We’re pleased to announce that Reconciliation Initiatives is welcoming Partnership for Missional Church (PMC) into the RI fold.
PMC has been a demanding 3-year culture change process in local churches, based on solid research and involving the application of six core spiritual practices alongside the development of “spiritual leadership.” PMC was incorporated into the Church Mission Society’s (CMS) offerings back in 2016. Several Church of England dioceses, including Bath & Wells, Durham and Ely, came on board and supported groups of parishes in engaging with the process. However, since the global pandemic in 2020, no new dioceses have sponsored participating groups.
There’s always been significant complementarity between the PMC practices and RI’s offer through Reconciling Mission. From the outset, we’ve offered PMC’s “Dwelling in the Word” practice as one of the core elements of the initial residential. During the current review of our programme, the Trustees and staff have concluded that it would be good to incorporate a more structured approach to effecting cultural change in how churches approach missional engagement with their local neighbourhoods. Integrating more of the PMC practices into Reconciling Mission along with the principles of spiritual leadership has emerged as a creative way to achieve this.
Revd Canon Dr Nigel Rooms has headed up PMC since its incorporation in CMS’s offerings. Nigel will now be coming on board as a formal Associate of RI, with effect from the beginning of September, with PMC being handed on from CMS to RI.
PMC’s director, Nigel Rooms says:
“I’m really pleased that we’ve found a new home for PMC, and I’m excited about joining the thriving RI team as their work continues to grow and develop.
“As well as integrating PMC practices into Reconciling Mission, I look forward to evolving the full range of PMC practices into a modular form which can be more easily picked up by local churches around this land. The need for a fundamental change in missional culture remains a challenge that I want to continue addressing with my new RI colleagues.”
Alastair McKay says: “I’ve known and respected Nigel’s work over many years, and I’m delighted that Nigel will be joining the RI team. I look forward to working with him in discerning how best to integrate PMC practices into our Reconciling Mission programme, so that we can contribute more powerfully to effecting cultural change in missional practice by local churches in Britain.”
Follow us on social media developments as they happen!