If you haven’t already, agree on the approach you are taking in this process, including the points at which you will pause and pray both together and individually, for example a prayer retreat, a week of prayer with your congregation, a prayer roster.
Other ways you can ‘Prepare’:
Spend time listening to/watching content on mission and mission planning together
Read and reflect on scriptures such as Matthew 28:16-20
Think about who you need to resource you on this journey, for instance, leaders from within the congregation, Thrive Mission Committee, Presbytery Minister (Mission) or independent consultants.
Make a realistic timeline of what you need to achieve and when you hope to achieve it
Is there previous work you've done that you need to review before proceeding?
Remember to compile a short summary of this step for your final mission plan (on the template provided or in a separate document)
Here are some suggestions:
National Church Life Survey report (Thrive can assist you with doing an NCLS survey)
Australian Bureau of Statistics – details of the community including how many UCA people are included in the census for your local area, local demographics and living arrangements. https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/
Local Government – make an appointment with your community development officer to find out about their priorities. What can you learn about your community, its strengths, its nature, its needs.
Local history – what has your community been known for in the past?
Local church history – Where has your church come from as a community of faith? This is not for nostalgia but to get a sense of what has shaped the congregation over the years.
What has your church inherited in terms of identity, purpose, and context? Is this still relevant? How deeply does it find expression? Does it need to be honoured or celebrated? Does it need to be maintained or let go? How does this inform decisions about legacy?
Church attendance data, details of church property and information of key people in the congregation, including those being paid as well as volunteers.
Numbers of people served by the church, which includes attendance at various programmes, not just Sunday morning attendance.
Financial information in an easy-to-understand format
What other churches are there in your vicinity and what are they doing?
Remember to compile what you gather (or a summary of it) for your final mission plan using the template provided or in a separate document.
Here are some ways you could do that:
Set aside special times when you can pray about the future of the church.
Consider a day when people can drop into the church during the day to pray.
Set up prayer stations around the church with information about the ideas that have been gleaned over the years, and information about the local community and its needs.
Do some surveys, using Survey Monkey (or similar) as an online survey and also a paper version for those who prefer.
Prepare a survey that you can use in your neighbourhood, then hold a barbecue, fete, or market day. Make it an enjoyable day but make good use of it to listen to what people think about the church.
Compile a summary of what you’ve heard for your final mission plan (on the template provided or in a separate document).
A few tips...
You're now at the end of the “discern” phase, and should have a clearer picture of your identity, purpose and context. But before you jump into “Dream and Decide” it may be helpful to find some common language to move forward with. From what you’ve discovered, what are a handful of core values we hold as a congregation? How would we express why we exist in one concise statement.
If you don’t already have these (a mission statement and core values) it can be helpful to clarify these before proceeding.