Rector of the Brierley Hill Team and Area Dean of Greater Dudley, David Hoskin, has adapted the liturgy used at the launch of ‘Praying for Growth’, turning it into a short service of the word which he has used at Christ Church, Quarry Bank.
The parish is working with a Mission Accompanier and has recently put together a health and sustainability plan. The service was a chance to talk to the wider congregation about the diocesan priorities and give details of their local plans.
David said: “I wanted to explain to the congregation how we were using the diocesan priorities to develop a new vision for Christ Church and encourage them to make the priorities their own. It was a chance to get people praying for new ideas that we’re looking to implement and also encourage volunteers to come and help out.”
Christ Church doesn’t lend itself to moving about during worship, so David adapted the service into something which would be more familiar to the congregation. They sang along to the recording of the song which has been specifically written as part of ‘praying for growth’ and also printed the two diocesan prayers onto an A4 sheet to give out to people to take home.
“I also provided everyone with a pencil and encouraged them to write on the sheet if there were things they felt were being said to them as they prayed these prayers at home,” said David. “People in our churches won’t necessarily hear about the diocesan priorities unless we tell them. At the start of our parish journey, as we are broadening out the conversation about our own plans, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to put this service together to encourage people to ‘own’ the vision for our church.”
