Our journey over the last few years has seen our main parish building made redundant and a move for Sunday worship for the St Mary's congregation into Harrogate Grammar School; an office and administrative function set up, the All Saint's chapel out of action due to structural problems, a new leader in place since October 2007, and the story is continuing.

Vision -  work in progress

As a community of believers, we want to grow in loving, living and leading -simply - as Jesus did.

There is a call to simplicity, to have a 'Tent' mentality, to take seriously Jesus’ teaching about a grain of wheat and we want to bear fruit ....

so we're currently discussing:

whole life, not just Sundays; community rather than consumer; we come to you rather than you come to us;  tent rather than building;  participant rather than spectator; simple rather than complex;  re-organism rather than reorganisation;  and mission rather than maintenance.

Not just discussion though; we are working out the changes needed to transition into a new way of being church that emphazises being a missionary community of communities, developing numbers of medium-sized communities - call them MSCs - with a passion to see the kingdom of God grow in and through our 24/7 lives.

MSCs - Mission-Shaped Communities, Medium-Sized Church  (… but not as we know it)

• Focussed on a mission context or sub-culture

• Gathering and building community

• Not necessarily doing Sunday Service but definitely doing Up (relationship with God)- In (relationship with each other in the body of Christ) - Out (relationship with those who are interested in the journey of faith, but maybe not on it)

• Lightweight and low maintenance

• 24/7 way of life

• Led (Leader casts a vision) but team-based, low control - but accountable

• 15-35 people (may start smaller, may grow larger, and multiply)

In these potentially diverse social groupings of 15 - 35 people, people can check out where they would fit, where they would feel at home, where they may be more able to contribute, and these not too small, not too large communities can be more effective in pursuing a shared vision/goal.

What might these look like in our context?  We'll currently working on this, with initially a twice-monthly central gathering, and MSC exploration gatherings in alternate weeks.

Back to top

Values - work also in progress!

Local Church Life that is welcoming, relational, accessible for all generations, and builds family and community life

Inspiring Worship that gives glory to God, reflects His creativity, is culturally appropriate and facilitates encounter with God

Spirit-empowered Mission which is evangelistic, holistic, & Kingdom-centred

Orthodox Theology with doctrine and ethics founded on the person, teaching and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible

Bible-based Teaching and training that is thoughtful, relevant and equips for everyday life and ministry

Personal Discipleship that is based on living like Jesus, exemplifying love, prayerfulness, holiness, integrity, accountability, humility and generosity

Every-member Ministry that discerns each person’s calling and expresses God’s love through the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit

Positive faith in God acting on risk-taking trust in the God who calls us out of our depth to take His grace and truth beyond our comfort zones.

Back to top

Who's Who

In line with the value we place on every-member ministry, we emphasize shared leadership and teamwork throughout the life of our church. A Leadership Team led by Vicar Mark Carey, photo below, Wardens Audrey Taylorson & Jackie Barnes, and from October '08 Children's Leader, Rachel, works with the PCC, (parochial church council) meeting regularly to pray together, as well as to consider where we think God is leading us and how we can do things better. 

As well as these teams, there are many others who take responsibility for the different aspects of our church life.  These include leading small groups, leading the services, operating the PA and projection equipment,  running our youth and children's groups, participating in the music team etc etc.  Hopefully this gives a picture of our all-hands-on-deck ship, and there's room for plenty more!  Believing that all are needed in the church and have a part to play in revealing the Kingdom of God, we use the Willow Creek 'Network' course as a resource to help people recognize and use the gifts God has given them.

Back to top

MID-WEEK GROUPS

We currently have a number of small groups meeting weekly or fortnightly in homes around Harrogate, and these will continue in this transition period.  As we establish MSCs though it is likely that our patterns of smaller groupings will change and become more fluid and varied.

Back to top