Saint Laurence's Church

Three Year Plan

1998-2001

 

The Purpose of a Three Year Plan

One of the prophets once said, "without a vision the people perish". It is true of all communities that they need a sense of where they are going and what they would like to be. Without this, people have a tendency to drift in different directions, which often leads to conflict and disagreement. The idea behind the three-year plan is that the church should develop a common set of goals and objectives. With these in mind we will be able to work together in unity as the people of God.

A three-year plan is also an attempt to prioritize. In other words, the church makes the decision that certain tasks need to be achieved before others can be taken on. By doing things one-at-a-time we should be able to make sure that we make progress, rather than spend all our time talking about what we might do! We will also be able to channel our resources (in people as well as money) into projects, which we believe will make a difference.

 

How the Three Year Plan works

A Three Year Plan is a process of Looking and Listening, Setting Priorities, Assessment and Celebration.

At the Annual General Meeting in April 1998 the Church Council (DCC) agreed to start work on a Three Year Plan. The DCC is now at a stage when it can report back to the congregation with a list of priorities that it considers important for the next few years. Please look through this document and let us know what you think...

The Background to the Three Year Plan

Saint Laurence's is part of the one universal Church. It therefore shares the mission and calling of all Christian people: to love God and neighbour, to share the good news, to baptize new believers, and to bring healing and freedom to those who need it.

Saint Laurence's is also part of the Church of England, the Diocese of Oxford and the Parish of Upton cum Chalvey. It therefore has a responsibility to relate to a wider community of Christians. This means that the Three Year Plan must take into account the requirements placed on us by the structures of which we are a part:

Worship

The Worship Planning Group:

The Worship Planning Group began to discuss

the three-year plan in May 1998.

The meetings were open to anyone from the congregation to attend.

The overall feeling of the group was that changes needed to be made to the worship at St Laurence's. It was generally felt that worship needed to be more accessible and relevant to visitors; more engaging; more prayerful; more varied and more outward looking. Many people felt that the musical content of services should undergo a major rethink so that it reflects the tastes and needs of the congregation and also of visitors and newcomers.

Others stressed the importance of continuity, asking that changes should only be introduced in small doses. For some people, even minor changes would be too much. The group therefore suggests that any changes made should be implemented with care and sensitivity.

 

Three Year Plan Priorities

  1. New Worship Materials: Many people would like more new worship material - this could be printed on acetates, sheets, and cards or in supplements.
  2. Service Card: The group looked at the possibility of producing a service card, both to aid flexibility and create a user-friendly worship.
  3. Children: The group would like to encourage more involvement of children in the services. Perhaps there could be more readings and prayers read by children in Sunday services? Should there be a children's slot/address in ordinary communion services?
  4. Resources for Children: The group would like to encourage the DCC to make a positive step towards buying books and materials for children's work.
  5. Types of Service on Sunday Mornings: Do we have the right balance between the number of Family Services and Communion Services? In the group some believed we did but others felt that we had too many communions. One suggestion was that we could keep the current mix, but do something to liven up the Eucharist. The DCC may need to discuss this.
  6. Evening Worship: Many in the group valued the evening worship which no-longer takes place in the church. Others felt that there might be a place for some form of evening service. Joint services with Saint Andrews and 'Praise Evenings' were remembered fondly. There was also a suggestion that we should join for worship as a parish on an occasional basis (5th Sunday?). The DCC may need to discuss this.
  7. Prayer: The group felt that prayer needed to become a higher priority for the church.

 

Continuing Review of Worship at Saint Laurence's:

It is suggested that the Worship Planning Group continue to meet (every two months). This meeting would be open to anyone in the congregation to attend, and would be a place where the development of worship at Saint Laurence's could be discussed.

 

Adoption by the DCC

This segment of the Three Year Plan was first seen by the DCC in July 1998.

Communications

The DCC Communications Group:

Tim Norwood, Allan James, Bob Chapman, Brenda Rowley, and David Kill.

The Communications Group met on a number of occasions between May and October 1998.

 

Three Year Plan Priorities

  1. Bookings: The church should have an efficient system for taking bookings, which ensures that those who need to know about events are informed in plenty of time so that necessary resources can be allocated and the events well publicized. To enable this to take place, a diary has been placed in the vestry into which all events and bookings should be entered. Potentially controversial bookings should be queried with the clergy who may consult the DCC.
  2. The Notice Sheet: The notice sheet should contain all relevant information for the service and should also be an effective mechanism for communicating with the congregation and advertising future events. The information contained on the sheet should be as accurate as humanly possible. A simplified notice sheet should also be made available for services at which a service sheet is not usually required, for instance, the 8 o'clock communion, the Family Service and the Children's Service.
  3. Parish Magazine: While the Parish News is produced in its current format, the contribution from Saint Laurence's should be relevant and interesting. Every effort should be made to ensure that there is never 'no news' from Saint Laurence's. The DCC recognizes that the Parish is undergoing its own review of communication and commits itself to respond creatively to whatever the PCC decides to do about communications in the Parish.
  4. Posters: There should always be a good quality poster in the lich-gate notice board. This will ensure that we never give the impression that there is nothing going on in the church. These posters should be up-to-date and should advertise our ordinary Sunday services, as well as special events.
  5. Web Site: The church should have a well-designed Web Site, which enables it to raise its profile. Proper use of electronic communications could help us to reach a wider range of people in contemporary society. It might also help with fund raising. An official launch of the web site might provide opportunity for publicity in the local press, and also present a positive image of the church.
  6. Signposts: Some buildings in Slough are well sign-posted which makes it easier for people to find them. Signposts also raise a building's profile by making people more aware of their existence. There are no signs pointing towards Saint Laurence's even though it is one of the most 'historic' buildings in the area. The DCC should attempt to persuade the council to provide a signpost pointing out 'The Historic Church of Saint Laurence' which would be placed in an appropriate location.
  7. Service Cards: Visitors to the church often have trouble with the small ASB 'red books', which begin "on page 119 at the front of the book". Further complications are added by the use of new materials, which the Liturgical Commission is encouraging us to use. Furthermore, the ASB will no longer be authorized from the year 2000 and parishes will be required to purchase, or print, their own service books. It was suggested that the church should produce its own service cards which would be easy to use, and flexible enough to adapt to the changes which will take place in the text of the service. The first of these cards have already been produced, but more may be needed.
  8. Guide to the Church: The history leaflet is becoming rather out of date, but there are few other resources for those interested in the history of the church (besides the books produced at the turn of the century!). It would be good if the historical research conducted by people like Ken Bryant could be compiled and edited in such a way that a good quality book or booklet could be produced.
  9. Visitors' Materials: A variety of leaflets and information sheets could be produced which provide information for visitors. These would cover things like the history of the church, the building and the graveyard, the parish, baptisms, weddings and so on…
  10. Leaflet drop: Some kind of leaflet could be produced with information about the church, including service details and news. This could be distributed to local houses (quarterly?). The DCC may need to discuss this idea.
  11. Notices and welcome: Some people have suggested that it would be good if notices and a welcome could be given out before the entrance of the ministers on a Sunday morning. This could be done either by a lay person or by a minister. The suggestion is that this would help separate business from worship and also create a brief moment of stillness before the service. The DCC needs to discuss this and make a decision about what should happen.
  12. Training for sidespeople: Not all sidesmen and women are sure what to do on a Sunday morning. The duties of sidespeople also have a tendency to change from time to time and the new regulations about handling money have made the job more complicated than it used to be. An agreed list of duties should be produced and training provided. This may need to be renewed on an annual basis.
  13. Welcomers: Because sidespeople are now occupied with counting the collection, there is now a shortage of people available to deal with visitors and newcomers at the door. The DCC should discuss the possibility of reintroducing the idea of having welcomers, who would be available to greet people at the door and give proper attention to those who need it.
  14. Intercessions: Saint Laurence's should have an effective system for gathering information for intercessions. It could also do with some kind of cycle of prayer, which would provide headings and ideas. Those leading intercessions need training from time to time. They could also benefit from additional material for use in prayer.
  15. The Bible: When the new calendar and lectionary was introduced the readings were provided on sheets of paper for the readers to use. This proved an effective way of getting the information to readers and also helped with the reintroduction of a third reading. Unfortunately, it also moved away from the original intention of those who put together the new lectionary: namely, to get us to open our Bibles. It would be good if we could encourage the use of pew bibles by using the Good News Bible at the Lectern. Perhaps a card could be fixed to the lectern with instructions as to how the reading should be introduced and concluded.
  16. Advertising: Important events like the Medieval Fayre and the Church Openings need to be advertised widely. Sometimes this happens well, but on other occasions we don't do so well. We should make sure that advertising gets a high priority and takes place on every occasion.

 

The Communications Review Group:

It is suggested that a review group be formed twelve months after these priorities are accepted by the DCC (November 1999?). This group would not contain any members of the original communications group and might include other people from the congregation who are not part of the DCC. The aim of this group would be to assess how well we have all done in achieving the goals that we have set ourselves. It might also use the opportunity to suggest new priorities for the DCC to take on.

 

Adoption by the DCC

This segment of the Three Year Plan was presented to the DCC on Wednesday November 4th.

 

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care Consultation:

Barbara Hillier was asked by the DCC to consult

with people about possible proposals.

Barbara Hillier and Tim Norwood met twice in December 1998.

 

Three Year Plan Priorities

  1. Toddler Service: At the first three-year plan discussion it was suggested that we try to provide a chance for young mums (dads?) and under 3's to meet during the week. This was set up as the Toddler Service.
  2. Contact Groups: Each member of the DCC would be assigned a small group of church members who would use that DCC Representative as the first port of call for any concerns. If the DCC chooses to consult with the congregation about any issue then these representatives would be asked to speak to the members of their group. There might be the possibility that these groups could be developed as ‘prayer chains’ or that the DCC member might make an effort to be aware of the pastoral needs of any members of their group. In this way they could operate in a similar way to the ‘Pastoral Groups’ set up in the past. Groups would need to be reassigned after each DCC election.
  3. House Groups: The DCC should make a firm commitment to support, train and equip house group leaders as part of the regular life of the church.
  4. Prayer and Worship Groups: The DCC should support the creation of small groups for informal prayer and worship.
  5. Lay involvement in Pastoral Care: The DCC should support the development and training of lay people in the pastoral work of the church.
  6. Children: The DCC should keep the wellbeing of children as a high priority.
  7. Newcomers and Visitors: Every effort should be made to make newcomers feel welcome and able to take a full part in the life of the church.

 

Review of Pastoral Care at Saint Laurence's:

It is suggested that a review group be formed twelve months after these priorities are accepted by the DCC (January 2000?). The aim of this group would be to assess how well we have all done in achieving the goals that we have set ourselves. It might also use the opportunity to suggest new priorities for the DCC to take on.

 

Adoption by the DCC

This segment of the Three Pear Plan was adopted by the DCC on Tuesday January 12th 1999.

Mission & Evangelism

Mission & Evangelism Consultation:

Brenda Rowley was asked by the DCC to consult

with people about possible proposals.

Three Year Plan Priorities

  1. Build on things we are good at: We should continue to focus our efforts on the things we do well, e.g. the Children’s Service and the Family Service. New work should probably grow from the opportunities these events provide for us.
  2. Prayer: We need more opportunities for prayer. We should start a prayer group and also investigate better ways of praying for people within the services.
  3. Special Services: We should provide opportunities for special services with guest speakers, etc…
  4. Nurture for new members: We need to learn not to assume that new people automatically know what is going on.
  5. Target Immediate Locality: We should try to become better at reaching out to our own District through leaflet drops, visiting, etc…
  6. House Groups: We need to develop a system of house groups which nurtures both older and newer members..
  7. SWOT analysis: The DCC should make time to do a proper analysis of the churches potential, looking at its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
  8. Evening Worship: Evening events may provide us with the opportunity to reach out to a wider variety of people, in a wider variety of ways!

 

Review of Mission & Evangelism:

It is suggested that a review group be formed twelve months after these priorities are accepted by the DCC (February 2000?). The aim of this group would be to assess how well we have all done in achieving the goals that we have set ourselves. It might also use the opportunity to suggest new priorities for the DCC to take on.

 

Adoption by the DCC

This segment of the Three Year Plan was presented at the DCC on Tuesday February 9th 1999.

Teaching

Further work may need

to be done in this area.

We hope that the new DCC will

find time to discuss the issue

of teaching, and develop a set of

clear priorities.

 

 

 

Fund Raising

Further work may need

to be done in this area...

 

Three Year Plan Priorities

 

Review of the Year

April 1998 to April 1999

 

Starting out on a plan...

At the Annual General meeting in April 1998 it was decided that the DCC should start work on a Three Year Plan for the church. Many people took the opportunity to feed in their ideas and a list of clear priorities slowly began to emerge...

The DCC has begun to think ahead to our millenium celebrations. There are also plans for major events in 2001 when we will look back at the 150 years which have passed since the rededication of the church.

This past year has involved a lot of talking and planning, but there has also been quite a bit of action! The Assistant Curate, Tim Norwood, has been assigned to the church on a full-time basis and the DCC have begun to meet more regularly. These changes have partly been made so that we can devote more time to Three Year Plan projects.

 

Now happening at St Laurence’s!

Some of our Three Year Plan priorities have already been given attention. Here are some of the things we have already done:

 

Worship

Over the past year we have introduced a fair amount of new worship materials. Some of these have come from the new Church of England collection, "Common Worship", which we have been introducing as it becomes available. We have also introduced a new hymn book, "Hymns Old & New", which has enabled us to add a huge variety of hymns and songs to our repertoire. the singing group has begun to look for ways of learning this new music and introducing it to the congregation.

A major change to our services took place thanks to the introduction of Service Cards. These replaced the old "red books" with their complicated system of numbered paragraphs and page numbers, which unfortunately confused many visitors. The new cards only contain the material actually needed by the congregation, which has both helped newcomers to follow the service and also allowed the clergy to be more creative.

We have witnessed an increase in the number of children involved in Sunday Worship. Unfortunately, this has not been matched by an increase in their involvement. An attempt has been made to use children in the leading of intercessions and in other parts of the service, but there is still a lot of work to be done in this area!

The DCC has, however, made its commitment to children’s work plain by allocating more financial resources to the support of our children’s workers. We hope that there will be further developments in the coming year.

The Worship Planning Group is now meeting every two months. It’s an open meeting at which all members of the congregation have an opportunity to contribute to our thinking. We hope that it will continue to help us develop our worship and prayer.

 

Communications

The DCC Communications Group produced more Priorities than any of the other consultations. This may reflect a general feeling that we have not been doing very well in this important area of work|! It is certainly clear that it’s going to take a long time to iron out all the difficulties we seem to experience. This means that everyone will have to be both considerate and patient...

We now have a diary in the vestry which should be our main authority when it comes to future events. We hope that all information should be recorded in this diary where it can be used for reference.

The notice sheet has been given a major revamp and is now being used to communicate with people who attend all the services, including the 8.ooam Communion Service and the Children’s Service.

The DCC was aware that we had not been contributing to the Parish Magazine. It was also uncertain about the usefulness of the magazine for our communications. In spite of this, it committed itself to the task of making sure that our contribution to the "Parish News" was always "relevant and interesting" and that the occasions when there was "no news" from St Laurence’s should not be repeated.

In September Sheila MacAuly became Sheila Jordan and decided that it was time for her to give up being editor of the Parish Magazine. Unfortunately, no-one else came forward to volunteer themselves for this mammoth task, and the Parochial Church Council (the PCC) decided that it was time to call it a day for the "Parish News".

In many ways this was a sad occasion, but it has also presented us with a great opportunity to find more relevant ways of communicating. In February we launched the GRIDIRON, a new magazine specifically for St Laurence’s. We are hoping that it will provide a major focus for our communications both within the church and for our visitors.

We have been trying to keep a quality poster in the lich-gate notice board. This has not always been easy and a number of important events have not been given the advertising they deserved. In the year ahead we need to find ways of making this a higher priority.

There is now a Web Site available for all those connected to the internet. This is still "under construction" but has already been linked to the Diocese of Oxford’s own home-page. We have been "visited" electronically by people from all over the world, including Canada and Scotland. This area of communications may begin to bare all sorts of strange fruit in the year ahead.

The Communications Group regarded our communications with visitors as being a high priority. Projects like the Service Cards have already proven useful, but there is more work to be done...

A variety of new materials have been produced for our visitors. These have included a new History Leaflet, a Welcome Card and a card for people planning to be married. Ken Bryant and others are working on a variety of materials which should see the light of day at some point in the next three years...

We have started a process of training intercessors. We have also appointed a number of new intercessors. This means that the process of training will have to begin again. With any luck, however, this should not take too long...

There are, however, a number of other groups who need more attention. In the coming year it is hoped that both sidespeople and readers will have opportunities for further training...

There is still a lot of work to do in the area of communications, but we are confident that much progress has already been made and more will happen in the next few years. While this is happening we hope everyone will be patient.

 

Pastoral Care

A variety of projects have been planned or started during the past year. These have included a Toddler Service for parents and young children. There are also plans for new House Groups and Prayer Groups.

One of our new projects is a reworking of an old idea. The DCC has decided to create "Contact Groups" which should help everyone to feel involved in the decision making of the church. It is hoped that every member of the congregation will be considered part of a group which will also include one member of the DCC. This DCC representative will be the main person they speak to about church business, both by passing on their concerns and by being consulted.

This new system was given a trial run when we considered the issue of Women Priests. Members of the DCC were given a list of people to talk to and then reported back to the council. It is hoped that many future decisions will be made in a similar way.

The new "Contact Groups" are a new version of something called "Pastoral Groups". These groups had the added task of keeping an eye out for each other. It is hoped that we will all make a special effort to get to know the other people in our groups so that we become a little better at looking after each other.

 

Mission and Evangelism

One of the greatest responsibilities that every Christian has is to pass on to other people the good things that Christ has given to them. Mission is therefore one of the highest priorities that every church should have.

Over the past year we have been working hard to proclaim the "good news" about Christ in clear and accessible ways. This should continue, but there may be more that we could be doing.

We have also continued to give a high priority to our mission giving, with special collections for the Central American Relief Fund and other important charities. We have given a special priority to the Jubilee 2000 campaign and the attempt to end third world debt. As the millenium approaches it is hoped that we will continue to contribute to work of this nature.

 

Teaching

We have begun to pursue a "back-to basics" approach to Christian education by making no assumptions about what people do or don’t know about churches and the Christian faith. This has already led to a series of sermons and articles about the Communion Service.

We have also been encouraging people to take part in other opportunities for further Christian education, such as, the Sunday Evening Program at St Mary’s and the Chiltern Christian Training Scheme.

 

Fund Raising

We have decided to continue our commitment to the Medieval Fayre as our main fundraising event for the year. We have also started to raise our awareness about this issue.

 

Coming soon at St Laurence’s...

The first year of the Three year Plan is now over and one thing is certain - there is still a lot to do! Having said that, there is also an enormous amount that we have already done!

Perhaps the most important thing we’ve done so far is to stop and think prayerfully about our church. This has given us a real chance to examine our life together in a realistic and honest way. From this openness we have generated an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm as we’ve shared our hopes and dreams for the future.

In a sense, this should never stop and we should always continue to be thoughtful and self-critical about ourselves. On the other hand, there are now a lot of things that we can be getting on with...

In this coming year we will have quite a lot to occupy ourselves with and hopefully, by this time next year, many of the original priorities will have been achieved. Along the way, we shall hopefully be doing some celebrating, and also a bit more assessment, as we continue to ask ourselves whether we’ve set the right priorities or not!

The main purpose of a Three Year Plan, however, is not found in any of these priorities. It is found in the hope that we can catch a common vision of where God may be taking us on our journey with him. If we only gain one thing from the Three Year Plan let be that we have indeed learnt to journey together in unity and peace.