Last Friday night saw the second meeting of the Myriad learning community for leaders of New Worshipping Communities in the Diocese and their teams.
Since last time, teams have been working on progressing their action plans and recruiting volunteers to grow their teams and what they can offer. The first part of the evening provided a space to share progress and good news, as well as any problems and challenges. There was an opportunity to hold everything happening in the parishes in prayer.
New Worshipping Community Enabler Kim Brown said:
“It was wonderful to see everyone again at this second session and spend time together with what is a very enthusiastic core group! There was a hopeful atmosphere in the room, and it felt like a safe space to share ideas. It was a great opportunity to come together to pray for direction and growth, eat together and get to know one another better, and hopefully everyone left feeling encouraged. We’ve had some positive feedback.”
The team from Alvechurch and Beoley reported that they are meeting monthly to plan and pray, which has brought them together and given them a clear joint sense of direction and purpose. Other teams shared that they have been successful in recruiting more volunteers so have been able to expand their New Worshipping Communities.
The rest of the evening’s session focussed on leading as a team and team working. All members of each team completed a spiritual gifts survey to see where their skills lie and what they can bring to the team, such as encouraging, prayer, evangelism or administration.
They reviewed this together and identified any gaps before sharing their findings and reflections with the wider group, then shared what gifts they see in other team members. We explored the struggles that can come from working in a team and some found this quote helpful: “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go further, go together”.
One participant commented:
“I was personally very encouraged and came a way with a clearer need to pray and do more to try and develop a team.”
One of our diocesan priorities is to create 100 New Worshipping Communities by 2030, to ensure we are offering a range of accessible ways for people to join a church community and come to know the love of Christ. The Diocese has partnered with Myriad (part of the Gregory Centre for church multiplication) to deliver this learning pathway, which began in January 2024. The aim is to bring together those who are developing New Worshipping Communities to enable them to gain insights from each other’s experiences, as well as support, encourage and pray for each other over the next two years.
The group will meet for their next session in September.
