WELCOMING INSPIRING ENGAGING SUSTAINING
M
A
P
2015-2018
1

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Cor 12)
Welcome!
Welcome is at the heart of St Mary’s mission. The church is a nurturing and supportive body at the heart of the community, ready to greet any who cross the threshold with warmth and acceptance.
As members of the body of Christ, we seek to lead lives of selfemptying service to one another, to our community, and to the world in which we live.
2

Context
The parish of Old Basing and Lychpit has a population of approximately 7500. Although there are some living on low or fixed incomes, we are a mostly prosperous parish with comparatively low level of poverty, crime or other measurable social problems.
There is a large number of retired people living in the parish, and a significant number of young families served by two excellent schools,
Old Basing Infants School, and St Mary’s Church of England Junior
School.
In the most recent census c. 65% of the parish declared themselves to be Christian, and there is a high number of families coming to the church for Christenings, Weddings and funerals.
We recognise a number of challenges:
Creating opportunities to transform nominal Christian affiliation into lived Christian experience.
Connecting with families, young singles and couples.
Addressing the stresses and pressures on life created by highpressure professional and business demands.
Maintaining the high profile of the Church in the community as the increasing flux in the population begins to erode the traditional bonds.
3

St Mary’s and our Mission
At present the Worshipping Community of St Mary’s hovers around
120. Over the last two years we have been delighted to welcome several new members to our congregation, including a number of families who have begun attending our innovative new Family
Communion Service.
We are proud of our Sacramental tradition of worship, and seek to make its traditional structure sufficiently flexible and accessible to accommodate the needs of all without surrendering the reverence and awe that belongs to the liturgy.
In thinking about our future as a church, we have isolated certain key areas in need of attention:
-Communication – The need to communicate effectively both within and beyond the church community through internal structures and through attention-grabbing publicity.
-Personal and Spiritual growth – Developing the ability of church members to articulate and share their faith in word and in practise.
- Youth Work – To pay careful attention to the needs of our young people.
4

- Giving - To increase giving and develop our facilities to meet the needs of worship and mission effectively.
- Reaching out – developing links with the wider church, and sharing time and resources with groups and communities who are marginalised or stand in particular need.
We have found that these chime well with the 4 strategic priorities of the Diocese of Winchester:
Under God, delighting in his grace and rooted in the diocesan rule of life, we will be a diocese in which:
We grow authentic disciples, going out as individuals passionately, confidently and courageously sharing their faith, and coming together as creative church communities of prayer and worship that live out kingdom values.
We re-imagine the church intentionally connecting and engaging with our local communities in culturally relevant ways. We will rejoice in the richness of the ‘mixed economy’ of all ministry and proactively promote vibrant parochial and breathtaking pioneering ministries among ‘missing’ generations, e.g. children, young people, under 35s.
We are agents of social transformation using our influence as a diocese to transform public and personal life. We will demonstrate loving faith at work, in local communities and across the globe bringing healing, restoration and reconciliation, e.g. through Education,
Social Enterprise, Health Care, Spiritual Care Teams.
We belong together in Christ, practising sacrificial living and good stewardship of all that
God has entrusted to us. We will combine radical generosity, care and capacity building with a clear focus on directing finance into the mission of Jesus. Sharing and multiplying local good practice, using people, buildings and other resources wisely we will seek to boldly prune, plant and invest in building for the kingdom.
5

Growing Authentic Disciples - WELCOMING
 The Pilgrim Course - Because a lively faith needs constantly to be stimulated, the parish has adopted the
Church of England’s nurture course to provide an introduction to newcomers and food for those already on the journey.
 House Groups – Pilgrim will develop into a number of self-sustaining House groups providing mutual support for their members and a welcoming and accessible entry point for others to the life of the church.
 Occasional Offices – Because St Mary’s is blessed with a significant number of Christenings and Weddings and remains the place where many turn for Funerals, we are committed to sharing the gospel of Jesus with those with little church contact whom these attract. Visitors are welcomed warmly, and invited and encouraged to share more fully in the life of the church.
 Families and young adults - We will seek training opportunities to renew and develop our ministry to young people, keeping it engaging, relevant and innovative. We will target missional activities towards families in Lychpit.
6

Re-imagining the Church - INSPIRING
 Weekly Café – Maintaining St Mary’s position as a social hub in the village, we will create ‘Coffee Catch-up’, a weekly space for people to gather and chat in welcoming surroundings where representatives of St Mary’s will be available for bookings, contact, and, where appropriate, pastoral care.
 Worship in new contexts – We will seek to carry our worship out beyond the confines of the church building, making full use of our beautiful churchyard and the various community spaces in Old Basing and Lychpit through pioneering new services, retreats and quiet days.
 Fun – We shall seek opportunities for the church family to be together more socially. eg. A regular parish Sunday
Lunch.
 Music – St Mary’s has long enjoyed the benefits of an enthusiastic robed choir. We will endeavour to safeguard the future of music in St Mary’s by seeking a talented individual to establish a parallel Youth Choir/Band which will draw upon the talent and enthusiasm of local children.
7

Transforming Society - ENGAGING
 Building links with the wider church – We recognise that we in Old Basing belong to the One Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church, which has no borders in time or space.
We will seek to create links of mutual care and support with parishes in contexts different from our own through a local parish link, and with St Apollo’s Church in
Katakala, Uganda.
 Work with Schools – We have excellent relationships with the primary-level schools in the parish, regularly offering worship, learning together, and sharing resources. We will continue to build on these links, and seek opportunities both at home and further afield through the shared school link to Katakala.
 Pastoral contact and visiting – Strong community links enable a dedicated team of visitors to offer the sacraments and provide opportunities for worship at home and in residential care homes. We will seek to develop a wider ministry of visiting and pastoral care, especially for bereaved families, drawing on the gifts and strengths of the wider membership of St Mary’s.
8

Sacrificial Living and Good Stewardship - SUSTAINING
 Church Fabric – We are blessed at St Mary’s with an outstandingly beautiful Grade 1 listed building.
Respecting our existing heritage, we will adapt the pews in the South aisle and at the front of church to create a more effective worship space, and refurbish our children’s play area.
 Increased giving – We recognise our responsibility both to fund the mission of the parish and to contribute to the needs of less fortunate parishes through Parish Share giving. We will adopt an established Stewardship
Programme and commit to raising our regular and other giving by 20% over the next three years.
 Community Events – St Mary’s is ideally positioned as a venue for village occasions. We host an annual Flower
Festival/ Fete and Christmas festival alongside countless other events, whilst running a popular Ploughman’s Lunch
Club also playing host to community organisations like the
Cubs, U3A, Alzheimer’s Society and Basing Singers. We will seek to develop these imaginatively as links with the community and valuable sources of income.
9

Plan
Review Act
In order to ensure that the plan is more than a series of aspirations, we require a regular review by the PCC of progress against a clear set of proposed initiatives.
Growing
Authentic
Disciples
Re-imagining the Church
Transforming
Society
Action
House Groups
Steering
Coffee Catch-up DF
Review Date
Sacrificial
Living
Pastoral Visiting
Stewardship
Programme
SL
RH?
10