District and Circuit enablers support others to discern what mission, discipleship and more looks like in their context.
But with circuit and church focus so often on Sunday morning worship and maintaining buildings, churches can struggle for the space to prioritise looking outwards or inwards.
A Methodist Way of Life affirms the importance of worship and church community life, but its practices also encourage looking outwards to the world God loves – sharing faith, attending to the flourishing of creation and intentionally opening worship to spiritual seekers.
“One district mission enabler had a 2m x 2m train map laid out at their autumn synod, and invited people to come and stand on it during breaks – using their bodies to explore the stations and their discipleship journey.”
Ideas to try
Every context and church community is different. The most appropriate ideas will be the ones that are authentic for the people and place you’re in. Here are a few ideas to consider – more can be found on the pages for each commitment, and on the MWOL resources page (including a series of service outlines).
- Use A Methodist Way of Life floor map at a church or circuit vision day to encourage those present to see themselves on a journey with God. Ask them to reflect on their ‘home station’, both individually and as a church, and to then consider which of the stations God might be calling them to next.
- Growth planning supports churches to discern their missional, spiritual and / or evangelistic activities for the next 12 months to reach their community with God’s love in Jesus. You could use the stickers or postcards to vote for a particular practice to focus on, or you could open entry points across all the practices.
The Evangelism and Growth team of the Methodist Church run events and webinars throughout the year for individuals and church leaders to explore what A Methodist Way of Life means for your community.
Planning for growth
Growth planning helps churches, circuits and new Christian communities discern an action plan for spiritual, missional and numerical growth.
