The Circuit Meeting in July 2004 agreed a policy statement for the Circuit.
This is it:
“The calling of the St Albans and Welwyn Methodist Circuit is to advance the
Christian faith. The Circuit will therefore encourage and enable each local
church within it:
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To have at its heart, worship of God, which is challenging and authentic, the best we have to offer and expressed in a diversity of styles.
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To nurture the ministry and spirituality of the whole people of God, both within the church, and the neighbourhood it serves.
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To be a supportive, caring and open community.
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To relate to and be involved in the wider community, both institutionally and through its individual members, at local, interdenominational, interfaith and global levels.”
Dear friends,
You may remember that in June, we agreed a policy statement for the Circuit,
and I said I’d keep you informed about the process we would use for
reviewing our work. At the September Circuit Meeting it was agreed that
during the current Connexional Year we would engage in a “listening
process”. This will help us understand how people on the community rolls of
our churches see the church as it is now and where they feel we should be
going. It will be the starting point for developing a Circuit Policy that
takes into account the breadth of insights and the wealth of resources
available across the whole Circuit.
The first stage in the process is to interview approximately 100 people in
our churches. This is about 10% of our total Circuit membership. Each person
will be asked the same questions with the aim of exploring four areas we
have agreed are “our calling” (see below) in a 30-minute one-to-one
interview. They will be asked to express their own views, not those of their
church or circuit. We hope that they will reflect the broad spectrum of
people who make up the life of our churches, and that they will offer us
critical friendship in their reflections. They will be “listened to” by a
team of 30 people who have agreed to commit themselves to 4-5 evenings and
some time collating the reports from each church between now and March /
April. The group managing the process – David Dalziel, Brian King, Dave
Dickinson, Trevor Thomas and myself - will then report to the June Circuit
Meeting.
This process will give a snap shot of the circuit at this point in time. It
can’t do more because we live in a time of considerable change. Not just
because of changes in circuit boundaries and future changes of staff, but
because each of our churches changes as people come and go, and as
individual members take on, and are released from roles both within and
without the church. Yet more than that, we live in a world of almost
constant change, as new housing is built, jobs move, and our personal
situations change as children are born, grow up and leave home and as we
retire, and so on. All of this challenges our faith and spirituality,
especially when changes come together. Nevertheless change can enable us to
grow in commitment to God and to God’s world. It can also be disturbing, and
we believe that by listening to the fears and concerns, as well as the hopes
and dreams of our churches and their communities, the circuit will be
provided with a good understanding of where we are now. This snapshot will
also help us as we attempt to negotiate the changes we face in the future.
Although you may not be directly involved in the process, either as a
“listener” or being interviewed, I hope that you will share in it by praying
for all who will be taking part.
With thanks and best wishes
Revd
Sue Keegan von Allmen, Superintendant Minister.