agent of local church

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An Agent of local church formation & transformation

A CRCW will be a person

WHO IS: An Agent of local church formation & transformation

Someone who is a Christian disciple, pathfinder, boundary walker, mission enabler, social entrepreneur, missioner in a plural world. Engaged with the formation of the local church as a distinctive and inclusive community, courageous in sustaining its own habits and traditions, open to sometimes radical critique as a consequence of being open to the gift of the outsider
Someone who has a total commitment to God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, and a growing experience of God, through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit, so that the worship, mission and service of God is the central and controlling passion.

WHO KNOWS ABOUT

Discipleship
Engagement & apologetics
Ministry – diakonia
A knowledge of the faith, order, ethos and practice of the United Reformed Church and how it functions
Models of Church
New ways of being Church
Methods for church development
Innovation & Entrepreneurism

WHO HAS SKILLS IN

Contextualising the practice of discipleship in a local church within contemporary settings
Making links between discipleship in Christian tradition/Biblical texts and current opportunities for service
Affirming apparently 'trivial' practices that underpin the life of the church and cannot directly “make a difference”
Empowering people from a congregation to learn from and participate alongside others from diverse backgrounds
Advocating for the excluded, or less active from within the congregation.
Including and motivating for ministry and mission those whom both Church and society have marginalised.
Evaluating the various ways in which the Church has pursued and does pursue its mission and evangelism
Articulating the distinctive nature and order of the United Reformed Church
Visioning with a church or community group, interpreting these into goals, carrying them through and evaluating the outcomes.
Identifying and imagining new opportunities for expressing love, solidarity with the poor, service with and to those who are marginalised
Enlisting congregation members in 'projects' which are beyond the experience of the church and take risks
Supporting people who begin to participate in adventurous ways of expressing discipleship
(1) hearing stories from beyond the local church
(2) retelling stories that are challenging and critiquing the life of the local church
Identifying people and resources to bring about projects which cannot be attempted with only the resources that are to hand
Bringing the key stakeholders together to work in team-based ways towards these agreed objectives

SOME EXAMPLES

Discussion with a church congregation about the mission of the local church bearing in mind complex contextual matters.
Using and adapting programmes eg. Emmaus, ALPHA, UNLOCK materials
Jesus sending out the disciples
Analysing with an Elders Meeting the balance and importance of social action, church life publicity, evangelism and apologetics in the mission of God.
Building volunteer teams from a broad range of age, aptitude, ethnic background, economic class
Including women, black people, the differently-abled, gay people and others
Studying and contextualising the
‘5 Marks of Mission’
District & Synod structures, officers & concilliar processes
Studying The Basis of Union & The Manual
Confession to one another, intercession, decorating rooms and sanctuary, reflecting on own role, relationships and Christian vocation
Arranging visits to other churches & projects
Iona Community
Creating and facilitating Rotas for tasks
Shaftesbury, FYT, CCWA links
Base Christian Communites
‘Building Bridges of Hope’ studies
Greeenbelt Festival
‘Belonging to the World Church programme’ (CWM)
‘Small is Beautiful’
Housing co-operatives and economic initiatives
Shared Interest, LETS, New Economics Foundation
Area Forums, Tenants groups
CAN network