Looking Ahead:

Introduction:

Today we woke to blue sky. It was a welcomed to relief to the storms and winds of the last few days. The weather’s not brilliant but it’s better, and hints of better weather to come. 

I think this reflects where we are at as a nation with Covid and all its implications. The sky is a bit bluer, due to vaccines and people’s careful behaviour. It’s still not great (some towns stepped back into tight restrictions today, and there is still loss, fear and grief), but there is a sense of moving on.

So, what does it mean for St Denys Church as we look ahead and ask what are to focus on, how are we to shape what we do, what do we feel God is calling us to be and do? Well, having done quite a bit of listening, praying, reading, reflecting, untangling and taking stock, I’d like to offer you a sense of way ahead. A framework, a purpose, a sense of momentum (maybe we could even call it a vision!).

Where are we now?

Starting with where are now, there are some building blocks we can work with: 

• One is the Bible verse that the Discipleship Vision Group brought to us in the autumn:

I am the LORD, your Holy One,

    the Creator of Israel, your King.

I am about to do a new thing;

    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

    and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:15&19)

• Another is the four priorities that have emerged over the last 2 years, and that the PCC has affirmed as being important:

o Worship -Turning our hearts & minds to God 

o Deepen- Creating opportunities to explore & deepen Christian spirituality and faith 

o Connect- Building friendships and supporting one another through prayer 

o Engage- Engaging with needs and issues, near and far

• And another is the people, us- the worshipping community is now new and long-standing members, each one with distinct gifts, character, faith, and and a whole bunch of fantastic folk, who might not worship but have a sense of connection with St Denys Church.

• And then there’s the groups, activities and resources developed and changed and emerging

Discipleship Flow:

Looking ahead, I want to give shape to this all, and to do this I want to start with a Bible verse that keeps coming back to me, in part because the church season we’ve been journeying through. 

‘…Go and make disciples…’ (Matthew 28:19)

Next, I want to take our four priorities and show how they can flow together, to reflect discipleship making. Because I think it’s easy to pick and choose which is your natural ‘box’, whereas I think believe discipleship involves it all. 

Let me show what this looks at individual, group and whole church level.

• Individual - maybe you or I have connections with others, we’re supporting each other (cooking meals, making phone-calls and texts, we’re also joining in worship (it’s been weird to adjust but now you find yourself turning your heart and mind to God, and worshiping). This is all discipleship. But can it flow and grow - where is the deepening happening? - is it in your own personal rhythm with God, maybe in a prayer square or Small Group? - OK - So how are you engaging with social needs/with issues of justice - maybe you’ve got involved in the winter shelter, or you give regularly to an organisation, maybe you’re encouraging changes in your work place to help be more environmentally responsible. It’s also discipleship - it flows from one to the other.

• As groups - If you are part of a group think about your Small Group, your Youth Group, your Support Hub, - where are you on the flow as a group - are you investing in connecting and deepening but not flowing into engaging? What would it look to flow into the next area eg to engage as a group into something.

• As a whole church plan - I think we’ve seen that are things happening in these different boxes. But what does it mean for us to enable some flowing to happen? How can we help those connecting in Coffee & Cake to deepen? Or for new people joining us to worship to connect and build supportive friendship?

You’ll notice I’ve included arrows flowing from Engage back to Worship and Connect: that’s because experience has shown there are flows there. When we engage with issues, needs, justice then our worship and relationships are shaped. As an example: when I began to engage with the Sunday lunch Project, and then with Feed the Community, I found myself involved in building new supportive relationships, I also found my approach to worship changed. And those who we’ve engaged with, are they themselves beginning to connect, and some are even beginning to come into worship.

Some particular questions:

Where does all this happen? And where does the church site fit in?

This discipleship flow happens in homes, in the workplace, in the local community, in the virtual space and also on this site. Each space matters and is a place of discipleship. What would it look like to enable flows in all these areas?

In terms of the site, I’ve been struck significantly through Covid that we have been blessed to be stewards of this site with it’s old building, centre and the grounds. This site has been a place that’s mattered to people in different ways- local people, hungry people, worshipping people, need-some-space people. And so I invite us to view it through the lens of discipleship flows - to steward it as a place where people can worship, connecting, deepening and engagement can flow. What would that look like for planning ahead? How does that affect how you view the cleaning, technology, welcoming that you do on site?

Another question: where does prayer come in?

Simply put - everywhere. It is not a separate box. Prayer is in our worship (we’ve got a whole new swathe of people offering to lead our intercessions), prayer also is in our connecting (so we use the book of prayers in the support groups like Friendlies), prayer is in our deepening (Small groups have prayer as such as vital part) and it also needs to be part of engaging (Let’s commit to practically and financially support group, but also to pray for them). 

Who makes this happen? 

We all do with God - I’d love this to become part of how we tick. I can create frameworks and enthuse, but I can’t make it all happen. I hope you’ve seen examples throughout this of in action - so think in your personal life, in the groups, in the ministry areas you’re involved in - talk, chat, ask - what does it look like you to flow into the next zone?

And what does this look like in practice?

Here are a few practical examples I can give that I’ve noticed or heard about:

• Robert is exploring ways to connect & worship with Lawnbrook Road Care Home

• As we review online and in the building Sunday services, we need to consider them in the light of these flows 

• The team in Coffee and Cake are thinking how can we offer opportunities for people who are connecting and coming to worship, to also deepen

• Lizzie is exploring how Rise can engage 

• The Global and Local Mission group have identified four priority areas for engaging for the next three years: global engagement, making disciples, environmental stewardship and local empowerment. We’ll be asking the PCC to look at various implications and we need people to join the GLM group to help shape the church

Conclusion

To finish I come back to the verse the Discipleship Group brought to us:

I am the LORD, your Holy One,

    the Creator of Israel, your King.

I am about to do a new thing;

    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

    and rivers in the desert.

So, how about we become a ‘discipleship river in the desert’? 

Report by Rev Sera Rumble May 2021