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Forming andequipping thepeople of GodA strategy for Discipleship,Mission and Ministry in theDiocese of Sheffield2015-2025

Forming & Equipping the People of God The Diocese of Sheffield2

Contents

03 Re-imagining

04 The mission of God

05 Disciples together

06 A culture of discipleship

08 Life of the Church

09 What kind of Ministers

10 How many Ministers

11 Training new Ministers

12 Invest in training

14 St Peter’s College

A strategy forDiscipleship, Missionand Ministry in theDiocese of Sheffield2015-2025

The Diocese of Sheffield is called togrow a sustainable network ofChrist-like, lively and diverseChristian communities in everyplace which are effective in makingdisciples and in seeking to transformour society and God’s world.

In 2012 the Diocese adopted a newstrategy for sustainable ministry: Re-

imagining ministry for mission.

Our strategy for ministry was adopted by theDiocesan Synod and published in a smallbooklet alongside Growing the Body of Christ,Salt and Light and A Little Letter on Giving.

This strategy helped us to begin the journey ofdeveloping Mission Partnerships. We set themaking of disciples and our commondiscipleship at the heart of our strategy forministry. We invested more in growingvocations to ordained and lay ministry. Wehave developed Mission Action Planning.Thanks be to God for all these developmentsand more.

It is now time to revisit our strategy forministry, incorporating some of the lessons weare learning. This is not a new strategydocument but a revision and updating of Re-imagining Ministry for Mission. � We want to give even greater prominence to

discipleship in our thinking and planning� We are in a better place financially and

looking to see modest growth in ourstipendiary clergy numbers

� We are planning for growth in the number ofself supporting ordained ministers and in thenumber of licensed and authorised layministers

� We want to become more intentionally amixed economy diocese with church plants

and fresh expressions of church within andalongside parishes

� We are investing significant funds in parttime paid lay ministry through the CentenaryProject, Mission Partnership DevelopmentWorkers and in other ways.

� We are learning good lessons about formingmission partnerships through the CentenaryFund and funding for Mission PartnershipDevelopment Workers

� We have seen growth in our vocations workand look to see more

� We plan to bring our formation for ministrytogether in the new St Peter’s College, to belaunched in 2016.

God has a great work of grace to do in theDiocese of Sheffield over the next decade.

We long to see sustainable Christiancommunities in every place. We long to seethe Body of Christ grow in depth and innumbers. We long to see every disciple andthe whole Church serving our wider society assalt and light.

Our strategy for ministry will be a vital part ofseeing this vision become a reality. This shortbooklet sets out our direction of travel over thenext ten years.

Please read it carefully, discuss it with othersin your Church and let’s take some actiontogether to build the Church and extend God’skingdom in this Diocese.

Bishop Steven and Bishop Peter

The Diocese of Sheffield Forming & Equipping the People of God 3

Re-imagining

ministry for mission...


The Mission of God

We believe in the God of mission.Beginning with Abraham and Sarah,

God calls and sends men and women to beagents of his love in the world, to bringblessing to the earth, to be messengers of hisgood news and to proclaim God’s kingdom ofjustice and peace.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit call into beinga new people to be a sign and sacrament ofGod’s love in the world and to bear witness tohis saving grace.

In the fulness of time, the Father sent the Sonin the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal thewhole extent of God’s love.

God so loved the world thathe sent his only begotten Sonso that everyone who believesin him may not perish buthave everlasting life. John 3.16

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Then the disciples rejoicedwhen they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again,‘Peace be with you. As theFather has sent me, so Isend you. When he hadsaid this, he breathed onthem and said to them,Receive the Holy Spirit.John 20, 20-22

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The Church is called together to be adistinctive community, a holy people, a signand sacrament of God’s love in the world.

The Church is called to share in the mission ofGod: we are sent in the power of the Spirit tobear testimony to God’s grace and to share inthe work of God’s kingdom.


Throughout the gospels we see Jesus forming and equipping the people of God through worship,teaching, dialogue and meals together, by his example, and by sending out the disciples to

share in God’s mission together.

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives to the Church the great commission:

Every baptised Christian is called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. A disciple is someone who followsJesus, who is committed to learning and growth in their faith, who is prepared for difficulty andsacrifice and who offers their whole life to God in response to God’s grace revealed in Jesus.

Discipleship is a whole-life commitment in three different senses. Discipleship is about the wholelength of our lives. Discipleship is about every part of our lives. Discipleship is about living liveswhich are whole and abundant.

To be baptised is to be commissioned into a life of discipleship and service to others. Baptism isthe foundation of all Christian ministry and mission.

As disciples we are called to live in the rhythm of coming together to be with Jesus in the Eucharistand being sent out to engage in God’s mission. Loving God and loving our neighbours shapes ourlives.

The starting point for forming and equipping the people of God in mission and ministry is a renewalof our understanding of discipleship.

Disciples together

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit andteaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.Matthew 28.19

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In the gospels, Jesus calls people to follow him and to become

his disciples.

I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies ofGod, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy andacceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.Romans 12.1

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We believe we are called to grow aculture of discipleship across the

Diocese in every kind of Church.

The major part of the ministry exercised byChristian disciples is hidden from public view.It consists of acts of love, transformation andwitness in the workplace and the widercommunity, in the home and in the church.Individually and together we are salt and lightin our communities.

Like a root system in a forest, the largest partof the ministry of the Church of England isbelow the surface, deeply embedded in thelives of parishes and communities. ManyChristians live out discipleship primarily intheir work or in the wider community. AsChristian disciples we are called to be as wellas to do: to abide in God’s love and infriendship with Christ, people of Christiancharacter in a world in need of grace.

Disciples are sustained in this rhythm ofgenerous living through drawing together

around word and sacrament, in the fellowshipand the prayers. As disciples we are sent outweek by week to share in God’s mission inwitness and in service in ten thousanddifferent places in local communities,workplaces, families, schools here and acrossGod’s world.

Over the next part of our life together in theDiocese of Sheffield we need to pay moreattention to making disciples and to growingthis culture of discipleship across the Diocese.

Every local church is called to be a placewhere new Christians are coming to faithand prepared for a lifetime of discipleshipand service.

Every local church is called to be a place whereChristians are deepened and sustained inworship, fellowship, witness and service to thewhole of our society.

We have invited the Worship and LiturgyCommittee of the Diocese to give carefulthought to developing an annual service for therenewal of commitment to discipleship whichall parishes might be encouraged to use as partof our annual cycle on Pentecost or TrinitySunday.


A culture

of discipleship

As a Diocese, we want to support every localchurch to fulfil this vision:� By helping to form lay and ordained ministers who are equipped to grow the church in this way� By offering frameworks of support and patterns of life which help every church grow its own

culture of discipleship (such as our annual cycle and Mission Action Planning)� By offering training and support in discipleship to complement what the local church is offering� By identifying obstacles to growth in discipleship in our life and culture and developing

strategies to address them


Ministry in God’s world

and for God’s kingdom

In the recent Mission Action Planning exercise, growing a discipleshipculture emerged as the biggest theme for development,

with the majority of churches identifying discipleship as both a weakness and a key area for growth.

The majority of Christian disciples exercise their ministry in informal ways in andthrough their daily work, in voluntary activity in wider society, by being people of

prayer and salt and light in their communities.

As God’s people we are formed into the likeness of Christ through healthy disciplines ofprayer and worship. Wherever possible as local churches and as a Diocese we shouldseek to equip the whole people of God for mission and ministry in daily life.


Ministry in the

life of the Church

Mission

Partnerships

Within the Church there is a whole rangeof vital ministries which build on the

foundation of Christian discipleship and sitalongside ministry in God’s world and forGod’s kingdom. These include small groupleaders, members of pastoral teams, volunteerchildren and youth leaders, those who stafffood banks, community projects and manyothers. The major part of ministry in theDiocese is done by “lay-lay” ministers: that isthose who have not been on special trainingor been authorised in a special way.

Wherever possible as local churches and as adiocese we should seek to equip the wholepeople of God for these informal but vitalministries in the life and mission of every localchurch.

formal and informal part of missionpartnerships. In the city of Sheffield, we haverecently entered into a Local CovenantPartnership with the Methodist Church tosupport and deepen this ecumenical workfurther.

Stipendiary clergy play a key role in missionpartnerships, normally working across severalparishes. Each mission partnerhip has aministry team consisting of:� One or more stipendiary and self

supporting clergy� Licensed and authorised lay ministers

and sometimes� Part time paid lay leaders � Pioneers beginning fresh expressions

of church.

The role of all these ministers is not to do thework of ministry but to equip the people ofGod to be the Church in the world. Ministersare ligaments and sinews in the body of Christ,equipping and supporting the ministry of thewhole people of God and leading the formationof the people of God.

For more on Mission Partnerships and how toform one see: www.sheffield.anglican.org/mission-partnerships

In 2013 we began the process of parishesworking together in mission partnerships

across the Diocese. We are still at an earlystage in this process. It needs to continue anddeepen over the coming years.

Most parishes are now working in informalclusters. There are mission partnerships beingformed in every deanery.

Many parishes are also exploring anddeepening ecumenical partnerships as both a


Since 2004, the Church of England hasbeen developing a mixed economy of local

church life.

Parish churches and traditional services are avital part of this mixed economy. However wealso need many different kinds of freshexpressions of church for those people whohave little or no church background.

Fresh expressions of church are flourishing aspart of parishes and mission partnershipsacross the Diocese.

Research was carried out at the end of 2015looking at the various fresh expressions of

church in the Diocese, the number of peopleinvolved in these new Christian communitiesand those involved in leading them.

As a Diocese we want to encourage andsupport fresh expressions of church andchurch planting and to train and supportpeople to lead these new communities.

A mixed

economy Church

What kind of ministers

do we need?

As a diocese we need all our ordainedand lay ministers to be:

1. Committed to God’s mission and to theformation of disciples

2. Committed to working collaboratively across parishes, mission partnerships and the mixed economy

3. Committed to ongoing learning and formation and adaptable to our changing context

God gives the Church a glorious diversityof gifts and callings in ministry. We willtherefore continue to need a mix ofstipendiary and self-supporting ordainedministers as well as licensed andauthorised lay ministers of different kinds(Readers, Pastoral Workers, Evangelists,Worship Leaders, Youth and ChildrensWorkers, cross cultural missionaries,Pioneers and Spiritual Accompaniers).

Some of those called to exercise these

ministries are called to serve primarilybeyond the Church in chaplaincy (bothformal and informal). The Church ofEngland is seeing a burgeoning of laychaplaincy at the present time both intraditional settings such as hospitals andprisons and in new forms of chaplaincy inthe workplace, through Street Pastors, inshopping centres and elsewhere.

We will look to all our ordained and layministers for a generous flexibility indeployment across parishes, missionpartnerships, traditions and deaneries sothat resources for ministry are madeavailable where they are most needed.

We will strive as a Diocese to recoveran emphasis on Readers as those whoteach the word of God not only throughpreaching, leading worship and chaplaincybut also through catechesis: sharing thefaith with those who are enquirers and newChristians.


In the next round of deaneryplanning, we want to begin with thequestion: “How do we plan for thegrowth of the Church in this deaneryin numbers, depth of discipleship andservice to the wider community?” andthen move onto “What numbers andkinds of ministry will we need?”

i

How many

ministers do we need?We are aiming to grow the Church across this Diocese in terms

of numbers, depth and influence over the next decade.

in local churches across the Diocese(adminstrators, youth and childrens workers)by 10 per year.

The figures we have set are for net growth(after taking into account people retiring,moving away or withdrawing from ministry).

The Church of England nationally has asked alldioceses to work and pray towards a rise of50% in the number of people offering forordained ministry from 2020. Our averagenumber of people recommended for trainingfrom 2012-2014 was 30. Some of our ordinandsmay need to be deployed at ordination to otherdioceses as our numbers grow.

The growth in numbers of stipendiary clergydepends on the Diocese steadily growingcontributions to the Common Fund fromparishes and being able to recruit clergy to theDiocese of Sheffield.

This will mean growing the number ofordained, licensed and authorised

ministers to support this growth.

We need to move as a Diocese from a reactiveapproach to vocations (waiting until someonesenses a call and approaches us) to a proactiveapproach: identifying what ministry is neededand then seeking those with the right gifts andencouraging them to explore their calling.

Planning for ministry and mission partnershipsin deaneries has been dominated in recentyears by the need to reduce the numbers ofstipendiary clergy. Deanery plans have beenpartly designed to answer the question: “Howcan we manage what we do with fewerstipendiary clergy?”We are therefore planning:� To grow the number of stipendiary clergy by

two per year until 2025 across the Diocese(from 135 in 2015).

� To grow the number of self-supporting clergyby five per year across the Diocese (from 31in 2015).

� To grow the number of Readers and otherauthorised lay ministers by 25 per year acrossthe Diocese (151, plus 57 Readers with PTO in2015).

� To grow the number of lay pioneers equippedto grow fresh expressions of church as part ofour mixed economy church by 25 per yearacross the Diocese.

� To grow the number of part time lay posts


We will continue to send ordinands fromthe Diocese to a range of Colleges and

to the Yorkshire Ministry Course and the StBarnabas Theological Centre for their InitialMinisterial Education up to ordination.

We intend to draw together all the othertraining we offer from September 2016 into anew foundation, St Peter’s College.

St Peter’s College will be the primary place offormation within the Diocese for: � Helping every church to grow a culture of

making and sustaining disciples� Vocational exploration offered in every

deanery every year� Support and learning for every disciple who

wants to be more effective in God’s worldand for God’s kingdom

� Training for those who want to exerciseinformal ministries in life of the local church.

� Formation and training in authorised andlicensed lay ministries (through developingthe existing School of Ministry)

� Formation for some ordained ministers (incollaboration with YMC)

� Formation and training in lay pioneer ministry� The second part of Initial Ministerial

Education for curates (post ordination)� Formation in leadership for incumbents

through the Leading Well programme� Continuous Ministerial Development for

clergy and lay ministers through the whole oftheir ministry.

Every ordained and authorised lay minister andall those in training for these ministries will beenrolled as a member of St Peter’s College tosupport them in their lifelong learning formission, ministry and discipleship.

All formation and training for ministry is aboutlearning to be and to become more Christ-likeas individuals and communities. Our vision isto set this call to be and to become a moreChrist like Church at the heart of every part ofSt Peter’s College.

How will the Diocese train

and form new ministers?

The harvest is plentiful butthe labourers are few;therefore ask the Lord of theharvest to send out laborersinto his harvest field.Matthew 9.37-38

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Jesus said to his disciples:


How will we invest in

formation and training?

In 2015, Dr Christine Gore took up her appointment as Director of Formation for Ministry in theDiocese and Principal of St Peter’s College.

In 2014 the Revd Tim Fletcher was appointedas Director of IME 4-7 and works closely withChristine. The members of our Parish SupportTeam and others are engaged in deliveringmany other parts of our training programmewhich will be part of St Peter’s Collegeincluding:

� The School of Ministry (led by Dr ChristineGore and team)

� The Leading Well programme forincumbents (led by Bishop Steven andCanon Mark Cockayne)

� Mission Shaped Ministry for pioneers (ledby Canon Mark Wigglesworth and the RevdJohn Hibberd)

� Worship for Today (led by the Worship forToday team)

� The Aurora course for youth and children’sministers (led by Mike North and others)

� The Spirituality and SpiritualAccompaniment courses led by theWhirlow Spirituality Centre

� Safeguarding training for all ministers led bythe safeguarding officer

However we propose increasing ourinvestment in the next two years through:� Employing additional project staff to develop

the website, branding and virtual learningenvironment for St Peter’s College

� Engaging a CMD officer to have the primaryresponsibility for the Leading Wellprogramme and to develop an imaginativeCMD programme for incumbents andauthorised and licensed lay ministers.

� Engaging two new full time members of theFormation team to support every Church indeveloping a culture of making andsustaining disciples and to work closely withChristine in leading the lay formationprogramme of St Peter’s.

The CMD officer will be one of our additionalstipendiary posts from 2016.

In 2016 the Diocese will make a second majorbid to the Church Commissioners for StrategicDevelopment Funding from 2017 for a ten yearproject to develop a culture of making andsustaining disciples and lay formation. Wehope this funding will be sufficient to employthe two additional workers for the Formationteam and adminstrative support for St Peter’s.

St Peter’s

College


The learning community for mission and ministry in the

Diocese of Sheffield

The purpose of St Peter’s is to encourageand affirm the flourishing of lay and

ordained ministries among the people of God.The vision is that of a learning community thatdiscerns, develops and forms the gifts that thepeople of God bring to the mission andministry of the church.

It aims to provide high quality training that isboth relevant and appropriate as we seek togrow a mixed economy church in the Dioceseof Sheffield.

Being equipped and formed for ministry andmission takes a life time! This process of life-long learning is to encourage the people of

God to grow and develop in important areas ofdiscipleship and ministry. The Church hasidentified these as:

� Christian Faith and Discipleship

� Mission, Evangelism and Growing Disciples

� Spirituality and Worship

� Personality and Character

� Relationships and Community

� Collaboration and Shared Leadership

� Vocation and Ministry within the Churchof England


i

Within each of these areas there are three important

facets namely:

At the heart of the St Peter’s College are the following principles

and values:

This is concerned with who a person is, what motivates

and energises them and what habits they have. The goal

is developing Christ-like character and therefore

underpins all other giftings in service and ministry.

This is often discerned relationally and developed

through a combination of learning, experience,

reflection and prayer.

Knowledge and understanding are signposts to the

learning that is needed to equip people for discipleship

and service. The people of God are called to learn and be

shaped by the Holy Spirit within the community of

faith.

The skills and abilities necessary for effective service

and ministry. While natural skills and abilities may be

an indication of gifting for ministry, skills can and

should be further honed, practised and reflected upon.

Being:

Knowing:

Doing:

� To be a Christian disciple is to be a learner -it’s a life-long process and a life-givingspiritual virtue

� Learning is set in the context of worship andis considered to be part of our worship - as itinvolves a giving of ourselves to God andothers; learning more about God, the world

and others; a living out of our individual andcommunal callings

� Learning is transformational as it requires awillingness to be challenged and changed,leading to personal transformation and thetransformation of practice

� We learn as the Body of Christ not as a


**As stated in ‘Forming and Equipping The People of God for Ministry and Mission’, Ministry Council of the Church ofEngland(2014)***Ibid p3

collection of individuals. Hence we are alearning community and this community isat its most effective when participants arecommitted to the mutual flourishing andedification of every member

� In the learning environment we aim to valuethe life experiences and insights of allparticipants - for all contribute to the learningexperience

� We encourage learners to be teachers, andteachers to be learners too!

� We aim to provide a safe space whereparticipants are open to learn from thosewho are different from themselves and arewilling to step out of their comfort zone inorder to review what they believe and why.This asks participants to be vulnerable,

respectful and hospitable towards new ideasand others

� Learners are encouraged to study at a levelappropriate for them and the calling on theirlives.

St Peter’s will be a virtual institution butwill deliver its course through face to facelearning using different venues in the Diocesesupported by a virtual learning environment.

St Peter’s will be an integral part of thestructures of the Diocese and have its ownstaff and ethos.

The website for St Peter’s will be launchedfor September 2016 with the integration ofmost of our existing courses and programmes.The Virtual Learning Environment and newinitiatives in lay discipleship will begin inSeptember 2017.

Help forthe journeyThe Diocese of Sheffield is called togrow a sustainable network ofChrist-like, lively and diverseChristian communities in everyplace which are effective in makingdisciples and in seeking to transformour society and God’s world.

Further information can be found on the Diocesewebsite at: www.sheffield.anglican.org

Alternatively contact Church House on 01709309100 where support and guidance will beoffered.

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