11 June 2014
Exploring the Family Ministry Landscape: Major UK research project
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A major research project will reveal the scope of families work
in the majority of UK Churches. Exploring the Family Ministry
Landscape is thought to be the first project of its kind in the UK
and will look at what churches are doing to support families, as
well as the range of training and resources that are already
available for families work.
"Families come in all shapes and sizes, and society's
understanding of what 'family' means has changed over the years,"
said Gail Adcock, Families Ministries Development Officer
(Discipleship and Ministries), who is taking a lead on the
research. "Whatever a family looks like, the Church should care
about and seek to support that family in life and in faith. We hope
that this project will help us to see how that is already happening
and learn how we can do it better."
"Family matters," added the Rt Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham,
"whether it's a single parent family, blended families, immigrant
families or everything in between. The Church has a duty to support
people in their relationships and in the challenges they face. We
haven't got it all figured out just yet - and I hope this project
will help us learn and grow as a community of faith for whom family
matters."
Exploring the Family Ministry Landscape is a partnership between
the Methodist Church in Britain and the Consultative Group on
Ministry Among Children (CGMC). CGMC is a network of
CTBI and brings together all those with national responsibility
for work with children in churches and Christian charities for the
major Christian Churches in the UK, including the Church of
England, Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and the
Baptist Union of Great Britain. The research project is due to
report in Autumn 2015.
"CGMC seeks to inspire people to act as advocates and change
makers in children's and family ministry for all of our churches
and organisations," said CGMC's Moderator, Penny Fuller. "This
project is an ecumenical collaboration that seeks to challenge and
support those who equip and resource the development of ministry
with families."
Gail is also conducting more in-depth research into families work
within the British Methodist Church, which will report this Autumn.
This will include regional consultation events on 17 June
(Warrington), 24 June (Leeds), 8 July (Harpenden), 19 September
(South West) and 22 September (London). Email
Gail for more information.