The Diocesan vision is to grow lively and diverse Christian communities that are effective in making disciples. Missional Pathways can help with this.
Coming to faith and engaging in Christian discipleship is a journey. Sometimes that journey is short and sometimes it’s a longer process. In either case our role, as church communities, is to help people along it. Developing missional pathways for people to travel along with you, so they can find Jesus and walk with him as well is a useful approach. We find that people often move from one kind of relationship to another and therefore the missional pathway has steps along it that help those relationships to develop.
The first step is that those unconnected to church become friends. We have events and activities that help people discover us and our faith without having to share it; coffee mornings, walking groups, parent and toddlers, food banks etc. These activities are good in their own right because they build and serve communities but we also want to be intentional about sharing our faith.
The second step is that friends become believers. We have events and activities that help people learn about Jesus and the Christian faith and consider it for themselves; Alpha, Start, Pilgrim, seeker services, café church, nurture groups, confirmation preparation, catechism etc. These activities are respectful and considerate and honest about their purpose, people are invited to them to hear for themselves.
The third step is that believers become disciples. We have events and activities that help people go deeper with Jesus and put their faith into action in all sorts of ways; Home groups, Bible studies, Prayer groups, helping with the other activities in step one and two to help people move along. These activities help each believer to fulfil their baptismal calling as disciples, as Lights for Christ (page link?)
The Small Sparks Grant is available to help develop or begin Missional Pathways.
If you are not certain how a Missional Pathway works or how to establish them in your church then don’t worry because the grant comes with lots of opportunities for support. In the first instance email john.marsh@sheffield.anglican.org or visit the Small Sparks Grant page using the link above.
We are very grateful that this initiative is supported by the Church Commissioners through the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB).