Follow the Tour

Last Updated on Monday, 19 December 2011 14:56

The Deanery Evening dates/venues were as follows: (you may click on each Deanery for a short report)

Click here to download - Growing-the-Body-of-Christ-Deanery-Evenings.ppt - power point file

Click here for the full length version (42 mins) of the Bishop's presentation, or here for a shorter 10 min version.

Tankersley - Tuesday 6th September

The tour got a great launch at St Leonard's Wortley where the church was packed. The evening included singing, bible readings, prayers and an act of commitment.  The main part was Bishop Steven's presentation of the growth strategy.  At the heart of which is the challenge to share the Bishop's dream of a growing church.  Bishop Steven told the representatives of every church in the Deanery that as a Church and as disciples we are called to bear fruit.  The Fruits of

• Righteousness (Isaiah 5)
• Qualities in our lives (Galatians 5)
• and Adding new disciples (Matthew 11 and Luke 5).

Bishop Steven spoke about positive signs in the Diocese and around the world. "Can we envisage the church in the Diocese of Sheffield growing again?" he asked.  For the church to grow we need to recover things we have always done, but to bring them to the top of our agenda -

• Prayer
• Sowing the Seed
• Teaching the Faith
• and Growing Disciples.

He spoke passionately about a nurture course he had developed when he was a parish priest in Ovenden that had brought people to faith and he asked every church present to plan to hold a nurture course every year for at least the next 10 years.  The Diocesan Development day "A time to Grow" on Saturday October 1st will be all about nurture courses.

After the presentation there were lots of groups of people having conversations as they caught up with friends from other churches and discussed the Bishop's presentation.  Mark Wigglesworth, the Diocesan Director of Mission, who was there to support the Bishop, found many people were excited by the Bishop's strategy and a number said "we are already growing the church."  "Four of the people I spoke to had joined their churches in the last 5 years" he said "Each of them spoke of the warm welcome and support they had received."

Area Dean, Keith Hale, said "Everyone is thrilled with the Bishop's message for Growing the Church."

[more pictures on facebook]

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Adwick - Thursday 8th September

The tour continued on Thursday at St. Leonard and St. Jude Scawsby. This was an historic occasion as it we the first visit in an episcopal capacity of a Bishop of Sheffield since 1992. All those who filled the church were treated to another good evening of worship led by the Area Dean, the Rev. Stephen Gardner and teaching from Bishop Steven.

Every benefice in the Deanery was well represented and once again there was much positive feed back. At one point, in the middle of the session in response to a request from the Bishop for comments Fr. Stephen Dickinson from New Bentley and Arksey told the Bishop that he could say a loud "Amen!" to all that the Bishop had been teaching.  Fr. Stephen went on to ask a question that was probably on the minds of several of those who had gathered to listen to the Bishop. "How does it work here with its history and characteristics?" He went on to say that looking back through the registers of his churches there had never been a golden age of high attendance. It was he said, "a real South Yorkshire problem!" before asking Bishop Steven "How do we deal with that in the real situations where we are with that kind of history?" Bishop Steven welcomed the question and recognised the difficulties that are faced in some parts of the Church. He said that he found the different soils image from the parable of the sower to be very helpful and also noticed that the books of Acts recorded the way the apostle Paul's ministry was received in different ways in different places. "Sometimes you can see reasons and sometimes you can't. We must work with this and not judge ministry by numbers. But modest growth cannot happen if we do not concentrate on certain disciplines."

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Doncaster - Thursday 15th September

The Bishop's tour continued with a visit to Castle Park, home of Doncaster Knights Rugby Union Club.  The evening followed a familiar format as Area Dean the Rev. Jan Foden led representatives from every parish in the Deanery in a simple act of worship.  There was then a slight delay caused by a technical problem with the video system.  Whilst the technical team were working to fix this Bishop Steven spoke about his days playing Rugby as a school boy, before inviting people to share their favourite stories about Jesus.

The Bishop then went on to talk about the task of the church being to grow disciples, not just Attenders, not just Believers, not just Converts but true Disciples.  All churches have two great symbols of Discipleship - the font where we are baptised into the body of Christ and the Altar table where we are fed and resourced to go out.  Bishop Steven spoke about the 40% growth in attendance at mid week services that has happened throughout the Church of England over the last 10 years.  He also told people how he had been inspired just this week at a meeting of the house of Bishops where two Bishops, one from Harare in Zimbabwe and one from Peru had both spoken about Church Growth in difficult circumstances.

Bishop Steven said that his challenge of growing the Diocese by 20% over the next 10 years was beyond his faith.  It was something that humanly speaking cannot happen.  Yet with God......

It is God who gives the growth and so the first thing we are called to do is pray.

• Pray that we will become deeply rooted in God
• Pray that we can see what God wants to do
• Pray for the resources we will need
• Pray for God's grace

As Church, as disciples, we need to sow the seeds of the gospel among those who have not heard and do not understand it.  40% of the population have never been part of a Christian community.  We need to find ways of talking about Jesus with people who do not understand the things we take for granted.

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Laughton - Monday 19th September

Another week, another stage of the tour, this time at All Saints' CofE Primary School, Aston.  PCC members and others from churches across Laughton Deanery were treated to some delightful singing from the youngsters of the school choir as they entered the school hall in preparation for Bishop Steven’s presentation.  After the singing the Rev’d Ian Jennings, Rector of Aston cum Aughton, All Saints led a simple liturgy including a reading from Ephesians 4 read by Canon Mark Wigglesworth.

Bishop Steven reminded those who had joined him that, "The practice of going out and making disciples has shaped the life of the church and every Christian community.  Symbolised by the font which enables us to fulfil Jesus' instruction to baptise and the altar table where we gather to be fed and sustained and then sent out to fulfil Jesus' commission to make disciples."

Once again Bishop Steven spoke about the nurture course that he had developed in Ovenden.  He said that one of the analogies he has used is that of learning to drive.  Someone who is learning to drive would expect to have 15 to 20 lessons if not many more!  So when learning to be a Christian, something more complicated, surely we would want to take some lessons!

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Hallam - Tuesday 20th September

The Hallam Deanery stage of the tour led Bishop Steven to St. Thomas Philadelphia.  Once again over a hundred people from churches across the Deanery gathered to listen as Bishop Steven presented his growth strategy to PCC members and others from the Deanery.  On this occasion worship, led by musicians from Philadelphia, included traditional hymns sung to a modern accompaniment.

Bishop Steven said the underlying message is not complicated.  He is asking people to pray that God will draw new people in and that the Church will grow numerically and also to pray for the resources that churches and the Diocese will need to sustain the task of growth.  He commended the Deanery as one that bucked the general trend of decline.  Over the last 5 years many of the churches in the Deanery had grown.  He invited those churches that were growing to help others in the Deanery and Diocese to learn their lessons so that they too could grow.

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Rotherham - Monday 26th September

Almost 150 people from across the Rotherham Deanery gathered in Talbot Lane Methodist Church - the largest church in Rotherham celebrating its anniversary.  A site where John Wesley preached.

On two previous visits to Rotherham the Bishop’s car has been locked in to Free Church Car parks!   The only times his car has ever been locked in a car park.  The first time was the last Deanery tour, the second was last night in the car park of Talbot Lane!   He hoped that tonight he would be allowed home.

Once again the Bishop invited people to share their favourite stories about Jesus.  The discussion was so animated that the Bishop had difficulty drawing people back together!

The Bishop encouraged us to pray about Growth.  He related a story of prayer in the church where he had been the vicar, rich fruitful prayer with deep rooted life.

Pray that God will draw in new Christians and will draw people into faith.  Pray for the resources we need, which are so vital, to sustain God’s mission and ministry in our Diocese.

If Bishop Steven had run only one 'Christians for Life' course nothing spectacular would have happened.  But he didn’t stop there.  He ran another, then another, then another and hundreds of people came to faith over a period of 10 years and the church became strong.

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Snaith and Hatfield - Monday 31st October

Members from every benefice in the Deanery filled St. Mary's church, Stainforth where Bishop Steven said that he would be sharing things that are deep in his heart.  He assured everyone that things would not be complicated but he would be asking people to do things in all church councils and parishes.  Once again people were asked to share their favourite stories about Jesus, regular favourites appeared but there were some new ones including the story of Jesus as a boy waiting behind at the Temple.

The talk followed the usual pattern.  As he spoke about the importance of growing the church he reminded everyone that it is important to be clear that the direction we set will be key for the outcome.

During questions Bishop Steven was asked why the decline had happened.  He spoke about the massive change in people's understanding of themselves and the world that happened in the 20th Century.  Not least because of the massive suffering that occurred during two world wars. People had grown used to being church in a certain way and this didnt prepare us for the shock of the last century.  There has been a decline in understanding of the faith and the church.  We now need to work to rebuild the nation's understanding of faith and we need to do it person by person, family by family, community by community.

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Wath - Monday 14th November

This stage of the tour was held in the splendid Darfield Church Hall - a former cinema - a first for the tour.  Another first was that this stage was relayed to the world via the medium of Twitter.  So here are some of the tweets in case you missed them :-

"Oh no! We've got to talk to other people now! Meeting new folk is good fun!"

"Lots of chatting and sharing of stories about Jesus. A great hub bub - hard to bring it to order!"

"We're called to bear fruit in 3 ways - God's love, changed lives and new disciples.'

"In the face of decline can we as a church grow? Interesting question!"

"Church attendance in midweek is up by 40% over the last decade. What does the next decade look like?"

"we're now discussing that we're called to grow just like the church globally"

"so the keys to growth are a) prayer, prayer and more prayer. For people to come to faith"

"b) grow new Christians - sow the seed, nurture ones ones and grow them"

"we're looking at a wheel illustration of how to make disciples. Helping us in the parishes to have a framework to work with."

"a challenge for us - what courses will we offer to our parishes in 2012? Put it on your next PCC agenda!"

"Mark Wigglesworth. Dir of Mission is now talking about his role & and how he can help us meet the challenge"

"Great news for Wath Deanery - we're already a growing Deanery."

"take away these to do - praye, sow, nurture, grow and plant"

"lots more noise as we discuss this with our own church members."

Thanks to our Twittering correspondent.  Tweet Tweet

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West Doncaster - Tuesday 22 November

We met in Bawtry Hall, with over 100 people from around the deanery.  Rev Alun Price led some worship at the start of the evening, and Trevor Clowes sharing about his experience in the School of Ministry.  Bishop Steven began by telling us that this was the 11th evening of 12, the first in a stately home, and the only meeting to take place outside the diocese (just!)

The clear challenge throughout the message was, do you believe the church can grow?  We have lived through a generation of church decline, and our expectations can be low.  Bishop Steven encouraged us with stories from around the world and our own history where God has grown his church.  However, he warned that growth is uncomfortable for us.  New people will test us... are we ready and willing for some growth pains?

Bishop Steven went on to describe a simple approach to mission that would look, "Dead ordinary".  Running an enquirers course on Christianity each year seems ordinary, but over a number of years can see gentle, but important growth.

Are there 10 people in your parish at any one time who would like to find out more?  Bishops Steven believes there are.  What could your church do for those 10?  Don't expect someone else in the church to do something... is God wanting you to take action?  "With God's help, we will!"

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Ecclesall - Wednesday 23 November

The final meeting of the Bishop's tour was held in All Saint's Church, Ecclesall.  The tour ended with a flourish and the highest attendance, over 160 people from across the Deanery.  This took the total attendance for the tour to over 10% of the Diocesan Electoral Roll.  Bishop Steven showed no signs of flagging and presented his strategy with the same clarity and openness that has characterised each of the meetings.  At the end of the evening several people commented on how well he had engaged his audience.

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