A resourcing church works closely with the bishop to intentionally resource mission across an area by planting and revitalising churches, developing leaders and providing other resources for mission. Its aim is to help evangelise the area and transform society.
What is a resourcing church?
Resourcing churches form part of the mix of how, as a Diocese, we aim to better serve and reach the 93% of people who are not currently part of any Christian community. Resourcing churches are given additional, focused resources with the explicit aim that these resources are multiplied and shared with others. It is expected that, in every sense, resourcing churches will ‘give away’ far more than they ‘receive. Whilst they are not the whole answer, they form part of our response to God’s call to be Kingdom People.
Establishing resourcing churches is a key way in which the Church of England nationally hopes to grow and bring more people to faith in Jesus. There are three expectations of any resourcing church. It should plan to:
- Plant new churches
- Revitalise existing churches
- Support other churches in the area where it is based.
We currently have two resourcing churches in the Diocese, both of which have received funding from the Church Commissioners:
Top Church, Dudley
With the help of funding from the Church Commissioners, setting up a resourcing church in Dudley was an opportunity to establish a congregation in Dudley, which is very different from the other Church of England congregations currently in the town. Top Church has been redeveloped and improved and a new team there has worked with the existing community there to bring new life to this iconic church to enable it to best serve the needs of the local area.
Top Church has also attracted National Lottery Heritage Fund support.
All Saints, Worcester
In 2002, All Saints was relaunched to provide an Anglican evangelical ministry which was missing in the City of Worcester and has since grown to nearly 400 members. The funding from the Church Commissioners, will enable All Saints’ to develop and expand further, so it can continue to grow leaders who will serve in all traditions across the Diocese and enabling it to better support other churches in Worcester and beyond.
Read about the launch of All Saints as a resourcing church.
What will resourcing churches do?
Resourcing churches will build links with the local community and other local churches to ensure they are well known in its area and effectively serving the local needs. They are likely to have a more charismatic style of worship, which has been proven to attract new people to faith. Once established, resourcing churches will be able to offer help and advice to other local churches to develop particular areas of their own mission and ministry.
Resourcing churches are not primarily about taking services for other churches, nor about changing the tradition of existing churches but often plunging more deeply into the existing church spiritualties and traditions. All traditions are needed because it will take all traditions to reach all cultures.
Read more about the funding received from the Church Commissioners for resourcing churches.
Keep up to date with news from our Resourcing Churches.