ON THE WAY
We launch our ‘On the Way’ process for Powder Deanery on Sunday 21st November and this letter begins to set out some of the processes that we will be following in the coming months.
You may be aware that ‘On the Way’ is the Diocese of Truro’s response to making the church both fruitful and sustainable in every place. Every deanery in the diocese is taking part and it is now our turn. ‘On The Way’ is an opportunity to help us work better together and to discern the future for the church in our area.
This process will help us address the reality that we cannot indefinitely ‘live beyond our means’ as a deanery. The process will allow us to reflect on all we currently do and to prayerfully seek God’s will for our future. It will undoubtedly mean that we decide to put down some things, carry on with others and start imagining some new possibilities. This is an opportunity to look at all we do with fresh eyes.
‘On the Way’ is an invitation for us to think together as a deanery and is not being dictated to us from Church House in Truro. We are being asked to run the process ourselves with support and, following discernment, decide for ourselves what makes best sense. Then, provided the plans are fruitful and sustainable, the diocese will support us in making them happen.
We are a large and diverse deanery and so, to help us, we will organise across the deanery in our three groupings:
Probus
The Roseland
Truro 1-Renewal and 2-Pioneer
Each group will be responsible for exploring how ministry might be developed and delivered in their churches and communities, making connection with the other groups to see how best we can support and learn from each other. The ‘splitting’ of Truro into ‘Renewal’ and ‘Pioneer’ reflects how current structures have been set up under the Bishops Mission Order for Truro. The Isles of Scilly are also part of our deanery, but they will be taking part in ‘On the Way’ next year. The final plan we develop will work across our whole deanery, so it is important to stress how interdependent these groups will be.
The work in each group will be led by a small team and so we are starting to look for people to help us, either by joining one of those teams (to listen to others and formulate plans), or by praying for the process as it progresses. We hope to have a wide range of people involved, ideally some who would not usually put themselves forward for ‘church business’. We would urge everyone to consider whether they have gifts and ideas that could be used to help us as we explore where God’s Spirit may already be moving within the Powder Deanery. More details on how to put yourself forward will be given closer to the launch. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions sheet which gives some more detail.
For the launch on Sunday 21st November we will be sharing more information aimed at church members themselves and members of our local communities. Bishop Hugh will also be speaking about ‘On the Way’ and answering questions at an open meeting of the Deanery Synod, open to anyone to attend. This will be at 7:30pm, 7th December 2021 and more details about that evening will be published nearer the time.
Change is rarely easy and we face some major challenges, but God is always faithful and we know He is at work, leading us into the next stage of our life together.
Thank you for taking the time to read this brief introduction. Please pray for this process as we head towards our launch in a couple of weeks time.
Powder On The Way Steering Group
Revd Marc Baker - Rural Dean of Powder
Andy Harris - On The Way External Advisor
Lindsey Morgan-Lundie - On The Way External Advisor
ON THE WAY
We launch our ‘On the Way’ process for Powder Deanery on Sunday 21st November and this letter begins to set out some of the processes that we will be following in the coming months.
You may be aware that ‘On the Way’ is the Diocese of Truro’s response to making the church both fruitful and sustainable in every place. Every deanery in the diocese is taking part and it is now our turn. ‘On The Way’ is an opportunity to help us work better together and to discern the future for the church in our area.
This process will help us address the reality that we cannot indefinitely ‘live beyond our means’ as a deanery. The process will allow us to reflect on all we currently do and to prayerfully seek God’s will for our future. It will undoubtedly mean that we decide to put down some things, carry on with others and start imagining some new possibilities. This is an opportunity to look at all we do with fresh eyes.
‘On the Way’ is an invitation for us to think together as a deanery and is not being dictated to us from Church House in Truro. We are being asked to run the process ourselves with support and, following discernment, decide for ourselves what makes best sense. Then, provided the plans are fruitful and sustainable, the diocese will support us in making them happen.
We are a large and diverse deanery and so, to help us, we will organise across the deanery in our three groupings:
Probus
The Roseland
Truro 1-Renewal and 2-Pioneer
Each group will be responsible for exploring how ministry might be developed and delivered in their churches and communities, making connection with the other groups to see how best we can support and learn from each other. The ‘splitting’ of Truro into ‘Renewal’ and ‘Pioneer’ reflects how current structures have been set up under the Bishops Mission Order for Truro. The Isles of Scilly are also part of our deanery, but they will be taking part in ‘On the Way’ next year. The final plan we develop will work across our whole deanery, so it is important to stress how interdependent these groups will be.
The work in each group will be led by a small team and so we are starting to look for people to help us, either by joining one of those teams (to listen to others and formulate plans), or by praying for the process as it progresses. We hope to have a wide range of people involved, ideally some who would not usually put themselves forward for ‘church business’. We would urge everyone to consider whether they have gifts and ideas that could be used to help us as we explore where God’s Spirit may already be moving within the Powder Deanery. More details on how to put yourself forward will be given closer to the launch. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions sheet which gives some more detail.
For the launch on Sunday 21st November we will be sharing more information aimed at church members themselves and members of our local communities. Bishop Hugh will also be speaking about ‘On the Way’ and answering questions at an open meeting of the Deanery Synod, open to anyone to attend. This will be at 7:30pm, 7th December 2021 and more details about that evening will be published nearer the time.
Change is rarely easy and we face some major challenges, but God is always faithful and we know He is at work, leading us into the next stage of our life together.
Thank you for taking the time to read this brief introduction. Please pray for this process as we head towards our launch in a couple of weeks time.
Powder On The Way Steering Group
Revd Marc Baker - Rural Dean of Powder
Andy Harris - On The Way External Advisor
Lindsey Morgan-Lundie - On The Way External Advisor