In this version we consider the journey churches have been
forced to begin as we were propelled out of the status quo and
into a bewildering new situation.
The ‘fear zone’ is where we all began, where some of us
still are, and where we will doubtless all return from time to
time. In the fear zone we feel overwhelmed, experience
intense anxiety, and just want things to return to normal.
This is a natural human reaction to change, especially
sudden change. Churches who have experienced multiple
bereavements through COVID-19, and who have not been able
to say goodbye to friends in the way they would have wished,
may find themselves in the fear zone for longer. This may
also be true of some ministers, who have borne the brunt of
pastoral care and who have had to conduct funerals under very
difficult circumstances. These churches and ministers probably
need to be kind to themselves and to each other, whether
they are lethargic and depressed or perhaps engaging in
compulsive helping activities to deal with their anxiety. District,
regional and Connexional Team staff are there to offer help
and support.
Churches which have been able to adapt, however tentatively
and unwillingly, have begun to move from the ’fear zone’ to the
’learning zone’. These are the churches who have begun to
accept the new circumstances and to tr y different ways of doing
things, such as digital church. They may be recording simple
videos with a smartphone or they may be delivering complex
livestreams – it is not the complexity of the technology but the
desire to experiment that marks this stage. Other churches may
be discovering new ways of engaging with their communities
and a renewed community spirit, both in Christians and
in unaffiliated people. They may be organizing food bank
collections or telephone lists to ensure people are cared for at
a time when so many have suffered a financial blow.
Churches that have grown in confidence as they have adapted
and tried new things have entered the growth zone. They
are likely to be feeling much more positive, recognising the
lessons that they are learning through innovation, adaptation
and experimentation. These churches are not running
themselves ragged, but discovering sustainable rhythms of
community life, prayer and missional engagement with the
people who live near their churches.
APPENDIX 2: FRUITFULNESS
One of the main hopes for mission planning is that it will help
us be fruitful for God. As part of the Connexional Strategy for
Evangelism and Growth, it makes sense to consider the fruit
of our labour. This brief appendix offers some language and
frameworks to help determine and describe what is meant by
fruitfulness and what this might look like.
Biblical backdrop
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible has many, many
references to fruit and fruitfulness. There are varied stories,
illustrations, metaphors and life-long, life-wide applications
that can be gleaned when it comes to the subject of
fruitfulness in Scripture. There are references to sowing
seeds, harvest, pruning, gathering, watering, fruit of the
Spirit, apples, grapes, olives, to name but some. The parable
of the sower (Mark 4:1-20) is one of the most well known,
and provides interesting insights into fruitfulness. Not every
seed grows and bears fruit: in a similar way, perhaps, not
every church activity will result in deeper faith and lives
transformed. Some seed, however, falls on good soil and
brings forth grain, “growing up and increasing and yielding
thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:8, NRSV).
In John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of pruning in relation to
fruitfulness: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinegrower.
He removes every branch in me that bears no
fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear
more fruit.” (John 15:1-2, NRSV) If we apply these verses to
the mission activities of churches, we might argue that we
need to stop as well as to start activities in order to increase
fruitfulness. Some activities may be good in themselves,
but may need to stop in order to release time and energy for
better things. Other activities may not be fruitful and may need
to stop for this reason. We might liken these decisions to
stop certain activities to both fruitful and unfruitful branches,
pruned for greater fruitfulness.
In terms of mission planning, what
do we mean by ‘being fruitful’?
In their service of God, churches and individual Christians want
to make a difference and to realise change for the
better. It’s determining and assessing what that change
is and the impact it has that is of interest in the mission-
planning process.
It might be helpful to think about this sense of fruitfulness
by using words that portray the change and difference we
want to make. Words like: increase, develop, enhance,
reduce, grow, more, less, improve, greater. We see this
emphasis in the Connexional Strategy for Evangelism
and Growth, which speaks of making ‘more’ disciples,
‘increasing’ awareness of God’s presence and helping
people ‘grow’ as Christians.
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