GOD ’ S CALLING Our Calling OUR PRIORITIES God ’ s Priorities

1. GOD’S CALLING Our Calling OUR PRIORITIES God’s Priorities The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God’s love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission. This is undertaken through: Worship•Learning & Caring•Service•Evangelism

2. Climate CHANGE If everyone were to consume resources at the same rate as the UK, we would need three planets, not one.

3. • Is your church an eco-congregation? • Have you signed Operation Noah’s climate covenant? • What are you doing to reduce your personal greenhouse gas emissions? • Have you asked your MP to vote for cleaner, greener policies?

4. Only by acting now and acting together can we help to prevent damaging climate change before it is too late

5. Good relations between people of DIFFERENT FAITHS Few churches can claim that inter faith issues do not touch them. Many urban churches are just roads away from mosques, gurdwaras, Hindu temples, viharas and synagogues. But those in less plural areas are affected too.

6. Few Christians can answer ‘No’ to all these questions: • Have you had a colleague of another faith at work? • Have you heard or read news about people of other faiths in the media? • Have you ever seen a programme on television about another faith? • Have you had a friend or relative marry someone of another faith?

7. Few Christians can answer ‘No’ to all these questions: • Has a friend or relative ever converted to another faith? • Have you visited a country where Christians are a minority alongside other faiths? • Have you ever thought of how the meaning of John 14.6 relates to people of other faiths? The Connexional Team helps Methodists engage with the issues these questions raise.

8. The BUZZ Sharing good news stories around the Connexion.

9. • Trying something new at your church? • Want to let others know about it? • Want to hear what others are doing? • Tap into the exciting and inspiring things that are happening around the Connexion •Catch the Buzz

10. The Buzz is a monthly e-mail that goes out to subscribers throughout the Methodist Church and beyond. It tells inspiring and challenging ‘good news’ stories from local churches and circuits. Stories are grouped around the themes of Our Calling, and every story has a phone and e-mail contact so that you can find out more. Sign up to receive The Buzz at www.methodist.org.uk/buzz

11. Loving and PRAISING Love God – love your neighbour – praise God in word and action

12. • gathering and dispersing in worship and mission • underpinning everything with God-centred worship and prayer • beholding glory • reflecting glory • being changed from glory into glory

13. The Church is called to love and praise The Connexional team helps to encourage worshippers and to provide training and resources for those leading worship

14. Sharing the CHRISTIAN STORY Today many people are unconnected to Christian communities, know little about Jesus, and understand even less about how the gospel relates to their lives. We have a Christian responsibility to share with these people the love of God in Christ, through our actions, attitudes and words.

15. Evangelism is: • practically demonstrating the love of God • spending time with others • talking in a simple way about Jesus • responding sensitively to people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit • praying for people to turn and face God • challenging ourselves and others to trust, believe and accept the good news

16. The Connexional Team helps people to develop confidence in evangelism and the capacity to speak of God in ways that people can understand

17. Transforming LIVES Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible.

18. • ENCOURAGING fresh ways of being Church • SHARING experience and ideas • RESOURCING people engaged in mission • EMPOWERING partners to spread the Gospel • SUPPORTING work with and among ethnic minorities

19. Individual and church donations to the Fund for World Mission and Fund for Home Mission help to fund projects and support the Team in enabling the above Supporting community development and action for justice, especially among the most deprived and poor in Britain and worldwide.

20. Transforming the WORLD The Team is working to help the Methodist Church promote social holiness

21. with regard to: • the trafficking of women and girls in Europe • political extremism • trade justice • Trident replacement • refugee issues • peacemaking • poverty • domestic abuse

22. ...and many other areas. What are you working on?

23. Working towards an inclusive CHURCH How can the church show God’s love to all people? People will judge us by the love and care we demonstrate for each other and our neighbours. The effectiveness of our mission is dependent on the quality of our care and relationships.

24. The Team offers expertise and training; organises events and campaigns; and produces resources that help the church to: • Support community development and action for justice • Regard and treat all people with respect as equals • Celebrate diversity • Work with and for children and young people, encouraging their full participation in the life of the church.

25. The Team offers expertise and training; organises events and campaigns; and produces resources that help the church to: • Encourage, enable and equip women and men to fully participate in the life of the church and society • Challenge racism in the church and the world • Engage with the spiritual longings of people within and beyond the church • Offer the highest standards of pastoral care within the church and to our neighbours

26. The Connexional Team work together to proclaim and affirm the Methodist Church’s conviction of God’s love in Christ, for us and for all the world.

27. Making connections and nurturing SPIRITUALITY ‘Spirituality’ is an in word! Lots of people are interested in exploring spirituality but are wary of traditional religion. This is a wonderful opportunity for Christians to join people in exploring what really matters to them.

28. SPIRITUALITY • How do I make sense of all the suffering in the world? • I know there has to be more to life than this. • I’m spiritual but I’m not religious. • What does it mean to be human? • I felt uplifted by being part of a crowd of people who all cared about peace. • Where can I find space just to be me? • Are there healthy and unhealthy spiritualities?

29. The Connexional Team helps people to explore spirituality through inspirational events and innovative resources for prayer, reflection and meditation. Spirituality is… a divine gift that opens a person’s heart, mind and soul to the presence and the possibility of God. That gift is experienced through our encounters with the ‘other’ – creation, people and the Divine. Our spirituality can be diminished or developed by our experiences, relationships and the context of our lives.

30. Discipleship – Leaning and FOLLOWING a call to walk with strangers, tread unfamiliar paths and risk doing new things

31. • Living a life in Jesus’ footprints is interesting.(Young person quoted in Time to Talk of God) • The primary focus of discipleship is in the service of God and his mission in the world. (Education for Discipleship draft report of the Hind Working Group) • Being a disciple is the bedrock of our identity as Christians. (Time to Talk of God) • The aim of a disciple is to be more Christ-like, being like Jesus and doing like Jesus. (Time to Talk of God) • If we live as committed, responsible disciples, we can change the world – the kingdom will come. (Graham Carter, Presidential address)

32. Discipleship is about how we do our work, how we engage with our neighbours, how we serve the society around us.’ (Steven Croft, Team Leader of Fresh Expressions)

33. Many services TO BE DONE All are called to discipleship in every aspect and walk of life

34. Some are called to discipleship in recognised ministries • local preachers - a lifelong responsibility for feeding people with God’s word • deacons - a lifelong commitment to witnessing to God through service • presbyters - a lifelong commitment to the Word, sacrament and pastoral responsibility • mission partners – working in churches worldwide

35. Some are called to discipleship in recognised ministries • workers with children and young people - enabling them in their journey of faith • pastoral visitors and class leaders – sharing in joys, and providing comfort and support in times of need • lay workers - working for God in church and society • worship leaders - bringing people close to God

36. The best of all – GOD IS WITH US The Methodist Church began in the evangelistic work of John and Charles Wesley in the 1700s. The values they held - personal salvation, holiness, mission and social justice - still hold good today. The Methodists grew into a diverse movement, spreading worldwide. It is important to look to Methodism’s roots to identify its mission in today’s world.

37. • Charles Wesley, writer of over 6,000 hymns, was born in 1707 • The ‘Primitive Methodists’ started through open-air preaching in 1807 • Early Methodists actively supported the anti-slavery movement and the 1807 Act • Sharing your Church’s story with your community • Engaging with the Story and History of your Church, Faith, Community • Opening buildings, staging events, being a presence www.methodistanniversaries2007.org.uk

38. Supporting the CONNEXION Ways the Team supports the Connexion

39. • Finance • Personnel • Lay workers • Property • Grants • Legal advice • Public Issues • Resources and Communications

40. working with others such as TMCP Central Finance Board Pensions for the benefit of all

41. God’s CallingOur Calling Our Priorities God’s Priorities  In partnership with others wherever possible, the Methodist Church will concentrate its prayers, resources, imagination and commitments on this priority:  To proclaim and affirm its conviction of God’s love in Christ, for us and for all the world; and renew confidence in God’s presence and action in the world and in the Church