Healthy Church - Action List
The list of bullet points below are the ways in which people feel we can improve the scores for each of the Seven Marks. These will help to form the Action List, giving the church some SMART targets.
1. Energised By Faith
· Personal growth / spiritual development (outside of services)
· Prayer groups
· Bible study
· Bible reading
· Focus on individual growth in faith
· Think about Faith & it’s implications
· More community interest
· Encourage younger people to church
· Simpler services Small groups to share faith
· Courses i.e. Alpha Course
2. Outward Looking Focus
· Attracting younger congregation
· Befriending
· Extending home visiting
· Complacency – Only a small percentage of the village actually belong to the church, we need to encourage them in.
· More Outreach to Parish (i.e. Young families)
· Communication that Christianity is not about war, but love
· Working with other denominations in the community to the Gospel to everyone
· Witnessing in the community, by taking on roles within the community
· Involve more members of the congregation : too few people doing too many jobs
· Home groups & Bible study
3 Seeking To Find Out What God Wants
· Change in style of services
· Explore the wider faith to see if God has a plan for this church
· Prayer & Bible study groups
· Find time in our church lives to listen to what God wants
· Need space to listen to God
· Self awareness
· Improve our moral & ethical strength
· Regular prayer meeting (not just Sunday)
· Prayer Partners
· Accept the challenge & risks of change
· Become more prayer centred
· Regular reports from the PCC
· Working together (not just PCC), to have a definite goal for our church
· Communication with one another
· Early morning services (& prayer groups)
· Become a mission shaped church
4. Faces The Cost Of Change & Growth
· Determine what changes need to be taken onboard & what needs rejecting
· A variety of services to reach a wider congregation
· Change the type of church we are, if we are to encourage more people in.
· Face the need for change when it arises, but be aware of the feelings of others
· Continue as we are, under Martin’s guidance
· Continue with the same agenda
· Learn from experience
· Continue together about taking on new ways and not being afraid of change
· Improve communication skills
· Accepting challenge & risks of change
· Ask for ideas
5 Build Community
· Local drama group contributing to services (i.e. Christmas / Easter)
· Songs of Praise for village (Combined)
· Involving more people – Skills / time & talents campaign
· Use Gifts & talents
· Complacency – Is it a church community we are building or a village one?
· Church music – out-dated & boring, needs to be more flexible
· Develop community links further
· Talk to village to encourage / bring children
· Encourage relationships & leadership
· Share where we is going
· Lay involvement
· Develop principles of M.A.P (Ministry As Partnership)
· Explain to others
6. Makes Room For Others
· Get more people involved in church life
· Complacency
· Visit new people in village
· Church information
· Contribute to greater integration between village & commuters
· Bring in teenagers
· Different services that are youth orientated
· Build-up help of lay & Ordained team
· Need to be better at accommodating children & young families (especially in services)
· Continue as we are
· Christian unity
· Make young families in the village aware of the nearby church
· Encourage more villagers to join in fellowship of the church : children have too many hobbies on Sundays.
7. Does a Few Things & Does Them Well
· Think carefully about the need of the church
· Pastoral care
· Preview our activities to determine future action
· Improvement
· New Requirements
· Need to decide where to Focus
· Start doing different things well
· Encourage more people involvement
· Continue as we are
Similarity of Responses – Themes arising
The main themes that come from the Action Lists are listed below, with ideas on how we can best implement them.
A need for more and improved prayer in the life of our church, and Bible Studies, especially in small groups, featured highly.
· Prayer
Ø Individual & Combined (Churches)
Ø Develop Prayer partnerships
Ø Sermons (for guidance)
Ø Offer prayer groups at various times of the day
Ø Teaching on how to pray
Ø Listening (how to recognise God’s voice)
Ø Talking to God
Ø Prayer Board
Ø Share answers to prayer
· Bible Study
Ø Why study the Bible?
§ Information
§ Personal growth
§ To find answers
§ It is God’s word to us.
Ø How to study the Bible?
§ Bible reading notes
§ Bible study groups
§ Use Bibles in church – need to provide pew Bibles
§ Use Oasis bookshop
· Listening
· Youth / Teenagers
Ø Hard to get a critical mass
Ø Can we use their hobbies?
Ø Is Sunday the best day?
Ø Other ways for them to be in church
Ø Build proper links with St. Luke’s school
· Variety of Services – laity led?
· Share Responsibility
· Music
Ø keep status quo
Ø think about alternatives
Ø focus on the words that we sing
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