ARE YOU A TEAM PLAYER?

We have had a year of discussing how we can become much more collaborative in the ministry and mission of our parish. The Local Ministry Team, the PCC, the staff team and those who attended the APCM have all approved a way forward to becoming a local ministry parish. 

Four teams have been created to focus the interests, skills and enthusiasms of both our congregations and theses will work alongside the Mission team which is already ably led by Jackie Strange. 

The four new teams will give a lead in the following areas:

Worship           (the worship calendar, major festivals, all age worship, music of all kinds, occasional offices and planning for lay leadership of non-eucharistic services) 

Youth Work     (oversight of Junior Church, JIMMY’S, child protection issues, new strategies for youth work, school links, holiday clubs, special events and uniformed organizations).

Discipleship    (home groups, educational events, Emmaus and adult

and Growth     confirmation, prayer groups, future growth initiatives, diocesan education for discipleship)

Ministry and   (planning parish retreats & pilgrimages, healing ministry,

 Evangelism    visitors group, bereavement visiting, faith sharing week-end)

We have found a convenor for each of these teams and there will be two or three PCC members in each team too.  We are now asking you all if you might like to join one of these teams to help with growing our ministry and mission in Dursley.  At the APCM lots of people offered their time and talents but not everyone was able to attend and we want to open these teams to as many people as possible.  We are hoping that these teams will enable many lay people to come forward as has happened in the running of our appeal, both fundraising and project development.

For the more practical amongst us, help is always needed on the Parish Centre Committee, the Fabric Committee, the Churchyard team and St Mark’s Committee, so don’t feel left out.

Below you will see a diagrammatic representation of our new structure.  At the centre of all we do is worship.  It is in praising God and in the bread and wine of the eucharist that we will find strength, sustenance and guidance for what we are doing in the parish.  From our worship we are sent out to grow in our own discipleship and then to witness to the wider community, at home and further afield.  In every one of the circles you will see that people, prayer and pastoral care are of great significance; every part of our ministry is underpinned by these three ‘P’s and if we continue to put God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit at the very heart of all that we do then we will realise our dream to be at the heart of this community.  So I invite you to take an active part in this new and exciting stage of our planning for ministry just as you have all taken active part so far in our building project.  If you want to know more, speak to a PCC member or a member of the clergy……. and then join in!

Together we are called in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit
to worship the living God.
to proclaim and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
to transform lives and communities.
to advance the kingdom of God.

We are all called………….

The members of your previous local ministry team were as follows:-

Ian Gardner, Peter Kirvan, Caroline Marrow, Sue Martin, Glena Neale, Kathie Rebbeck, Anne Shipton, Philip Staddon, Clare White, Kate Wiggins, Rev. Janet Bromley.