Our Mission Community
In 2011, Carlisle Diocese under Bishop James' direction launched the Growing Disciples, Vision and Strategy, often referred to as the "the green book". In this strategy and the vision behind it, there was a proposal of how as churches in the Diocese of Carlisle we could build for period of growth instead of settling for the inevitable decline.
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In 2015, following work from Bishop Robert Freeman, the former Bishop of Penrith, the God For All mission initiative built on the work of Growing Disciples. In particular, the God For All initiative's vision and strategy aimed to overturn long-held but unconscious attitudes in the churches in Cumbria to begin to think in the way that the God For All slogan says — that God is for all people, and not only a select and holy huddle.
The God For All initiative was very quickly woven into the diocesan fabric, and the God For All team formed in the Diocesan Offices covering specific areas of mission and evangelism, or "reach" — MeReach, InReach, OutReach and BigReach;
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— | individuals sharing faith through everyday life. |
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— | church communities becoming more welcoming and drawing people in. |
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— | reaching out into communities beyond the fringe through pioneering and innovative fresh expressions of church. |
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— | using marketing and digital media to stimulate people to think about where God is in their life. |
This major change in attitude and philosophy towards mission and reaching out in different ways is encapsulated in the God For All statement.
"By 2020 every person in Cumbria of all ages and backgrounds will have an opportunity to discover more of God and God's purpose for their lives, so that they will discover more of Jesus and the Good News and become followers of Jesus within a Christian community"
God For All Statement
With 2020 now here, the diocese has sought to revisit the vision, and under Bishop Emma's guidance, there has been a call to pray and to listen for Vision Refresh to explore what will come next.
Our Mission Community
As part of the God For All vision and strategy, and as a means of focussing and developing the missional intent of the initiative, the deaneries and parishes were encouraged to look at forming "mission communities".
A mission community need not be conformed to previous structures or groupings, but they are intended to allow for the pooling and efficient use of resources for mission — people, talents and finance. Each mission community would, in addition, have a designated mission community leader whose role would be to foster and encourage mission where there is none, and support and manage mission where it already exists.
Three mission areas have been suggested based around the three population centres in the Furness deanery — Ulverston, Dalton and Millom. This would mean that we would have one mission community leader, but that geographically areas could pool their mission resources locally, though mission community-wide sharing of resources is still possible, where appropriate.
Our Mission Area
The mission area that has been suggested that the Benefice of Coniston and the Crake Valley be part of, is with Ulverston Parish Church (UPC).
St. Mary's, Penny Bridge
