Reconciling Mission programme

Participants will be chosen by their diocesan bishop. They will be:

• Christians in mid-career, with potential for ongoing development;
• Typically ordained parish clergy, of diverse genders and theological traditions.

The Reconciling Mission programme seeks to make a strategic contribution to how the local churches contribute to bridging divisions and strengthening relationships in divided societies. In doing so, the Reconciling Mission programme seeks to part of bringing hope to the world.

At the start of each programme is a week-long residential learning course. This incorporates:

• Anglican worship, morning and evening;
• Biblical study led by gifted Anglican speakers;
• Dynamic adult learning, integrating theological reflection.

Meeting venues are carefully chosen to facilitate community-building outside formal sessions.

After the residential week, there’s an 16-month process of follow-up coaching to support implementation. Participants will be part of regular facilitated online gatherings with a group from another diocese, on a rotational basis. These gatherings are action learning groups, using a group coaching process, facilitated by one of RI's facilitators.

Distinctive features include:

• An investment in leaders who have the potential to grow and to share learning with others;
• Intentional mixing of people of different genders, and of diverse theological traditions;
• Geared for small groups of four participants from a diocese, attending together for more effective follow-through;
• A place to develop good practice and share stories of success and failure, of transformation in church and society;
• A setting to develop good practice, share stories of success and failure, identify next steps, and move churches into a deeper engagement with the local communities they serve.

Participants will form:

• an emerging network of potentially influential Anglicans;
• who have journeyed through a shared learning experience and built relationships across theological and social divides;
• with a vision for the church's contribution to God's reconciling work in the world.

Independent researcher, Dr Joanna Sadgrove, has carried out an extensive evaluation of the impact of the inaugural Reconciling Mission programme which began in July 2020. This included the following sources:

1. Individual interviews, either one-to-one, or in a diocesan/provincial group;
2. Video updates submitted by each participant via dedicated WhatsApp groups, prior to each Action Learning Group;
3. Recordings of online Action Learning Group sessions; and
4. Written concluding survey responses.

The Executive Summary of her findings is downloadable here. (Please note that comments quoted in the report are from programme participants, and do not necessarily reflect RI's own views.)