A Transforming Community

How a small Christian congregation adapted for a new mission situation.

When I arrived in Sheffield 9 years ago, one of the congregations I was given charge of was a small mission chapel situated in the Rivelin Valley which went by the name of Rivelin Glen. It was an interesting place in a number of ways: the only way to get to it was down a cobbled path; the interior was stark, with pews, a raised dais with a harmonium and a lectern, and a painted bible text on the wall behind the preacher; and the congregation, though small, consisted mainly of young people from the nearby estate. The work was overseen by Connie, a lady then in her 70s from another local congregation, and Phil, a man in his 50s with strong Pentecostal and dispensationalist leanings. An interesting group, to say the least.

Over time the work fluctuated, but the young people kept coming. They saw the chapel as 'theirs', and preferred its aesthetics to those of a nearby 1970s Methodist chapel: 'it feels more like a church', they told me: 'that other place doesn't feel right.' Sadly because of the demographic of the congregation, income was poor and the building was old and badly in need of repair. We eventually reached the point where Rivelin Glen was no longer usable, due to problems with dry rot. But the young people still wanted to meet together.

We tried meeting in homes: Connie's front room had functioned as the church hall for a while, but didn't seem conducive to regular worship. We tried meeting in nearby chapels, but that seemed too far removed from the 'mission field' of this group, who clearly saw the estate on which they lived as where God wanted them to be. Eventually we decided to meet in a Community Room on the estate at Hall Park Head, in the heart of the community, close to the bus terminus.

We've been worshipping there now for about 3½ years. And things have changed. The congregation has changed: only Connie is left from the group I inherited, but others have come in and transformed the dynamic in a wonderful way: those with skills and gifts in technology, in worship leading and in children's work. People who had belonged to other congregations, and those who still worship elsewhere in the city, come to Hall Park in varying numbers to worship and read the Bible together. Their style is very interactive: preachers are never left unchallenged or uninterrupted. And most importantly, their focus is very much outward. In the two hours that they meet together about ½ hour is spent in worship & study: the rest of the time is taken up with what they call the 'Welcome Cafe', a non-threatening space for anyone from the estate to come and share tea and cakes and a chat, with craft activities for the younger children, who seem to really appreciate what we do. There is a hope that in the coming months there may be scope for providing debt counselling services here too.

I've used the word 'we' a lot here: the truth is I stopped being the minister to this congregation about 3 years ago, but have maintained contact with them, and lead worship there regularly. They continue to be an inspiration to me, and I hope and pray that their mission will continue to grow as they reach out with God's love to that estate and the people with whom they share their lives.

20 years on...

Today marks the end of my first 20 years in Circuit ministry in the Methodist Church in Great Britain as a Presbyter. I say that last thing because I spent 2 years prior to being selected for ministry serving as a Lay Pastor to 2 congregations in Leicestershire. But this could very well be the mid-point of my active ministry: How has the experience been?

Following 3 years training in Bristol, the first 6 years were spent in post-industrial County Durham, in the town of Stanley. Well, I call it a town - that's how it seemed to me when I arrived there fresh from college - but I soon discovered that it was more of a collection of pit villages, each with their own particular identity and each lacking the one thing that gave them that identity - the pit. These had closed back in the 1970s, but their shadow still hung heavily in the air and in the hearts and lives of the people.

Methodism in County Durham is, to all intents and purposes, the established church: it was easier to start a Methodist Society as these communities were being built than it was to establish an Anglican parish. Consequently, if people didn't go to church there it was the Methodist Church they didn't go to - unless they needed a christening, a wedding (often after the second christening) or a funeral. So, my time there was largely spent on what were laughingly called 'occasional offices', making many contacts with the 'unchurched', but having very little time to develop those contacts as a fresh 'batch' came along with at times alarming regularity. I averaged 20 Weddings a year, around 60 christenings ('wet' and 'dry'), and roughly 80 funerals: many opportunities to 'sow the seed' of the gospel, but little time for harvest.

After 6 years, and having guided one of the churches through their centenary celebrations, I moved from Stanley to Wetherby in West Yorkshire - only about 10 miles from home - to take charge of 3 churches there. Sociologically a very different appointment, in that Wetherby is, in many areas, a lot more affluent a place, with the consequent challenges that that brings in ministry terms. Together we saw in the new millennium and explored new ways of worship and of doing and being church - explorations that did not come without issues, in-fighting and insensitivity - from me as well as them. I learned a lot about people and about ministry there, but not without considerable cost to my soul and my psyche at times.

The Wetherby years were also the time when I spent a lot of time engaged in Chaplaincy. Alongside the 3 churches I had care of, I was also the Free Churches chaplain at HMYOI Wetherby. This not only provided many opportunities to engage these young lads in conversations about important issues, but also to introduce them to stories that had been a part of my life almost from the beginning. There is a particular joy to being able to tell the story of the Prodigal Son to a 17 year-old lad for the first time and to see the recognition in his face as he reflects with you on its timeless qualities. In contrast to the work in the prison, I was also chaplain to 35 (Wetherby) Squadron of the Air Training Corps: a generally motivated bunch of young people, more or less the same age as the YOIs. No generation can be stereotyped: hopefully all generations can be given hope and purpose for their lives.

And so, in 2004, to Sheffield. For the last 8 years I have been minister of Wesley Hall, Crookes, a large Methodist Chapel with a relatively small congregation, sitting in the shadow of one of the largest Anglican churches in the country (St Thomas' Crookes). In that time we have together sought to catch a vision for our place in that community, and to develop Wesley Hall as a focus for many activities in the Crookes area. From there we reach out to young families through the Toddler Group, to the elderly with the Lunch Club, and to young lads through Boy's Brigade. Our buildings are used by MENCAP to house offices, by choirs and opera groups, for Tae Kwon Do and Zumba classes. We struggle with what to do with a building that is Grade 2-listed and showing increasing signs of being 104 years-old, but increasingly rely on God's strength to get us through.

Alongside Wesley Hall, my only consistent 'charge' over the 8 year, I have cared for congregations at Stanwood for 6 years, Rivelin Glen & Stannington for 5 years, Walkley for 2 years and Dungworth for 1 year. Each have had their own opportunities and challenges, yet remain cheerful. For the last 2 years Wesley Hall & Walkley have functioned as one church, sharing a church council but retaining their separate buildings and worshipping communities. We are still working out the implications of this for both communities, but it has been good to share in mission, worship and fellowship over the past 2 years.

So, 20 years of outreach, mission, ministry, worship, frustration, sadness and joy; sharing Christ with God's people within and outside the church building and the church community. And after 20 years, if I'm honest, I don't really think I'd rather be anywhere else (though I would be lying if I said I'm not tempted on an almost daily basis to pack it all in!) Only God really knows where the next 20 years will take me - I hope, by God's grace, to still be active then

A Discipleship Movement Shaped For Mission

It doesn't happen very often, but when it does it could prove the catalyst for a seismic shift in the life of the church. To what am I referring? A report to Methodist Conference.

Most of the time, to be honest, Conference reports are destined to gather dust on shelves - even those which are received with great aplomb and welcomed whole-heartedly by the church. I well remember the enthusiasm with which 'Charter 95' was embraced in Bristol, calling for the young people of Methodism to be given a greater part in the life of the church. The following year a 'young person' was nominated for the office of Vice President of Conference - here's the chance to stand by our words of 12 months ago, I thought, but what happened? Nothing. Conference reports come and go. Conference initiatives come and go. Presidents and Vice-Presidents, and even Secretaries of Conference/ General Secretaries of the Methodist Church come and go, yet very little seems to change.

So why am I getting so animated about another such report? Because I think this one has the potential to make a huge difference to the life, ethos and potentially the future of the British Methodist Church. It is the report of the General Secretary, Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, to the Conference of 2011, in which he calls on the Methodist people to rediscover their calling to be a Discipleship movement shaped for mission.

I was first alerted to it by an article in the Methodist Recorder which picked up on many of its salient points, but that didn't really do justice to its 24 pages in the agenda. In the report, Martyn:

seeks to discern and describe a vision of the direction of travel of the life and work, worship and mission of the Methodist Church as it responds in loving obedience to the gracious prompting of the Spirit;and to set an emphasis on the Methodist Church as a discipleship movement shaped for mission. The report sets out the consequent challenges; reconsiders connexionalism in the light of them; and outlines various recommendations for further work to address them in the areas of patterns of ministry; property and stewardship; worship; a mixed economy of traditional and new patterns of being the Church; evangelism; and partnerships. [from the summary of the paper]

In the paper ideas put forward by previous leaders of the Church, dormant for a number of years (the ideas, not the leaders), resurface in the belief that their rhema-moment has now come: ideas such as Nigel Collinson's desire for there to be a pastor for every church, and Tom Stuckey's call for Circuit Meetings to have more say on the closure and disposal of churches which have come to the end of their mission. These are set alongside a timely call for better, targeted training for Superintendent ministers; the encouragement of a mixed economy of ministry in circuits between lay, diaconal and presbyteral, with a wider sharing of pastoral responsibility; the encouragement of more small group leadership (which is one of the factors in how early Methodism grew in the way it did). And there's so much more in it: take a look at the full report, which you can find on pages 23-48 of volume 1 of the agenda, available on the Methodist Conference website.

I find quite striking a couple of words in the header pages of the report: when assessing the impact of the report, it simply states 'potentially considerable.' But only if we take these prophetic words to heart, and act on them as expediently as possible. As it goes on to say about the risk of this report: 'A wide ranging number of risks involved in pursuing … and not pursuing such priorities.'