Tuesday, March 24, 2015

I Have A Dream

We are in that time in the church's year that we have to hold our APCM - for the uninitiated this is the AGM of the church.  These meetings, jokingly, can be a gathering of people waiting to go home.  They are the opportunity to deal with elections of officers (people to serve as Church Warden), to ensure that the financial matters of the church are sound and to sometimes harangue the clergy.

I try and I would like all of our churches to see these gatherings differently.

The APCM is a chance to look back with thankfulness over the last year at all that has happened, to learn from things that haven't happened as well as they could have and to look forward to where we believe God is calling us to be.

Yes there are things that must happen at this meeting - namely the election of Church Wardens, members to serve on the Parochial Church Council and the Deanery Synod and to receive various reports to do with the life of the church but I believe that these meetings can and should be much more that functional business.

With that in mind I would like us to use our APCM as a time to dream.


When I arrived in my current parish back in 2011 I met with nearly 100 people in small groups for coffee or a glass of wine depending on what end of the day it was. One of the questions I asked the people I met was about their hopes and dreams for the future were - if anything were possible in the life of the church, where would you like to be in 5 years time? These ideas and suggestions were gathered together and became the basis of our first Mission Action Plan.

Aware we have moved on over those 5 years, led and guided by God, I wonder if it is time to dream again? What are our hopes over the next five years for our life together? What are God's dreams for His people here?

Have a think, have a pray, dream - and anything that comes to you, anything at all, let me know!

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