Manchester Diocese starts a conversation on ‘Church for a different world’

The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, is leading a conversation in his diocese on how the Church can better make its message of God’s love heard. Recognising that the modern world is a noisy place in which it can be difficult to get noticed, Bishop David is challenging his Church to become ‘Church for a different world’.

The vision of the Diocese of Manchester is to be a worshipping, growing and transforming Christian present at the heart of every community. Its core message of faith, hope and love is as relevant today as it’s ever been. But Bishop David asks the question: “How do we need to change to make the Church of today be the Church of tomorrow?”

Bishop David is engaging in a series of roadshows across the diocese to get the conversation started. He will present his message and hear from local people about their perspective on local mission. The first event, called ‘Church for a different world’, took place in Oldham on Saturday 16 April.

Bishop David says: “Our mission is to make our message of God’s love heard amidst the noise of the modern world. We want to reach out to individuals and communities across our diocese, and engage them in a new conversation that’s absolutely relevant in their lives. We are people who long both to see and to make a difference in God’s world. At the same time we recognise that the world itself is constantly changing - therefore the way we deliver our message and engage people needs to keep changing too.

“How might we need to adapt to make the most of the opportunities to grow in the modern world? And how do we help make a different and better world?”

Recognising that the diocese faces challenges including a reduction in the number of people in church each week, fewer suitable worship spaces and a smaller national number of deployable clergy, the diocese wants to grasp the opportunities to change and to better equip itself to flourish. It is asking everyone to get involved in this conversation and to help shape the future on issues such as:

• Delivering church
• Addressing social injustice
• Nurturing people
• Spreading spirituality
• Transforming community

By looking critically at these areas and reimagining some of the ways it does things, the diocese wants to become a resilient, focused and relevant Church for a different world.

Bishop David will be taking part in Q&A sessions at the roadshows.
Resources are available from the diocese to help churches engage in the conversations on the ground, including a Pocket Guide which is available to download from:

 

www.manchester.anglican.org/news/1890/how-can-we-become-church-for-a-different-world

Download