Interactive exercises
The worksheets are designed to help you consider how each of the factors which have
been associated with growth may be relevant in your context.
Alongside or instead of working through the questions, you might find it helpful to look
at the factors and related issues in a more interactive way. The ideas in this slide pack
are just to help you get started; you may be able to think of other activities and
exercises which will help you engage with the issues in a way that is helpful for your
parish and church leaders.
If you come up with an idea that works well then do consider sending it to us. We are
keen to expand this part of the toolkit.
From Evidence to Action
www.fromevidencetoaction.org.uk
A growing Church is likely to have a clear mission and purpose and clergy and
congregations who are intentional about growth
Imagine you are soon to be going on a journey. In a group discuss how you would go
about planning to get to your destination. Would you be inclined to make detailed plans
and ensure that you have everything that you might need? Or would you prefer to set
off and find your way as you go?
What are the considerations that affect how you approach preparing for this journey?
What essential things do you need to get there? What else might you like to take with
you? What isn’t helpful?
Discuss how this is similar to a journey towards growth – in your context what is your
destination? What do you need to get there and what won’t be helpful.
Use your conclusions as a basis for prayer and planning for action in the areas you
identify.
A growing Church is likely to understand its context, actively engage with it and
those who might not currently go to church
Using a large map of your local area, pinpoint your church and identify which groups of
people/organisations/businesses/schools/other churches you have existing links with in
(you could use post-it stickers to name and locate these).
Then and think about your local area and identify those groups with whom your church
has no links as yet. Use different coloured post-it stickers to locate and name these.
Use the map as a starting point for considering how you can engage more with your
community and make some plans towards making or strengthening links.
You could use the map to remind you to pray for your local area.
A growing Church is likely to be willing to self-reflect, change and adapt
according to its context
With others or individually, imagine that you could change your church building to make
it more suitable for your ministry and mission – it could be anything from a total
redesign/rebuild or extension or something less ambitious like decorating a room,
putting in a carpet or improving your church’s coffee area.
Draw your dream church and compare your dream with other people’s ideas – use your
ideas as a starting point for what might be possible or to identify how small changes
might help your church be more welcoming, or more useful in your context.
On a large plan of your church building group members could be invited to draw or mark
up changes to the building that they can remember having taken place in the past.
List any good changes which have taken place in your church or area in the last 5 years?
How does thinking about change in its widest sense make you feel?. Use this as a
starting point for prayer, maybe asking God to guide you as you consider change and
also to help you be always open to positive change and not fearful.
A growing Church is likely to have lay people as well as ordained clergy active in
leadership and other roles
List all the ways in which lay people are already involved in your church?
Are there other things which could be taken on by lay people?
How might we encourage more people to get involved?
Write down all the benefits of having a good mixture of people involved in
all roles in your church.
A growing Church is likely to actively engage children and young people
Ask group members to think about any particular memories they might have had about
experiences of church and faith as a children and young person. For example, if they
began their faith journey as a child or young person who was influential in their faith
journey?
Watch a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hafTC-8xZTg – Video “The Look” made by Children
at St John at Hackney, which involves children and adults speaking about their
experiences of church.
Or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeTe3pTlx1w – XLP charity which is working with
young people in an urban environment www.xlp.org.uk
Use your different experiences along with what you’ve seen on the video to prompt
discussion about how you might engage better with children and young people in your
church whatever your context.
A growing Church is likely to be welcoming and build on-going relationships with
people
Think of a time when an organisation or group of people that you have encountered for the
first time has made you feel warmly welcomed and at ease – either write or say out loud
how you r felt when in this situation. What did they do well to welcome you and to make
you feel at ease?
Describe or Imagine a situation in which you felt or feel completely uncomfortable and out
of your comfort zone – either write down or say out loud how you feel.
Talk about the things you have written or said out loud to discuss the gap between the two
and how people can feel unwelcome in a new or unfamiliar situation e.g. church and what
can be done to make the process feel easier.
Building on your thoughts and discussions, pray and take action towards making your
church a more welcoming place where people will feel at home and valued.
A growing Church is likely to nurture disciples (encouraging people to explore
and deepen their faith and live it out in their daily lives)?
A) Nurturing Spiritual Growth
Draw or use a ready made picture of a tree and on this encourage your group to think of
things which a tree needs to grow to full maturity. Then write or draw the things which
are needed.
Using the image of this tree ask group members to write or draw on it the things which
they and others might find helpful for growing (spiritually) in their faith.
Think about which of these things your Church does well? What else could be done to
encourage people to explore and deepen their faith?
Pray about how you can encourage each other and others in your parish, wherever they
are in their journey of faith.
A growing Church is likely to nurture disciples (encouraging people to explore and deepen
their faith and live it out in their daily lives)?
B) Living out faith in daily lives
Encourage members of your group to think and talk about what it means to live out their faith in their daily lives.
Ask people to write on a post-it sticker or say out loud some of their own daily life situations, this could include
mentioning the people they meet or work with. You could approach this generally or be specific, for example, “where
were you at 3pm yesterday?” or “where will you be this time tomorrow?” (see note below *)
Encourage people to think widely; answers could include:
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Having a business meeting with a colleagues or a client
Caring for an elderly relative
A hospital appointment
Dropping children at the school gate
Giving an important presentation
Breaking bad news to someone at work or home
Going to the supermarket
Looking for a job
Meeting a friend
Managing a difficult family situation
Encourage any group members who feel able to share something about a situation they’ve written down or spoken of
and especially say how their faith has made, or could make a difference to it.
Discuss how you as a church family equip each other to live out your daily lives in your own contexts? How could you
do this better?
Spend time praying together either silently or out loud for the individuals and/or situations mentioned.
*This Time Tomorrow is an initiative from LICC which has been helpful for many churches. Churches regularly set aside
a few minutes to talk to church members and focus on what they do in their everyday lives or what they will be doing
“This time tomorrow”. This is a way of encouraging and prayerfully supporting one another in their daily Christian
journey. Link to article here www.london.anglican.org/articles/where-were-you-at-2-oclock-yesterday/
A growing Church is likely to have clergy and lay leaders who innovate, envision
and motivate people
One member of the group is asked to leave the room while the other members think of and
make a structure/draw a picture (innovate) of something which the person outside will aim
to recreate (You could use everyday objects, craft materials or children’s building bricks?).
The structure/picture will be kept out of sight so the group needs to discuss how they will
convey instructions to the other member when they return including setting the scene
(envisioning), communicating clearly and encourage (motivating) the person to keep going.
At the end of the exercise, discuss how it went and how each person helped in achieving
the goal. Now compare this with your church situation. How can you work together in your
setting while also identify those with particular skills and qualities which may lead to
growth.