resources released by the Church Commissioners in recent years, through the Strategic Development Fund. This missional engagement has typically been driven by an anxiety about declining numbers of people attending church services, and an associated decline in financial giving and availability of resources for the church’s ministry.

Alongside this, there is now a growing recognition of God’s call to the church to serve the communities and neighbourhoods in which local churches are located, and thus for the church to be more outward-looking, and less focussed internally. This reawakening has been brought into sharper focus through the course of the Covid-19 global pandemic, and the ensuing lockdowns and restrictions. These have highlighted the importance for Christians, and all citizens, of knowing our neighbours and attending to our local neighbourhoods more deeply.

Especially over the last two decades, many churches have developed programmes to address felt needs in their local community. These have typically sought to address the symptoms of poverty (such has hunger and debt), homelessness and social loneliness. Other programmes have sought to provide a welcome and support for refugees and asylum seekers, or to serve other people who are marginalised in society. Whilst motivated by genuine compassion and concern for those in need, one danger of these charitable projects is that they risk simply maintaining and perpetuating the systems which cause the problems.

It is Reconciliation Initiatives’ (RI) conviction that we cannot speak of social reconciliation without addressing questions of inequality and injustice in society, and without seeking to tackle systemic structures which perpetuate these inequalities and injustices. Therefore, we cannot have greater social reconciliation, without greater social justice.

RI believes that the church is called to go beyond meeting basic human needs, to work in partnership with others of good will, outside the church. This requires greater humility from the local church, including a recognition that others can be ahead of us in working collaboratively to effect social change, and that the church has not often been a primary catalyst of needed change.

Through a process of listening more deeply to people in our local communities, of prioritising relationship over goals, and of unearthing the gifts, skills and assets present within our local communities, the church can begin to discern her local calling and the part which she is called to play in serving and strengthening the local community. This can then help to unlock more of the kingdom of heaven being released on earth. The Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme seeks to make a contribution to this missional movement, joining in with what God is already doing.

The Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme comprises:

1. An initial in-person workshop over the course of a day (see outline below);
2. Some reading from core texts; and
3. Two follow-up online meetings, on the Zoom platform, to discuss issues, thinking, and the next steps which participants plan to take.

The aim is to nurture a peer learning group which is both supportive and appropriately challenging.

Typical Timings for the programme:

Initial workshop: 10:00am – 4:30pm

Follow-up gatherings 1 & 2:  either 10:00am – 12:00pm, or 2:00-4:00pm

The planned learning outcomes of the Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme are that, by the end of the programme, participants will have:

• Grasped a theoretical framework that supports them in thinking systemically about the church’s missional engagement with the world, connecting with God’s reconciling work, and will have applied this framework to evaluate existing outreach projects and programmes;
• Connected with two key Biblical stories which connect with the theoretical framework, and have explored how the idea of detours and interruptions connect with their own sense of God’s integrating work in their lives;
• Distinguished the difference between asking ‘church questions’ and exploring ‘God questions’, have identified some ‘God questions’ to explore in their own context, and worked out some ways to begin exploring those questions with others; and
• Have practised holding a purposeful one-to-one conversation, discovered the excitement of unearthing treasure through this, reflected on how they might go about holding such conversations in their own context, and identified who they might do this with before the first follow-up gathering.

The two follow-up gatherings will be developed in dialogue with the participants, but will always include a personal action plan for next steps to be taken after the conclusion of the Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme.

RI proposes working with a suitable group of clergy, lay leaders and diocesan staff from an individual diocese. Each group will ideally be no more than 16 participants, but could be larger. Each participant will need to commit to engaging with the programme over a four-month period.

The best participants will be clergy and lay leaders who want to learn and grow in their missional engagement with their local community, and to contribute to greater social justice, and diocesan staff who want to resource this. People, therefore, who are committed to going deeper in their exploration of social justice and the church’s missional engagement with local communities.

Ideally, the group will include clergy and lay leaders participating together in groups of two to four people from the same parish or benefice.

It is for each diocese to discern who might be the most appropriate participants in their context. Three possible approaches, among others, are for RI to work with:

1. A group of participants drawn from each deanery or a group of deaneries, perhaps suggested by the Area or Rural Dean, along with some central diocesan staff, who collectively can function as leaven within the diocesan system; or
2. A planning or delivery group who will take forward some subsequent work within the diocese, inspired by this taster programme; or
3. A group of relatively senior people, such as Area/Rural Deans and key lay colleagues, who test out the programme, and can then advocate for it within the diocese, when it is subsequently rolled out for others.

Other approaches can be taken, and RI would be glad to talk this through with the lead diocesan officer, or a lead member of the Bishop’s staff.

Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme

Example outline for the initial in-person workshop for a Diocesan Group, led by Barbara Macnish & Alastair McKay

9:45 – 10:00am: Arrivals

10:00 – 10:15am: Opening worship

10:15 – 11:30am: Session 1 – Reconciling Mission: A Theoretical Framework

Introduces you to a theoretical framework for thinking systemically about the church’s missional engagement with the world, connecting with God’s reconciling work; and helps you apply to this evaluate outreach work.

11:30 – 11:50am: Break

11:50 – 1:00pm: Session 2 – Two Key Biblical Stories, and the Place of Detours and Interruptions

Offers two key Biblical stories which connect with the theoretical framework, and explores how the idea of detours and interruptions connect with your own sense of God’s integrating work in your life.

1:00 – 1:45pm: Lunch

1:45 – 2:45pm: Session 3 – Learning to Ask ‘God Questions’ Instead of ‘Church Questions’

Enables you to distinguish the difference between asking ‘church questions’ and exploring ‘God questions’; and helps identify some ‘God questions’ to explore in your context, who to consider them with.

2:45 – 3:05pm: Break

3:05 – 4:20pm: Session 4 – Treasure-Hunting via a One-to-One Purposeful Conversation

Facilitates you in practising a purposeful one-to-one conversation with a partner, to unearth treasure; prompts you to identify who they might hold such a conversation with, the first follow-up gathering, and to name your next steps.

4:20 – 4:30pm: Reflection and feedback on the day, and a closing prayer.

If you’re interested in exploring whether our Reconciling Mission: A Taster programme could be run with a group in your Diocese, please contact Alastair McKay at [email protected]