Wootton New Life Methodist Church

Vision & Strategy

Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’                                     

Matthew 28: 18,19

This is all about what kind of church we want to be and what facilities we need to fulfil that vision. Before we decide what kind of a building we want, we need to be clear about how we want to use it and how it can serve the calling of the church to ‘make disciples’. This is a 5 year plan which we hope to see completed by 2015, with regular review along the way.

Our Vision

We want to know God better, to love others more and to share with others the Good News of Jesus.

We will do this through:

1. Worship, discipleship & teaching: Providing Bible teaching, nurturing spiritual growth and encouraging participative, expressive worship.

2. Reaching the community: Understanding our mission field and getting involved in the community.

3. Children & Young People: Building on our work with children & young people, integrating children & young people into the whole church life.

4. The Building: Making sure that the building is fit for purpose in 21st century

Our Strategies

The Bible  

• We will seek to obey God’s Word, ensuring dynamic, Biblical preaching and teaching and the application of the Word through home groups.

Prayer

• It is our desire to encourage every member of Wootton New Life to pray more, especially to listen for God to speak and lead us. We will nurture gifts of prophecy and discernment and encourage those with ministries of intercession.
• We will do this through encouraging times of prayer together and in small groups seeking to ensure that daily prayer under pins the life of the church. We look to see a network of small praying groups and individuals under a prayer co-ordinator as well as times when the whole church is given the opportunity to pray together.
• We will encourage people to pray at home, at work, on the streets and together in our buildings, aiming to show that prayer can be exciting, dynamic and essential for the growth of the church. 

Ministry  

• We want to develop people willing to pray with others – both from inside and outside the church – being sensitive to the Spirit and channels for healing and wholeness.
• We want to encourage younger people into leadership and nurture and develop their gifts, so that they can be a blessing to other churches as some of them move away to university and married life elsewhere.
• We want to develop the ministry of every believer, discovering their gifting from God and developing a passion for service and mission.

 Worship

• We will continue to offer a welcoming, contemporary and inclusive style of worship.
•  Regular services held at the lower school to provide a facility in a ‘neutral’ environment.
• A midweek café style service, attracting people who find Sunday church still a step too far for them.
• We will encourage youth services both as an individual church and as part of the circuit and/or ecumenical partnerships .
• We will use the best and most appropriate resources to deliver visual and verbal clarity.

Growth

• We want to inspire every participant in the church to have a passion for Jesus and His Kingdom, beginning in our own community and where ever God sends us.
• In the light of this scripture we aim to grow by leading others to faith in Christ as well as seeking to grow in our own faith and trust in Jesus.
• Growth in these ways requires a commitment of every participant in the life of the church to seek and take every opportunity God gives to share the gospel in word and action and to be open to fresh understanding, experience and service together. We believe then that the numbers of people involved in the life of Wootton New Life will grow continuously over the next 5 years.
• Growth involves learning to draw closer to God ourselves as well as growing together with all who lift up the name of Jesus.

Membership and Leadership  

• The leadership team are responsible for ensuring that the church works effectively in the community, organising worship services and maintaining the different aspects of the church’s life. As well as developing people’s gifts and giving them confidence to use them, we will encourage people to feel that they are committed to working together in their ministries and actively participating in the church’s life.
• We will encourage people to recognise their commitment to Wootton New Life through formal membership.
• Leadership will be undertaken at one level by a small group of overseers, able then to create task-oriented groups to carry through particular projects or parts of the vision. Some of these will be ‘teams’ in the sense that their work will carry on all the time (e.g. a worship team), some will last only for a season as delegated by the Leadership team. (e.g. a team to set up a new building).
• Leaders will be good communicators, hearing from God, discerning the way forward and able to inspire others to follow in that way. Trust is the basis on which delegated tasks are carried out, and encouragement and support always in place.
• We will have one person heading up all our communications both within the church and beyond to the village, the press and the Internet.

 Youth and children’s work

• A great foundation has been laid for seeing young people come to Christ and be nurtured into mature faith. We want to see this continue to grow and expand through the ministry of our Youth & Children’s Work Co-ordinator and a strong youth leadership team.
• We will continue to offer the best for our children, expanding midweek events as well, and reaching out to new families through ‘Messy Church’ links with Pat - A - Cake and other such opportunities.

Home groups

• Every participant at Wootton New Life will have the opportunity to be part of a home group.
• Home groups will seek to build closer relationships with each other right through the week not simply at the meeting, and offer care and support for each other, looking to develop each others’ gifts and ministries.
• Home groups will seek to reach out to friends and neighbours in friendship and love, supporting each other prayerfully in their witness together.
• Home groups will look to grow and multiply within the community, drawing new people into God’s Kingdom.

Outreach

We will make outreach a priority as the Lord leads us, for example, by:

• Opportunities for people to explore the Christian faith e.g. Alpha and Youth Alphas.
• A drop in café where people of all ages can find a place to relax and build friendships.
• We will seek opportunities to support the wider community e.g. senior citizen’s lunches, parenting courses, drug awareness schemes and other opportunities for building bridges with the community.
• Helping people in times of crisis or difficulty whether through offering financial support, a listening ear or the practical support of meals, lifts and fellowship.
• Fostering international links through World Vision, Samaritans Purse and other international organisations.
• For all these we will seek people with a heart to care for others, working within and beyond our buildings to share the love of Jesus.

Ecumenical links

• We will take every opportunity to work together wherever possible with the other churches in the village and the wider community. 

 

ACHIEVING THIS VISION

People 

The whole church needs to own and be committed to such a vision for it to be effective.

We will need people who are not as yet involved in the life of the church to take up ministry in some of the areas we have outlined.

Finance

We will need regular, generous and sacrificial giving to fulfil this vision, help from denominational and other outside bodies and interest free loans. But we also believe that God provides and that any vision needs to be totally surrounded by prayer.

Buildings 

Some work has already been completed to update our facilities; however, to fulfil this vision we will need larger premises. We need a larger more flexible multi-purpose worship area, dedicated rooms for our youth and children’s work, a bigger and more attractive reception area, office space and quiet areas as well as increased storage space.

 

Updated October 2010

 

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