MAP Workshop

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MAP Workshop

• Mike Chew
• MAP and Growth Strategy Facilitator
• Blackburn Diocese

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Diocesan MAP/Growth Initiatives
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MAP

• Mission
• An outward looking engagement with the world
  around us
• Living the gospelnot just church activities
• Equipping supporting church members to live out
  their faith
• Action
• Focused, specific actions giving expression to
  Gods concern for his world, arising out of
  convictions, gifts, passion sense of vocation
• Planning
• Being SMART

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Mission?

• Mission has its origins in the hear of God. God
  is a fountain of sending love. This is the
  deepest source of mission. It is impossible to
  penetrate deeper still there is mission because
  God loves people.
• In the new image mission is not primarily an
  activity of the church, but an attribute of
  GodDavid Bosch Transforming Mission 1991

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How do we Grow?

• By being Healthy in all aspects of individual
  spirituality and corporate worship/life
• Prayer, Holiness, Mission
• By sharing a Vision of Growth
• By working together to use our resources
  effectively and efficiently

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1 Corinthians 35-7

• What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?
  Only servants, through whom you came to
  believeas the Lord has assigned to each his
  task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it,
  but God made it grow. So neither he who plants
  nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who
  makes things grow

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All-By-Itself

• The growth principle
• Growth takes place spontaneously
• There is order and process in this growth
• All we can do is prepare the way and remove the
  obstacles to growth

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Too businesslike?

• David Hope
• We are told that in order to be a good steward
  of the household of God, you have to be a good
  steward of your own household.
• Its really a dimension of stewardship you have
  to plan and organise things. If we are serious
  about mission and that is the clear priority,
  then some sort of plan is inevitable.
• MAP is primarily a tool to establish a clear
  missionary purpose and direction for the church

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Jesus on Planning

• For which of you, intending to build a tower,
  does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to
  see whether he has enough to complete it?
• Or what king, going out to wage war against
  another king, will not sit down first and
  consider whether he is able with ten thousand to
  oppose the one who comes against him with twenty
  thousand?
• Luke 14.28,31

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Acts

• Prayer and supernatural guidance are key parts of
  planning for mission in the early church.
• For example in Acts 13 While they were
  worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit
  said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the
  work to which I have called them. Then after
  fasting and praying they laid their hands on them
  and sent them off.

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How does a Church work out its Mission Plans?

• Is not easy!
• So much to learn about Mission
• So much to consider
• So many people to involve
• But it gets easier with experience
• Learn by using the MAP process

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The MAP Process Cycle
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Prayer and Passion

• Prayer
• The starting Point
• Asking God to prepare the leaders for this work
• Individual and Corporate
• Desire
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote If you want to
  build a ship, dont summon people to buy wood,
  prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organise the
  work, rather teach people to yearn for the wide,
  boundless ocean.
• If we want people to produce a MAP, first, we
  have to teach people especially church leaders
  - to yearn to respond to Jesus Christs
  teachings. A famous French writer and aviator
  (1900-44)

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Review

• Listen Triple listening
• To God
• To Ourselves each other
• To the community
• What are our Values?
• What is our Mission?
• Why are We Here?
• Assess 4 alternative methods
• SWOT
• Growing Healthy Churches (recommended for 1st
  year)
• Discerning your Church Vocation
• Natural Church Development

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Shared Vision

• Shared Vision Stimulates desire and helps us to
  focus on God
• Shared Vision gives the whole church a sense of
  Direction
• Shared Vision draws people to work together

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Vision

• A picture of the future that produces passion.
  Vision puts the match to the fuel that most
  people carry around in their hearts and yearn to
  have ignited. Leaders must keep striking that
  match by painting compelling Kingdom pictures
• Bill Hybels

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Vision

• We want our Vision statement to
• Inspire us to use our gifts for Kingdom growth
• Draw us together
• Enable us to work out Priorities
• Remember
• Mission Our Purpose What we Value
• Vision Where we are moving to in Future

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Vision drives Priorities and Plans
Vision
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Next Steps PlanSMART Actions

• Document your plans, using the SMART method for
  each chosen priority
• Specific be clear about the specific goals and
  who the plan is for - e.g. engage with adults
  aged 18-30.
• Measurable agree how you will be able to measure
  progress, and how you will assess progress.
• Achievable your people need to believe that it
  is possible.
• Resourced ensure that there is sufficient human
  and financial resources
• Timed be clear about the timing for starting,
  reviewing progress and completing.

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Implementation

• Action
• MAP leads to Action
• to improve and/or
• to change and/or
• to serve and
• to worship
• Yet many PCCs produce a paper and return to
  business as usual
• Check
• Review progress
• to ensure that the plans are implemented
• to support people
• to recognise effort
• to solve problems

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How are we doing in Blackburn diocese?
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2004 2005 2006
2007 2008
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Impact of MAP

• This pattern repeated for 2006 to 2007
• LYCiG average growth of 4 in year after
  attending course
• Child Friendly Church Award average 3 growth
  in childrens attendance

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Impact of MAP York Diocese

• Mission Action Plans, consistently used are an
  effective tool for enabling the local church to
  become more authentically mission shaped, and
  to grow according to Gods plan and purpose.
• In all churches where the MAP principles are
  firmly established, they report overall growth,
  often in difficult key areas such as children and
  young people, or increased male membership.
• MAPs have helped hundreds of churches to look
  more closely at how they are serving God, and
  what it means to be the Body of Christ in their
  local situation.
• Many clergy and lay people have worked
  collaboratively on seeking, sharing and building
  a united vision and purpose under Gods guidance.
• Choosing, planning, acting, and reviewing, draws
  on the power of the Holy Spirit, encouraging
  wider use of the gifts of discernment, wisdom,
  insight, understanding, faith, and knowledge.

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Impact of MAP London Diocese

• Neil Evans believes that MAP is now in the DNA of
  the growing churches in the diocese.
• He makes this simple distinction between churches
  those who take in the MAP approach and use it
  organically to grow their mission work, and those
  who use MAP as a prescriptive tool, with no
  spiritual dimension.
• He has no doubt that comparing these two groups
  of churches would demonstrate that MAP has had a
  very positive impact.

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MAP Facilitators(Mission Companions)

• Facilitators bring a fresh pair of eyes and a
  critical friend to help think through the
  churchs situation, strategy and vision.
• They are skilled in the various approaches to
  conducting a review of church health, and can
  guide church leaders through the Vision process.
• Many dioceses, now provide such facilitators to
  their churches on request at no cost
• There are also many independent
  consultants/facilitators who usually provide a
  service for a reasonable fee.

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MAP 10 Point Health Check

• Rooted in Prayer
• Listen consulting those impacted by the MAP
• Assess taking a close look at your church
• Values being clear about the churchs main
  purposes and sources of energy.
• Vision being clear about the future direction
• Priorities the vital ingredients to deliver the
  Vision
• Goals being smart with priorities
• Actions planning to succeed
• Communication Keeping everyone informed
• Checking Progress Keeping control of the overall
  plan

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Conclusions about MAP

• MAP is an annual learning process not an event -
  its not about producing a piece of paper. Every
  year we learn more about mission, the community
  and ourselves.
• Facilitators can accelerate the learning MAP
  should have wide ownership plans and progress
  should be frequently communicated
• MAP should appear in some shape or form on every
  PCC agenda
• Action owners need training and support
• MAPPING Mission Action Planning, Implementation
  n Growth

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To be published in paperback by SPCK on November
19th priced at 9.99 ISBN 978 0 281 06122 8