Purpose and Priorities

On the evening of Friday 5 September 1997 thirty seven members of St John's church met in the Church Hall. The vicar had invited everyone who was on the Electoral Roll or who regularly worshipped at St. John's to take part in a discussion with the aim of finding out whether we all agreed about why we belonged to this church and what we felt we ought to be able to offer to the people of Staincross.

We met on the day before the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales and Father Jim began by reminding us of all that Diana had given to the world and inviting us to focus on our feelings at this difficult time. We brought those feelings to God during a minutes silence and offered them to him as we sung "Praise my soul, the King of heaven".

Everyone agreed that membership of St. John's was important to them and that it was the church to which they felt they belonged. In response to a further question from Fr Jim everyone also affirmed their belief and trust in God the Father as creator, God the Son as the one who enabled them to enjoy a new relationship with the Father and God the Holy Spirit who made it possible for them to experience that relationship day by day.

Father Jim then explained that some churches had groups within them that were pursuing divergent goals rather than shared ones and that sometimes goals were vague and assumed rather than clearly defined. He suggested that churches might have different combinations of these with the following results:

IF GOALS ARE       THIS LEADS TO

Clear but divergent       Division and conflict

Vague and divergent                                    Confusion, apathy, grinding down

     
Shared but vague Frustration

                     Clear and shared       Celebration, progress and growing together


We should therefore aim at having clear shared aims.

By way of practice we first talked about the reasons why a pub darts club might exist and what members of it would see as its purpose.

Then we got on to the serious business of the evening. Everyone was given a sheet on which they were invited to write three important things which St. John's provides (or which it ought to provide!).

These individual responses were then discussed in small groups which in turn selected the three most important things provided by St John's.

After further discussion by the whole meeting it emerged that there were three aspects of life here at St John's which were generally agreed to reflect our purposes as a church.

They were WORSHIP - CARING - FELLOWSHIP

Of course not everyone used those exact words.
Just what was included under these three categories is explained below.

WORSHIP
Meeting Jesus
Opportunity for people to express their love of God in ways appropriate to them
Communion with God
Experiencing our fellowship in Christ as we meet together to focus on him
A chance to publicly express our commitment to God
Meeting together to share the Body and Blood of Christ
Finding a new meaning in life through the expression of faith
A bridge to the Father - thanking him for his goodness
A way to communicate with the Father
Living our lives as an example of what God offers to everyone
Bringing people together to praise God
Listening to God

CARING
Provide support to those in need physically and spiritually
Provide nurture for growing Christians through discussion and study especially of the Bible
A starting gate for evangelism - sharing the good news about Jesus with others
Bringing God to the community
A place where people can share their needs and receive peace of mind
A loving environment where everyone knows they are accepted
A church committed to the service of others - each person using their own particular talents
A place where the Christian faith is taught and shared
People who follow our Lord's teaching and set an example to others
A place where the sacraments (which are channels of God's love) are celebrated
Meeting peoples spiritual needs in different ways
Opportunities to express commitment to Christ in practical ways
Supporting people and providing fellowship to those on a spiritual journey
Giving spiritual guidance
Providing buildings to be used for public worship and community activities
Bringing God's healing into peoples lives
Giving people goals and challenges to help them to keep moving forward
A place where families are welcomed
Working together in love, serving the Lord by serving others
Help others to understand the wonders of God and his love for them
Listening to one another

FELLOWSHIP
A group of people who are one family in Christ
A place where people know they are loved
A place where people can be encouraged to be themselves in the service of God
A place where newcomers are welcomed into the fellowship
People are loyal to Christ and one another
A place where people know they are among friends
A home from home (because it reflects our eternal home in heaven)
A feeling of togetherness and belonging
Caring and sharing together in a spirit of love and unity
A haven where the Christian faith can be celebrated with commitment and pride
A place where fellow Christians can grow into caring friends

THE NEXT STEP
The above document was presented to the meeting of the Parochial Church Council at its meeting on Wednesday 10 September 1997 where it provoked a lively debate. We were challenged about whether or not the list was really honest and realistic or was it what we wanted the church to be. The truth is that there is room for improvement in many areas of the churches life and the list above gives us a good framework from which to start examining in detail just how we fulfil the purposes we have identified and working out a strategy to increase our effectiveness. Watch this space to see where we go from here and above all please pray for us.

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