‘EQUIP’ : a peer group mentoring programme for church leaders
Responding to your needs
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ReSource sees a vital part of its brief as encouraging and challenging churches and their leaders into fruitfulness. It is our privilege to visit and minister in all kinds of churches, and we are delighted to find that so many are renewed in the Spirit and active in mission. It clearly is possible for a church to be effective and fruitful in this country. However, many of our churches are not experiencing this fruitfulness; many are not managing to open themselves to the Spirit and find themselves preoccupied with maintenance rather than mission. |
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We are constantly asking ourselves what kind of
contribution we can offer that will make a difference. Our new ReSource
mentoring programme, EQUIP, is headed up by Roger Morgan.
At present EQUIP is running in the South West (centred on Wells) and in
the North West (centred on Chester). We hope to develop a third centre
in Yorkshire. EQUIP will be for church leaders of Anglican Churches or
their equivalents in other denominations.
The task of a church leader
It’s easy to look at the scriptures and see what the task of a church
leader is. Every church leader has the same clearly defined mission. He
or she is sent to bear witness to the people living in their locality,
often (but not always) defined by parish boundaries. With God’s help,
which we believe is always available, the result of this witness will
always be new believers who must then be baptised and then filled by
the Holy Spirit as we pray for them. As more and more are reached the
result will be a Spirit-filled community; this community will then join
with the church leader in the task and will reach further people. EQUIP
is open to all church leaders who are excited by this vision and are
longing to see it increasingly fulfilled in the locality into which God
has placed them.
This is the biblical vision; but in our culture realising it is far
from easy. The main reason is that when a new church leader arrives in
the parish he or she often finds a starting position which is far from
ideal. The church buildings may be quite unsuitable, the diocesan
structures may seem to hinder rather than support, and the congregation
may not as individuals yet be alive in the Spirit. In these
circumstances it is all too easy to lose sight of the vision. The aim
of EQUIP will be to help leaders stay on track and then win through so
that an empowered, missional church emerges.
EQUIP – what we offer
EQUIP South West will be led by Roger Morgan and Mike Edson.
Mike has recently retired from his job as Vicar of Bideford and has
himself led fruitful churches. He was Archdeacon of Leicester for
several years before he returned to parish life; before that he was
Warden of Lee Abbey; Mike now lives in Barnstaple. EQUIP North West
will be led by John Benson, recently returned to this country after 20
years in the Diocese of Singapore. During these years he has served as
Vicar of St George’s Church, Dean of Cambodia, Director of Training,
and Vicar of Chapel of the Resurrection.
Members of EQUIP will commit themselves to three meetings per year in
February/March, June/July and October/November. These dates will be
agreed by consultation with all the members but once they are set the
members agree to give the meetings the highest possible priority. John,
Mike and Roger will additionally commit to visiting each of the members
in their own locality at least once between the three main meetings.
At the main meetings we will cover the following areas together:
1. Life
We will do all that we can to ensure that each member of EQUIP is alive
in Jesus, filled by his love and equipped with his power. More than
this, we will aim that all the congregations associated with EQUIP are
alive, overflowing with praise, using all kinds of spiritual gifts,
devoted to prayer, to the sacraments, and to the scriptures
demonstrating sacrificial love and generosity.
2. Confidence
We will aim in EQUIP to build each other’s confidence and to build the
confidence of our congregations. We will aim for leaders and churches
which believe that they have the truth and believe that as they live
out this truth and share it with the world God will always add to our
numbers from amongst those who are seeking after truth.
3. Space
In EQUIP we will encourage each other and help each other to find a
good balance between work and rest. We will find a time to pray, time
to plan, time to prepare things properly, time for our families, time
to enjoy God’s creation. We will aim for congregations who enjoy God,
enjoy worship, enjoy prayer, enjoy taking in the word of God, enjoy
living -in our ideal world we and all the people we serve will abound
with thanksgiving.
4. Vision
We will encourage each other to develop a clear sense of what God is
going to do in the immediate future of our lives and in the lives of
our congregations. How can a congregation find its vision? How can the
vision be maintained? How can the vision be celebrated? We will all
have a vision for renewed churches and effective evangelism, but we
expect the shape of this will vary from one place to another.
5. Skills
Being a church leader is like any other job – it requires specific
skills. Preaching a sermon, managing a PCC, leading worship, one on one
ministry with individuals, managing a church’s finances etc. – none of
this is easy. Some of this may be provided by Diocesan and other
training, but often it is not. At EQUIP we will aim to offer training
and share expertise in key skills so that we may all work more
effectively.
6. Courage
Courage is essential if we are to be effective leaders, and EQUIP will
aim to help us develop and maintain this courage. A church leader has
to have the courage to persist in preaching the whole counsel of God,
knowing that some of what we are called to say is unpalatable.
Sometimes progress in our churches is blocked by particular individuals
who occupy key roles in an unhelpful way. It takes courage to move
them. Sometimes it’s the church programme which needs to be changed.
Sometimes the problem is the way buildings are used, or the buildings
themselves.
7. Teamwork
Many incumbents and leaders operate as one man (or woman) bands. They
are often fruitful - but there is a ceiling to how much they can
achieve. The biblical perspective is of the local church as a team,
with each person contributing to the mission of the church. By
authorising some lay people as ministers and not others the Church of
England may seem in practice to be denying this principle. At EQUIP we
will talk a lot about how to mobilise the entire congregation.
8. Money
Jesus taught more about money than about any other subject. Anxiety
about money is often the main reason why churches fail to grow, with
energy that ought to go on mission being dissipated on endless
fundraising. At EQUIP we will help each other to manage money well, to
teach the importance of generosity and sacrifice and to look for God’s
boundless provision.
To find out more about EQUIP
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We hope that EQUIP will be a way of enabling leaders and churches of all types to grow and become effective in ways which remain faithful to their own traditions and situations. If you are interested in finding out more about EQUIP, either by joining EQUIP SW or EQUIP NW, or by exploring the possibility of establishing an EQUIP group in your own area, please contact Roger Morgan by email or phone at the address below. To download a flyer about EQUIP please click here. |
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