Numerical Growth, Spiritual Depth
Within the 2030 vision for the diocese is new growth. Whilst we acknowledge that missional activity is fundamental to all Christian ministry, including discipleship, our new growth element looks to address the numerical decline in attendance across the Church of England. In Coventry we are facilating this via:
New Worshipping Communities
Children, Families & Young People
Growing New Leaders
In November 2020, Diocesan Synod approved our Diocesan Growth Strategy which aim is to launch 150 new worshipping communities before the end of this decade.
Archdeacon Missioner Barry Dugmore says:
"The Church has been creating new worshipping communities for many centuries. The Diocese of Coventry has 244 church buildings, and each of these was built for a new worshipping community.
In fact, we have many more than 244 worshipping communities. That’s because some church buildings accommodate two or more distinct communities – perhaps one that meets on a Sunday morning, and a very different worshipping community that meets on a Sunday evening, or on a Wednesday morning.
Some of our worshipping communities meet in churches, some in schools, some in village halls and other venues. All together, we have over 500 worshipping communities in our diocese, and our vision is that, by the end of the decade, we will have 150 more."
Worshipping communities come in all shapes and sizes. Some large …some small …some in the city …some in our towns …some in the suburbs …some in villages.
Some worship styles are quite traditional …some are more contemporary. But they all have one thing in common. They are committed to worshipping God, making new disciples and transforming communities.
Some of these new communities might look completely different to anything that has gone before. Perhaps aimed specifically at people who have never been connected to a church. Some might be more familiar, like messy church or café church.
During Covid we’ve seen the amazing development of online worship gathering people together, reaching out to new people, drawing them into the life of the church. We value this diversity, and our vision during the coming decade is for 150 new worshipping communities that are equally diverse.
Our Mission Design is to serve, support and resource our diocesan family of churches in the shared endeavour of making the Good News of Jesus Christ further known across the communities served by our parish churches. This support facilitated through the diocesan central team, St. Marks Resource Church and our 6 Mission Hub churches envisions the cultivation of a rich seed bed anticipating growth of the Kingdom of God through lives and communities transformed by the abundant life Jesus promises to all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities.
Mission Hubs
Coventry Diocese has six Mission Hubs – Churches that are designated as centres of missional energy, training, and pooled resource. Each hub has a slightly different character, and Churches across the Diocese can interact and relate to the Hub that suites them best.
Growing Faith
The Diocese of Coventry is a trailblazer diocese for the national Growing Faith initiative. The aim is to find ways for churches, schools and families to work together in supporting the faith development of children and to celebrate and recognise their place in God’s family. The missional model of connecting with families, in school, to be church together, reflects the Growing Faith ideal of discipling young people (and their families) across School, Church and Home which we are committed to. We're looking to explore this model of a new worshipping community – creating something robust, sustainable and scale-able. It would also help “Schools and Churche to be partners-together, reaching every part of society, with the good news of God’s energising, empowering, life-giving love.”
Each year Coventry Cathedral welcomes over 20,000 school children to experience the presence of God through worship and learning, and providing opportunities for staff and pupils to know the reconciling Christ and His ministry Our Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) is also strengthening the partnership between churches, schools and families through ‘Alive 2023’ – a praise party and picnic for 12,000 primary school children.
Growing New Leaders
Three important roles of every diocese are to inspire people, to help them hear God’s call in their own lives, and to equip them for their unique ministry. In the Diocese of Coventry we are developing our Equip Hub to provide a single point of contact for high quality learning, training and resourcing. We are populating it with locally produced resources that showcase good practice and innovation from across the diocese.
Along with a new framework for releasing, recognising and resourcing lay ministry across the diocese, we have St Mark's Academy, which is training for ministry based out of the diocesan resource church St Mark's. Which enriches our developing leadership pipeline.
Conferences & Training
A future for Rural Churches, 28th September 2024
A day to be inspired, as we imagine together a brighter future for our rural churches.
The event will feature a mix inspirational talks and interactive workshop sessions, with opportunities to meet other like-minded leaders, and receive input from some expert guest speakers.
Colleagues from Alcester Minster Rural Mission Hub will help lead and facilitate the day, together with our Archdeacon Missioner, Barry Dugmore, and Bishop Ruth, will be present to launch our day and share from her own experiences too.
During the day, there will be time to connect with and be inspired by others who are committed to the ministry of their rural churches.
Stories, Reports & Updates
More to come...
Urban Plants
More to come...