At the beginning of last week, I spent a couple of days on a training residential for vicars across the country. The first session was from someone who works for the Church of England centrally and she began by outlining the overall vision of the Church of England for the 2020s. I have to admit that I hadn’t realised there was one! (If you’d like to see it for yourself, you can do so here). From this I learned that one of the goal of the Church of England is to become –
A Church of England which fully represents the communities we serve in age and diversity.
I am passionate about this, and I am so pleased that our Sunday congregation is truly intergenerational, and that we have a flourishing midweek communion service, as well as wonderful ministries such as Puzzling Times and Together at 2 and Church Fellowship – these are so important. I believe that a truly Christlike church is one where all ages can flourish and deepen in their love of Jesus. I think we can see this happening in our church and my prayer is that we see this more and more at St Christopher’s Church in the coming years.
The particular residential I was on was focused on the area of children, young people, and families. It is part of a one year programme funded by the Church of England to help fulfil part of its core vision – To be a church that is younger and more diverse – and specifically,
Doubling the number of children and young active disciples in the Church of England by 2030.
This project has come about partly because the national church is facing the stark reality that there has been decline in attendance across all age groups, and patricianly among young people – the number of young people attending church has halved since 2003. It’s not difficult to imagine the implications if this level of of decline were to continue – the Church of England simply wouldn’t exist in the next 30 years. Of course, this isn’t the full story – other denominations across the country are growing, and the Church of England isn’t the Church of Christ, however, it would be desperately sad if the Church of England were to die out. The other reason for this investment is that the vast majority of Christians come to faith as adults. If we want to see more people coming to faith in Jesus we need to reach out to them as children and young people.
So, what does all this mean for us here at St Christopher’s Church? At the moment we are blessed by having around 15-20 children attending church weekly. This would mean growing to 30-40 young people over the next 5 years. It may seem impossible, but we have a God of miracles for whom nothing is impossible. We do, however, need to invest time, money and prayer into this issue. The flourishing of children and young families need to be a priority for all of us.
One of the steps we are taking over the next few months is to try and appoint a full-time Children Youth and Families worker, who will lead us in this area, building on the exciting work that is already happening. Could you give financially to support this? While we hope to apply for grants, a substantial part of the money needs to come from the church community. The PCC is aware of the financial pressures we are under, so we have also agreed with the diocese of Coventry that for the next few years we will reduce our Parish Share payment (the money that we give in order to support having a vicar) so that we can invest in this crucial area of mission – putting aside money that is already given to cover the cost of ministry; however, in time we will need to grow our giving so that we can both pay for the parish share, covering the cost of a vicar, as well as financing our children and youth work.
The other investment we need to make is time. We have a wonderful team of people who volunteer to lead Sunday groups. Could you join the team, volunteering to help once a month? Another key need is World Changers on a Wednesday – we urgently need someone who can step up and support this wonderful work. It’s a lot of fun, and we are investing into the spiritual lives of some wonderful children in very exciting way. Please consider whether you can help.
The final and most important investment we can all make is that of prayer. Please pray for the life of our church, and particularly our children, youth and families’ work. Please pray for the financial provision so that we can employ a children and families’ worker. Please pray for the provision of people to work in this area, and above all, pray for the young people and families of this church and community, for them to flourish and to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
This is one of the focuses for the fortnightly Monday morning prayer meeting at the vicarage – as well as the flourishing of all God’s people in the church. Please consider whether you can join us. If you’re not able to join us, please remember this issue in your own prayer time. You may like to use the prayer below as inspiration.
Yours in Christ
Loving God,
We bring to you the children, young people and families of our nation.
We pray for those who already know they are your children.
Please protect them, bless them and keep them firm in their faith.
We pray for those who would like to find out more about you.
Please provide ways for them to do that, and help us all to play our part.
We pray for those who know little or nothing about Christian faith.
Please stir up curiosity in them to find out more and in your mercy give them encounters with you that transform their lives.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Halwill Publishing 