Background

February 2019

The Presbytery meeting agreed to the following motion:

That Presbytery Council be asked to prioritise a focus on the spiritual renewal and growth of the church in the Presbytery area.

This arose during the reporting back of a task group that had grappled with the issue of the declining number of people available to carry out the work of the Presbytery. In addition to the recommendations from that group, Presbytery said that this was essentially a spiritual problem that would not be solved by structural changes. The context of church decline prompted a call for a focus on spiritual renewal and growth.

January 2020

The Presbytery Council established a task group consisting of Peter Cheyne (convenor), Lynne Taylor and Caleb Griffiths.

November 2020

• Task group report to the Presbytery meeting.

The following recommendations were adopted:

1. That the report be received.

2. That, given Caleb Griffith’s and Lynne Taylor’s limited availability, Presbytery Council strengthens this task group with people committed to spiritual renewal and growth.

3. That each regional group be asked to recruit people who are willing to pray regularly for the spiritual renewal and growth of the faith communities within the region and the Presbytery, and to appoint someone to coordinate those pray-ers, providing periodic prayer information and requests.

4. That Presbytery Council appoint a prayer coordinator to link the regional coordinators and provide a Presbytery-wide prayer perspective (e.g. prayer requests from Presbytery Council).

5. That the agenda for each Presbytery Council meeting includes a section for discussion of issues connected to spiritual renewal and growth and that the Council reports on those discussions in its newsletter.

April 2021

Presbytery Council appointed an expanded task group consisting of Peter Cheyne (convenor), Lynne Taylor, Margie Rea and Hilary Smith.

The Terms of Reference

To provide a focus on spiritual renewal and growth in the Southern Presbytery for the next three years, reporting on its work twice yearly to the Presbytery Council.

1. To engage with, and encourage regional groups to:

   1. Recruit people to pray, and co-ordinate information and requests regularly about renewal and growth in our faith communities.

   2. Listen, discover and learn of parish experiences.

   3. Identify, discern and encourage people who can share their stories.

   4. Explore identify and facilitate resources for faith groups to use.

2. Prepare and resource material for congregations to use across the Presbytery during Lent and Easter 2022 and 2023.

3. Arrange guest speakers to head seminars with a focus on spiritual renewal and growth.