Inaugural meeting of the rural mission task group

Rural Mission in the Diocese of Durham

Abridged version of the minutes which were circulated…

Agenda:

  1. Prayer and creative thinking
  2. Introduction and context
  3. Introduction to Graeme’s roles
  4. Group purpose
  5. Reflection on rural mission experience
  6. Next steps
  7. Next Meeting
  8. Prayer & blessing

Abridged Minutes:

  1. Opened with prayer. We played a creative thinking game to start
  2. We briefly introduced ourselves – speaking of things we enjoy in our spare time and where our hearts find energy in church activities.
  3. GH outlined his hope that the Rural Mission Lead role and activities will encourage rather than burden mission in rural parishes, supporting Lay and Ordained leaders.
    • The Rural Mission Lead will work with others to develop principles, practices and resources for effective mission in rural parishes, and share this with the other rural parishes of the diocese.
    • Where some good practice is relevant and helpful for other multi-parish Benefices / incumbents with multiple charges, distil and share these aspects of the work in a suitable forum.
    • The Rural Mission Lead will draw together a Rural Mission Task Group (RMTG), under the oversight of either the Archdeacon of Auckland or the Growing Mission Lead, of lay and ordained Christians committed to developing rural mission (initial meeting to take place within 3 months of licensing).
    • The RMTG will work together with the RML to identify opportunities for and good practice in rural mission, with the explicit aim of growth in the number of disciples and growth in discipleship in rural churches.
    • The RML and RMTG will, within two years of the appointment of the RML, share the RML/RMTG’s learning with other rural clergy and parishes. This could be through day conferences, a roadshow to be taken to other deaneries with rural parishes (working with the BLT and Area Deans and Lay Chairs to plan for maximal participation), and/or other suitable strategies (to be decided).
    • The RMTG will then make recommendations for further work to promote excellence in rural missional praxis and end (though a new group with a new remit may itself be part of the recommended next phase of work). Seeking stories of God’s agency that may help those in ministry feel less alone and as though they are carrying heavy burdens. There are several simple activities churches can engage with described in How Village Churches Thrive. There is also the Rural Missioners’ Guild, part of the Arthur Rank Centre which creates support networks. The long term hope is to have seen parishes become more confident in their faith, grow in mission, and for Lay and Ordained ministers to be thriving in their roles. We also spoke briefly of the five marks of mission:
      • To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
      • To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
      • To respond to human need by loving service
      • To seek to transform uniust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation
      • To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth
  4. GH did not create a fixed vision for the Rural Mission Task Group nor the Rural Mission Lead role. GH invites the RMTG to be part of a collaborative development of vision and action towards the above outline.
  5. We reflected on our own experiences of rural parishes and the way there are sub-groups within rural, for example, rural colliery villages and rural farming village, rural retirement villages and rural tourist destinations. There may be scope for a matrix of networks or support information which we could develop.
  6. Thinking of next steps:
    • Team to pray and reflect on this meeting, to be an active part, collaborating in the direction and goals of the RML and RMTG.
    • GH recommends reading, “How Village Churches Thrive”
    • Recommended joining (£10) the Rural Missioners’ Guild
    • There was an offer to begin a contact list for rural parishes – to enable GH to visit and meet with Lay and/or Ordained ministers around Durham Diocese.
    • GH to create an online shared folder for documents.
    • GH to continue to visit rural parishes
  7. Team encouraged to make notes and add them to the shared folder so that we can collaborate beyond the artificial boundaries of formal meetings.
  8. Date of next meeting agreed
  9. We closed by praying together for each other and for those we’ll support. GH used the Rural Missioners’ Prayer:

We pray for all who are called to the mission of the Rural Church that we may bring your message of hope to all who live and work in our rural communities. We pray that we may share your Good News amidst the challenges of rural working & living. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen