23.11.2012
Diocesan Growth Forum – The Next Steps
Over 250 people from all the parishes in Dublin & Glendalough took part in the Diocesan Growth Forum which was held on 6th October in The High School.
The keynote speaker was the Revd George Lings of the Church Army who spoke of emerging Fresh Expressions of Church. His talk was followed by practical examples of Fresh Expressions both from England and Ireland.
Such was the level of interest and enthusiasm that feedback was received after the event from all the discussion groups. Indeed, over 70 percent of the participants responded individually to the Archbishop’s invitation to inform him of their responses to the event. Over 75 percent of both groups and individuals were positive about the helpfulness of what was shared and discussed at the event and felt that the next step was to bring the concept of new emerging patterns of church to local deanery and parish level.
A detailed breakdown of the feedback and responses can be found on the Growth Forum website – www.growthforum.net
In his summing up remarks, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, encouraged participants to experiment with new ideas of being church and told them that he was fully behind such ventures and experiments. One emerging concept from the Forum was that every church in the united dioceses should try and start “one new thing” that would be relevant to their context.
It is recognised that momentum and motivation needs to be maintained and that there is a need for a Ministry Development Officer for the united dioceses. This is being actively pursued by diocesan authorities.
Another emerging theme of the Forum was that Fresh Expressions co–exist alongside the traditional forms of being church. It is not a case of either/or but both/and as the local church seeks to serve and reach out to all in their membership and beyond.
Contextualisation is also very important and it is not possible for any parish “to run examples though the photocopy machine” without applying them to their own particular situation.
Rural Deaneries are being suggested as the fora for further reflection and implementation of the ideas that were shared and discussed at the Diocesan Growth Forum, and the Archbishop is working with the Diocesan Growth committee to plan such initiatives in 2013. The Diocesan Growth committee is available to offer any assistance to parishes considering a new initiative or who want to discuss it and contact details are available at www.growthforum.net
A number of people have pointed out that we needed to create more space for the voice of young people to be heard in considering the future. Accordingly the possibility of a rerun of the event using the videos through the auspices of 3Rock is being considered.
The committee is also encouraged to read in The Church Review of new initiatives already being planned.
A DVD of the event will shortly be available for deanery and parish use – it is being mailed out by the Diocesan Office. This has been made possible by the generosity of private donations and will be mailed shortly to parishes.
The Diocesan Growth Team
Geoffrey Perrin
Ted Woods
Andrew McNeile