Mission Statement

Mission Statement

ALL SAINTS NEW ELTHAM MISSION PLAN – January 2019 to December 2020

  1. INTRODUCTION

At the visitation service in May 2018 when Graham and Neal were both admitted to the office of churchwarden, they were given an information pack which included the Spring 2018 issue of the Archdeacons’ Visitation News. The front page sets out the Southwark Vision which is called Hearts of Fire with a Vision for Growth.

The key objectives of the Southwark Vision are:

  • Walking with Jesus and getting to know Jesus better as we journey on
  • Welcoming all, embracing our diversity and seeking new ways of being church
  • Growing in numbers, generosity, faith and discipleship as we grow God’s Kingdom.

The Visitation News lead article emphasises that “making this Vision a reality depends on each parish taking it seriously in a way appropriate to their own context. Churchwardens, as lay leaders in mission in each parish, have a key role in helping PCCs and church members to define their parish’s purpose and mission aligned with this Vision”.

The All Saints New Eltham Mission Statement below attempts to align our mission with the Southwark Vision in a way that is appropriate to our own context. The Statement sets out five key objectives which form the basis of the two-year Mission Plan

A VISION FOR GROWTH

All Saints is a friendly, welcoming Church of England congregation and family. We are committed to developing our services of worship, the ministry of our congregation and the use of our facilities, so that we can more effectively engage with and serve the parish community of New Eltham.

In doing so, we have faith that we will:

  1. Demonstrate our love of God through the care and support that we show to our fellow parishioners
  2. Grow the diversity and number of people in our congregation
  3. Develop the ministry of our congregation by establishing teams covering each area of our church life
  4. Extend and strengthen our links with the wider parish community
  5. Increase our income so that we can give more to the parish and to the diocese of Southwark.

Our overall aim is to transform All Saints New Eltham from a community gathered around a Minister to a ministering community.

Values

We believe in a simple, direct style of worship that is open to all

We welcome people of all ages, cultures and walks of life

We seek to explain and demonstrate, not mystify, our faith in God.

Vision

Our vision is that in two years’ time All Saints will be a church where there is:

  • a growing congregation (over 50 attending our regular Holy Communion Service and over 75 attending our monthly Family Communion Service)
  • a developing music culture with a flourishing senior choir and junior choir club
  • an improved church hall which is home to a wide range of community activities
  • a well-maintained Memorial Garden and potentially two new Gardens
  • much improved communications both internally and externally
  • an increase in income of over 30%.

A church community whose love of God and the care and support that we show to fellow parishioners place us at the heart of the parish community of New Eltham.

  1. DEVELOPMENT PERIOD (July – December 2018)

During the six months from July to December 2018 a number of key steps have begun to be implemented in preparation for the two-year Mission Plan from 1/1/19 – 31/12/19. They include:

  1. Creation of a new Website

Our new website was launched in August 2018 with the overriding aim of giving a strong visual sense of the friendly, welcoming, community-focused church that All Saints is. The website is still very much a work in progress and more improvements are planned for 2019.

  1. Proposal to pilot the role of a paid part-time administrator

The PCC is progressing the idea of piloting the role of a paid part-time administrator using the Vestry as an office. The role is intended to take on and streamline some of the administrative functions of ASNE so that Annette can focus more of her time fulfilling her Ministry and engaging with the wider Parish.

  1. Establishing Teams

A total of seven Teams have now been established covering different activities. The Teams with the italicised letter by which they are denoted, where applicable, against each of the aims of the Mission Plan, are:

Ministry – the Lead Team (with representation from each of the other Teams) responsible for the services of worship and for strengthening our links within the parish as a whole (M)

Pastoral Visiting – for those who may simply need a supportive, listening ear to talk through personal issues or who are unable to attend church because of ill health or immobility (V)

Choir youth and music – responsible for the development of: the choir; the monthly Family Service; for Sunday School and for the range of music and activities available to young people including Junior Choir Club (Y)

Parish Magazine – the editorial team who lead on the production and distribution of the monthly magazine (E)

Buildings – responsible for the maintenance and use of the Church and Hall (B)

Gardens – responsible for the maintenance of the Memorial Garden and Monk’s Garden and for the potential development, with community involvement, of two other gardens near the Church and Hall (G)

Communications, Events and Fundraising – overall responsibility for the website, for community events such as the Family Fun Day and Michaelmas Fair and for raising funds to enable us to deliver what we offer (C)  

  1. Disabled toilets implementation

Following the revised proposal to provide DDA compliant toilets in the Church Hall, submitted by Peter at the May PCC Meeting, and the subsequent tendering process overseen by the Buildings Team based on a detailed schedule of works, the works will now be undertaken over a four-week period commencing 21 January 2019.

Taken together the above steps represent a first stage in improving:

  • our communication with and access to the wider Parish
  • the ways in which we harness the skills and experience of more of our Parishioners
  • the facilities that we offer to different organisations within the Parish.

The following pages of this document describe how ASNE is intending to build on those initial steps by identifying the aims that are being proposed to progress each of the five overall objectives of the Mission Statement.

  1. Demonstrate our love of God through the care and support that we show to our fellow parishioners

Introduction

The welcome page of the old website described All Saints as being “tucked away in New Eltham”. The new website welcomes you with a photo of people of all ages and describes All Saints as being “at the heart of New Eltham’s community”.

Our challenge is to make our love of God integral to the parish not peripheral.

 

Key Aims

In Year 1 (January 2019 – December 2019) of the two-year Mission Plan, the following aims are being proposed, which the Ministry Team, supported by the Pastoral Visiting Team, will take the lead in delivering:

  1. Develop our pastoral visiting team with more information on who and when to visit (V)
  2. Raise awareness of and improve access to the range of services and facilities that All Saints offers (M & C)
  3. Look at how we can make ASNE a more welcoming and supportive experience especially for those attending a service for the first time (M)
  4. Implement ways in which ASNE can provide more support to those within our community who could do with a helping hand (M)
  5. Build on the success of our Family Fun Day and Michaelmas Fair and consider introducing another event during the Easter period (M & C)

Conclusion

Ephesians 4.1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.                                                                                                      

  1. Grow the diversity and number of people in our congregation

Introduction

The Saturday success of Little Wings springs from their acknowledgment that activities for parents to attend with young children are often harder to find on a weekend than during the week. The careful preparation that goes into our current Sunday School deserves and could attract more children if more parents were made aware of what we offer and especially if music is a key part.

There are a number of well-respected families from different cultures who actively contribute to the life of our Church. Our challenge is to embrace more fully the diversity of those who are already involved with ASNE so that other families will feel that they will be welcome.

The following aims are being proposed to grow the diversity and number of people in our congregation:

  1. Develop the range of opportunities for children and young people to become involved with the church (Y)
  2. Develop the appeal and impact of the Family Sunday Service with a special emphasis on music (Y)
  3. Continue to develop our range of communications and our social media presence (C)
  4. Look at ways in which we can embrace and celebrate the diversity of our parishioners (M & E & C)
  5. Look at the feasibility of creating stands in different parts of the Church which depict the story of Christmas leading up to our existing nativity stand (M)

Conclusion

Galatians 3:28.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

  1. Develop the ministry of our congregation by establishing teams covering each area of our church life

Introduction

In his booklet “Refusing to be indispensable” the Rev’d Andy Griffiths wrote:

Team-building set me free. Once I had built teams to do the work of ministry, I could be released to spend at least half my (now manageable) working week with those outside gathered church: being Vicar of Galleywood, not chaplain to St Michael’s.

As the introduction to this Mission Plan affirms, Teams are being set up at All Saints. They are still in their infancy but a quick look at some of the positive steps that have been taken during the second half of 2018 suggest they could transform our approach to Mission.

The aims proposed to progress the above objective are:

  1. Each Team to develop its own brief and agenda in line with the aims of the Parish Mission Plan
  2. Meet and/or communicate regularly
  3. Share progress with the PCC and other regular members of the congregation
  4. Review and summarize their impact and effectiveness to the PCC at the end of the year
  5. Develop aims for Year 2 of the Parish Mission Plan

Conclusion

The Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measures 1956, as amended, defines the principal function, or purpose, of the PCC as “promoting in the parish the whole mission of the church”. The purpose of the Teams is to advise, inform and support the PCC in that purpose and in the execution of the PCC’s statutory decision-making role.

Matthew 20:28

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.

  1. Extend and strengthen our links with the wider parish community

Introduction

Over the last ten years, Annette, closely supported by Rita and many of the regular worshippers within All Saints, have established many links with local families through christenings, weddings, funerals, home and hospital visits, with local schools, with uniformed services and other organisations and with many local people and their families who are not necessarily regular worshippers.

Firm foundations have been laid to extend and strengthen our links with the wider parish community.

The aims that are being proposed to progress this objective are to:

  1. Oversee the implementation of the DDA compliant toilets and to look at how the Hall can continue to be improved to meet the needs of the community (B)
  2. Continue to develop our social media presence, our website and parish magazine (C)
  3. To pilot the opening of the Vestry as an office so that the church is seen to be more accessible and welcoming (M)
  4. Continue to develop our collaboration with local organisations such as CTNE, CANE and NEBA to demonstrate what we can offer and contribute (M)
  5. To draw up proposals for the development of the garden near the Lady Chapel and the garden behind the Hall with the involvement of the community (G)

.Conclusion

1 Corinthian’s 1:10

Now I beseech you, brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement.

  1. Increase our income so that we can give more to the parish and to the diocese of Southwark.

Introduction

Greater awareness within the parish of New Eltham of what we offer, a greater social media presence, a live and improving website, a more widely circulated parish magazine, and a growing range of income sources will together lead to more income.

All of these contributory factors, allied to a church that aims to engage more, to care more, to do more, for and with the people of New Eltham, will bring more income so that we can give more.

The aims that are being proposed to increase our income, which the Communications Team will take the lead in delivering, are:

  1. Raise awareness of, and invite contributions, to the Parish Mission Development Fund
  1. Develop the fundraising section of the website and produce a leaflet on ASNE to encourage giving
  1. Establish a regular programme of charitable trust fundraising
  1. Develop the income generated by parishioners undertaking fundraising and sponsored challenge events
  1. Look at the feasibility of introducing a “Friends of All Saints” scheme
  1. Increase the number of corporate advertisers in the Parish Magazine and propose ways in which local companies could contribute sponsorship
  1. Develop our legacy fundraising.

Conclusion

1 Chronicles 29:14

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.