Our Vision for Growth…

…in numbers and in Spirit

Our Strategy for the mission and outreach of Farnham United Reformed Church for the next three years 2010-2012

Vision:
In The Spire Coffee Bar there is a place where God's kingdom is clearly alive and at work: a place of community and of encountering God. With increasing use of the rear premises by community groups, and an increasing sense of welcome, can we create something with more of that ethos in the other parts of the church building? At the heart of this is the sanctuary, used primarily for Sunday worship: can this be the spiritual heart of an enterprise that furthers God's kingdom, building a community of all ages seeking to follow God?

A text:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…and day by day the Lord added to their number. Acts 2:42-47

Mission Statement:
Farnham United Reformed Church exists to worship God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the Reformed tradition, through which we believe that the Christian gospel calls us to work with God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in furthering Christ's kingdom.

We endeavour to put this mission into practice by:

• Offering worship for all ages that seeks to lead everyone to an encounter with the Living God
• Helping people of all ages to learn and grow as Christians
• Responding as a good neighbour to people in need
• Seeking to make more followers of Jesus Christ
• Promoting issues of global peace and justice, and care for the environment
• Enriching the spiritual and cultural life of the community so as to celebrate God's love and increase awareness of God's presence
• Providing a welcome for all ages
• Vibrant and effective denominational and ecumenical relations

On the pages that follow are various ways we will put this into practice. All ideas will be reviewed, and if they don't work can be changed. This document is envisaged to last three years, during which time we hope to have put its strategy into practice.

MORE DETAILS OF WHAT THESE HEADINGS INVOLVE
Offering worship for all ages that seeks to lead everyone to an encounter with the Living God

• Plan more services especially for children and families, including Sundays, looking at a once a month "early bird" service.
• Plan a monthly midweek daytime traditional service for older people
• Plan a monthly midweek evening service for people who are too busy to attend or focus on Sunday mornings
• Continue to seek ideas about increasing flexibility in the Sanctuary without detracting from the beautiful appearance.
• Try harder at special services aimed at some of the groups e.g. pram service, pilots parade etc.
• Choose suitable supplementary hymnbook(s) so as to eliminate the need for more pieces of paper
• Continue to develop ideas from the Music Review, especially instrumentalists

Helping people of all ages to learn and grow as Christians

• Look again at whether there is a pattern of house groups that would be attractive, and help people grow in friendship, fellowship, and faith
• Continue to work towards the "Child Friendly Church Award"
• Consider the employment of a Youth & Children's worker, possibly in conjunction with other churches, if ways can be found to do this without the prohibitive cost of employing and accommodating someone full-time.
• Continue to seek ideas to improve attendance at Church Meetings, and move forward with experimenting with the day/time, length, and frequency of meetings.
• Increasing prayer for and awareness of children's and youth work and their leaders
• Improve our recruitment, commissioning, and training of volunteers for Youth and Children's Work
• Consider whether "Messy Church" might be appropriate in our programmes of activities for children

Responding as a good neighbour to people in need

• Recognise that pastoral care extends to the whole community, not just those who worship on Sundays, and seek to offer that care to all who cross our path
• Always reviewing patterns and effectiveness of pastoral care
• Offering more training and support for Church Friends
• When arranging events we will strive to include people with non-attending spouses/partners, different income groups, families, and different age groups as much as possible.

Seeking to make more followers of Jesus Christ

• Drawing people on fringes of the church more deeply into the fellowship by invitations to services and events, and by asking them to take on jobs or roles.
• Consider better ways of promoting our church, both those based on personal relationship based and more generally.

Promoting issues of global peace and justice, and care for the environment

• We will continue to support Commitment for Life and Christian Aid, and try to give their work a greater profile through both action and prayer.
• Through preaching and learning, we will explore more about environmental issues.

Enriching the spiritual and cultural life of the community so as to celebrate God's love and increase awareness of God's presence

• Consider one person to 'adopt' each of the groups in the church, including the external groups, to build relationship
• Build up use of the church premises for theatrical and musical events
• Recognise that our members serving the community as volunteers is not a distraction from the work of the church but an integral part of their living out their faith in the world and working for the kingdom of God

Providing a welcome for all ages

• We will continue the process of re-decorating and sprucing up tired areas.
• We will strive to have someone on duty each Sunday morning to welcome visitors, encourage them to sign the Visitors' Book, stay for coffee, and to talk to people on their own and introduce them to others as appropriate, without putting off more cautious visitors.
• Welcome cards/information for visitors
• Creche available on spec for visitors who turn up without notice
• Ask families what is good/bad in provision for them
• Materials for under-fives to use before going to/instead of (if parents wish) crèche
• Consider how those leading children's and youth work have the "Core Skills"
• Continue good work to make the Spire a place of welcome and hospitality for all ages

Vibrant and effective denominational and ecumenical relations

• Deepen our friendships with St. Andrew's and Farnham Methodist churches
• Explore whether there is more that could be done in conjunction with Farnham Methodist Church, always asking why we need to do things apart.
• Strive to use the gifts and skills of our members more in the service of the wider church
• Seek a greater interest in the wider United Reformed Church as "us" rather than "them"

A summary of some key themes:

• Deepening our engagement with the Bible, Prayer, and our spiritual development
• Drawing in people on the fringes of the church
• Building up work amongst children, young people, and families
• Building up fellowship and community
• Making Links and connections with the wider community
• Always looking to increase our welcome
• Working together with others where we can

Please pray about all of this, remembering that what is an obvious and simple change for you might cause great pain to someone else, and what for you is an uncomfortable and unwelcome idea might be the very thing that brings someone else closer to God.

Loving God, we thank you for guiding us in this congregation since 1660. Be with us all as we seek your will for us in the future. If we are afraid or fearful, give us hope and confidence in the eternal nature of your love. If we are excited, help us to share your joy. In the name and Spirit of Christ Jesus, Amen.