Reconciling Mission programme

The Reconciling Mission programme is a learning and development programme which:

• Equips small groups of leaders sponsored by their Bishop for mission and ministry, with a focus on contributing to reconciliation in church and wider society;
• Resources these groups to develop an action plan for their local context; and supports them in implementing this and in sharing learning across a diocese or wider area.

Originally, the Reconciling Mission programme was conceived as part of a wider offering called an Anglican Peacemaking Institute (API).

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 heart 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 15-month process of follow-up coaching to support implementation. As well as meetings with their bishop, participants will hold a regular online conference with a partner team from another diocese. These conferences will be 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.