The Church of St John the Evangelist

We are a congregation of the Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway, one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which is itself a province of the world-wide Anglican Communion made up of over 70 million Christians throughout the world.

We are therefore in full communion with the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, and the Church in Wales, in fact, fifty two national churches in all.

Through the Porvoo Agreement we are also in full communion with most of the Nordic Lutheran Churches. The Scottish Episcopal Church has also entered into a special relationship with the Methodist Church in Scotland. St. John's has been established as an area of ecumenical experiment.

Where Are We?

Worship

Discipleship

Renewal

Mission

Contribution to the Booklet of Local Collaborative Ministry (LCM) Stories published at General Synod 2008

St John the Evangelist, Lovers’ Walk, Dumfries

In early 2003, the Vestry considered new ways to develop the Mission and Ministry of St John’s and noted that (in the church growth terms published by the Alban Institute, www.alban.org ) St John’s was at the size transition plateau between Pastoral and Programme sized churches (120-150 regular worshippers on average).

A key feature was to engage a higher proportion of the congregation than had been the case when St John’s had undertaken the “Making your Church More Inviting” phase of the Provincial Mission21 programme. This had led to the core group feeling overburdened.

Developments in the Province with which the then Rector was closely associated, together with changes in his pattern of ministry, made 2003 the right time to address the root issue of understanding what it means for each member of the church community to be a disciple of Christ participating in God’s mission through ministry.

A new learning programme was therefore proposed with the hope that it would involve the congregation more fully. Help was sought from Provincial Officers and what resulted was based on the “Journey of the Baptised” report which General Synod endorsed in 2003. This programme of learning about Local Collaborative Ministry lasted 2 years and was given the title “Flying/Soaring with the Eagle” because of the Eagle symbol associated with St John the Evangelist. The subtitle was “An approach to collaborative mission”.

The first phase in 2003/4 “Fly with the Eagle” comprised 9 sessions led by the Provincial Mission Adviser and the Provincial Local Collaborative Ministry Officer. This involved both Saturday and weekday evening sessions together with special sermons at the main worship service, particularly on Pentecost Sunday 2004 which marked the end of the “Fly with the Eagle” phase. Throughout the 6 months of study those involved kept the congregation informed through magazine articles and telling the story at informal opportunities. The second phase, “Soaring with the Eagle” took place in 2004/5 again culminating in a special service on Pentecost Sunday and involving mainly weekday evening gatherings, focusing on ministry, led by the Provincial LCM Officer. Approximately 60 people were involved at various stages of the process and it achieved its primary purpose: new gifts were recognised, affirmed, put to good use both within/beyond the congregation and exercised collaboratively.

The high spot was the formation, through volunteering, of 6 groups to take forward various aspects of mission and ministry: Education, Koinonia (social, pastoral care, prayer), Outreach, Communications, Finance, Property. These groups, under the supervision of the Vestry, were charged with researching and defining St John’s future vision, establishing action plans for approval by the Vestry/congregation and implementing specific projects. Examples are:

• “Project Welcome” in regard to plans to make the church more welcoming by reconfiguring the entrance and layout of the rear of the church, establishing an office and developing the policy of keeping the church open throughout the day. This was achieved in 2006/7.
• “Let the Children Live” an Outreach project in which £20,000 was pledged (and exceeded by 2006) to fund, for 5 years, a street worker working with homeless children in Medellin, Colombia.

The Vestry’s role also developed, with a greater degree of collaborative working. When a new Rector was appointed in 2006, the resource “Vital Vestries”, produced by the Provincial LCM Officer, was used to develop its way of working still further. Vestry Away days were also used to take stock of progress on the LCM continuum and assistance was sought from the LCM Officer in facilitating these review and vision building days. The picture shows the Vestry on a 2008 Away day with the “Vital Vestries” folder in the background.

The 2007 review of progress on the LCM continuum indicated that there is a variety of experience in St John’s. Most of the congregation are still at the first (Inquiry) stage and some are at the beginning of the second (Exploration) stage. The major task continues to be to engage an even larger proportion of the congregation. Plans for a holistic focus on Stewardship in 2008/9 are intended to be a vehicle for this, building on the continuing regular references to LCM principles in sermons, reports and at every baptism.

We have learned a lot about the issues of developing LCM in a relatively large congregation particularly in regard to the number of years it takes, communication and oversight. The companionship, advice and materials provided by Provincial resources have been an essential component of this lengthy journey.

The Vestry, St John’s Dumfries