Overall Mission

Bringing Life to the Heart of 1066 Country and beyond

2020 Vision

Between now and 2020 our primary responsibility will be to share the gospel on a regular basis with the inhabitants of Battle and surrounding rural communities, and to see people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, added to His Church and equipped to become faithful witnessing Christians

Objectives that underpin the Overall Mission and 2020 Vision

By 2020 we aim to:

·           continue to adhere to the BAYEUX principles – ie the 6 core values based on those letters that enable Church members to:

            pursue their personal walk with God

     be fruitful in seeing God’s purposes worked out in 1066 country

·           be in contact and have some spiritual involvement with 1000 people each week

·           to develop our organisation, resources and structures to meet our overall mission

·           have a significant majority of Church Members living in Battle and surrounding rural communities

·           be taking the gospel to, and working in, areas where there is no apparent evangelical witness.

Keeping to our Overall Mission and 2020 Vision

The Church Leadership will ensure that we are keeping to our Overall Mission and 2020 Vision by:

·           taking forward  our Action Plan to meet the objectives that underpin the Overall Mission and 2020 Vision

·        reviewing specific areas of the action plan on a regular basis, and the entire action plan every 18 months

·           periodically reporting to the Church meeting on progress and making changes to the Action Plan as required.

The Action Plan listing the 86 actions we need to continue with, as well as the 14 new actions we need to progress to fulfil our mission and vision, is available from the Church Office. Be encouraged that, since the vision was introduced in 2001, the Lord has enabled us to complete or start progressing 31 of the original 55 new actions … all at the same time as maintaining our regular church programme. We intend to use a variety of ways to share this updated vision with the church so that together we can “Bring Life to the Heart of 1066 Country and beyond”.

Action Plan

B       BELIEVERS CHURCH

We aim to be a growing community where members share a common experience of faith in Christ and baptism into the church. Believing and belonging are important to our understanding of God's purposes for local congregations.  Without the wholehearted commitment and active service of its members in every area of church life, any local church would cease to exist. Involved and active Church members are the key to realising our vision to bring "Life to the Heart of 1066 Country - and beyond". (Acts 2: 42 - 47).

We will continue to need:

Church Membership

1                Elders to review the Membership List as necessary;

2                Elders to regularly review our concept of membership to make it more meaningful, including:

·        stressing at the initial membership interview, the Believers Church core value and the importance  of Housegroup membership

·        having a pool of appointed interviewers

·        an annual re-commitment to membership

3                Elders and Deacons to foster an "open doors" policy of welcoming and valuing members' views

Church Leadership

4        Pastor, via Elders and Church meetings as appropriate, to appoint at staggered intervals Elders, Deacons and Housegroup leaders from members who meet the Biblical requirements

5        Elders to, as required, consider the leadership structures to enable growth and planned succession in the required areas and appoint those who have gifts linked to areas of growth within the Church and who can directly contribute to the Church’s Overall Mission

Housegroup Leaders

6        Elders to be responsible for Housegroup organisation

7        Elders to equip and train Housegroup leaders to carry out their role

8        Elders to encourage and develop Housegroups including Youth Housegroups

9        Elders to increase the number of Housegroups to keep pace with church growth, aiming at a target size of around 12 people per group

Pastoral Care

10      Pastoral Care Team to meet monthly to address pastoral care issues

11      Pastors, Elders, and Pastoral Care Team to provide specialist ministry when required (eg with bereavement & marriage issues)

12      Pastors and Elders to train and give support to those who wish to be used in helping others

13      Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care to continually assess the effectiveness and inclusiveness of pastoral care, ensuring good communication and developing links between pastoral care work and prayer ministry

14      Housegroup Leaders to care for, nurture and pastor Housegroup members

15      Elders to pastor Deacons and Housegroup leaders

16      Elders including Pastors to pastor each other

17      Pastor(s), Elders and Pastoral Care Team to visit Church Members as part of the yearly programme of visits

18      Staff to obtain and use information on the availability and skills of Church Members gained via the “Saved to Serve” initiative to assist in the practical care of Church Members

No new actions

A       ADORATION AND PRAISE

We are committed to the adoration and worship of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in congregations, small groups and personally. Shared worship is the response of the believer to God's grace, and equips the believer for mission in the world. We seek to:

·        develop worship “in Spirit and in truth” which expresses both reverence and intimacy and which is participative, life changing and giving glory to God;

·        be a truly charismatic church in which the gifts, fruits and ministries of the Holy Spirit flourish;

·        include the giving of monetary gifts as a meaningful part of our act of worship.

Responsibility for:

·        the overall worship life of the church lies with the full time pastors and elders;

·        worshipping God within congregations lies with the individual worshipper, and not with the person leading the meeting or worship leader and group.

We will continue to need:

Worship

19        Elders to enable young and old to use their gifts in music and leading of worship

20        Elders to audit and review the structures of music groups and their leadership to ensure that we are making the best possible use of the many gifts in the fellowship

21        Elders to provide opportunities for training for worship, and music team leaders and musicians, and give them opportunities to participate and serve the Church

22        Elders to train new people to lead congregations and small groups

23        Elders, and worship and music team leaders, to encourage a breadth of expression in music using a broad repertoire of hymns and songs and a variety of styles

24        Elders and housegroup leaders to encourage the development of spiritual gifts in congregations and small groups

25        Elders, and worship and music team leaders, to explore on a weekly congregational or one-off event basis, the use of dance, drama, banners, flags, choral songs, poetry, symbols, photography and multi media presentations to enrich times of corporate worship

Prayer Ministry

26               Prayer Ministry Teams to provide personal prayer for individuals

27        Elders to strengthen Prayer Ministry Teams by:

·        recruiting and training people who wish to be involved

·        integrating young and old in prayer ministry

28        Elders to deepen and broaden the prayer life of the church in a variety of ways, ensuring that prayer occurs whenever the church meets

29        Elders to encourage members to be involved in prayer privately, in small groups and in the congregational prayer times

30        Elders to motivate all church members so that, on average in any one week, 15% of them attend regular prayer meetings

31        Elders to encourage members to pray for 3 people either side of them on the membership list 

Y       YOUTHFUL

There are 2 elements to this. First, we are committed to receiving the renewing power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and we are prepared to make necessary changes in programme and style to remain fresh and relevant to our approach to ministry and worship. Second, we recognise that believers under 18 are also part of God's church and we will pursue a vigorous policy of evangelism and discipleship of young people.

We will continue to need:

Spiritual Renewal

32        Pastors, Elders and housegroup leaders to teach and encourage people to receive the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, via Sunday teachings and small groups

33        Elders to make changes in the regular church programme and style to remain fresh and relevant to our approach to ministry and worship

Young People’s Ministry (for 0s to 18s)

34        Elders to have overall responsibility for the Young People’s Ministry, delegated to the Young People’s (Children and Youth) leaders

35        Elders and Young People’s Teams to adhere to the agreed aims of the church’s Young People’s Charter

35        Elders, via the Church Manager and the Young People’s leaders, to implement the agreed Child Protection policies

36        Elders and Young People’s leaders to maintain the current activities for young people

37        Elders and Young People’s leaders to develop a curriculum to provide the best possible Christian education to our young people in an increasingly secular society

38      Young People’s leaders to develop yearly plans and programmes, with targets, which seek to fulfil the Church’s mission and vision for young people

39      Young People’s leaders to integrate the various activities and teams more effectively, especially Sunday with midweek, and between Children’s and Youth teams (eg via weekly prayer meetings and training events)

40      Young People’s leaders to strengthen and increase the outreach potential of the youth and children's activities, especially the midweek groups

41      Young People’s leaders to develop a plan for residential activities, holiday experiences (eg camps and trips), including mission and evangelism experience

42      Elders and Young People’s leaders to recruit, and provide appropriate opportunities for training and encouragement of leaders and helpers

43      Elders and Young People’s leaders to improve the support to young people away at college or in training, and give more thought to their involvement in Church life when they are home (eg via the housegroup “adopt a student scheme”, and via regular pastoral visits to students at college)

44      Elders and Young People’s leaders to identify and train young and emerging leaders (especially from young adults in the 20 to 35 age group)

45      Young People’s leaders to encourage young people with regular personal Bible reading

46      Elders and Young People’s leaders to develop effective regular all age services, including the seasonal celebrations

47      Elders and Children’s leaders to enable children to be present for part of the morning congregations on a regular basis

New Actions - Young People’s Ministry

E       EXTENSION

We are committed to extending God's Kingdom at home and abroad:

·                    by equipping and training members;

·                    through praying, giving and releasing people, and using other resources;

·                    by upgrading our premises in Battle as a base for local mission.

As a Church, we will continue to:

Local Mission

48       explore ways to mobilise the whole Church to fulfil its mission

49       identify outreach needs and opportunities, and explore resources and methods that can be used

50       promote our Church, activities and faith in new ways using all available methods – in particular using the church website

51        explore ways of sharing the gospel with all ages and socio-economic groups in new ways

52        keep under review the need to develop further congregations at suitable venues

Local and national initiatives

53        ensure that the church is involved in regional and national missions, which are relevant to the church’s mission

54        allow the church to work in local partnerships with other Christian believers and churches in our area to see God’s kingdom extended (where this does not compromise our beliefs and practices)

55        ask God to alert us to those He is going to work with

Overseas Mission

As a Church we ask the elders to continue to:

56        make people aware of the breadth of the Kingdom of God and their responsibility towards the overseas church with active contacts on every continent

57       keep the needs of overseas mission before the church at Battle through the publication of leaflets and the church website

58       develop our programme of overseas links, trips and aid, so that all church members can be prayerfully involved in at least one of our links

59       review our giving to overseas and home mission annually to ensure it retains the right weighting in our budget

60        ensure that  small groups are encouraged to pray regularly for an overseas situation

61        encourage prayer that the Lord will call others from this church to train and serve overseas

62        try to arrange at least one weekend a year with an overseas mission speaker or focus

63       ensure that the young people associated with this church are made aware of the work of God in overseas locations

64       release the pastor for up to two weeks in any year to be involved with overseas mission. It is recognised that from time to time other staff members may be used overseas and the overseas mission group will make recommendations to the elders on a case by case basis

65        recognise the goodness of God in calling members from Battle to serve Him overseas, and encourage Steve and Rita with the BMS in Afghanistan.

give some support to Monica Cook in her work overseas

66       remain open to establishing further overseas contacts especially in parts of the world where at present we have none so that we can truly be said to be going “into all the world” 

67       invite Church members to discuss with the overseas mission group any ideas for furthering overseas mission

68       endeavour to re-establish a link with the ministry of Mike and Ann Hey

69       support prayerfully and financially the work of BMS world mission.

Romania and Nigeria

Recognising that the Church has developed several specific overseas links over a long period of time and that the Lord has brought us into relationship with some people in overseas situations, the Church will continue:

70        to foster links with believers in Romania – particularly with  Mihai and Elena Gherlit’s church at Ghimbav

71        our existing links with Assemblies of God churches in Nigeria.

New Overseas Mission actions

Israel and Palestinian Territories

7          From Scripture we learn that the church is to be a witness to Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. As a Church we will develop our interest in the historic land of Israel.

8          Mindful of the political difficulties there, the Church will aim to engage with groups which seek to strengthen links between Messianic believers, Arab Israeli congregations and Palestinian believers.

9          The Church will encourage the beleaguered Christians in Bethlehem and in the Palestinian Territories through direct contact and through supporting agencies that focus on this work.

Spain

10        The Church will encourage the Church’s Spanish group and actively foster a link with Pedro Angel on the Canary Islands and other Spanish speaking situations that may open to us.

Church buildings

We will continue to need:

72        Elders to use the Manna House catering and Bayeux Centre Children’s Room as bridges between the church and the local community

73        Elders to keep under review options to use other facilities to fulfil the Church’s overall mission

Church Administration and Communications

We will continue to need:

74        Church to employ a Church Manager to upkeep the Church buildings, and release the Senior Pastor from day to day responsibility for Church administration and communications

75        Church to employ an Office Manager with additional voluntary support for clerical work when and where required

76        Staff to keep the Church Office open during the week, using both paid staff and church member volunteers in the day and the answer-phone outside office hours

77        Elders to encourage members not to conduct regular administrative matters on a Sunday

78        Staff to develop effective communications and make our publications available to Church members and the wider community using the most appropriate methods

U       UNDERSTANDING

We are committed to growing in an understanding of the Old and New Testaments and to incorporating Biblical principles into daily living (including personal prayer and Bible study, and high standards of personal integrity, honesty and purity).

We will continue to need the:

79        Senior Pastor to be responsibility for the overall teaching programme, including the training and releasing of others

80        Senior Pastor to develop the gifts of other preachers and teachers in the church

81        Senior Pastor and Elders to teach “Building Your Faith”, “Believe it or Not” and “ALPHA” several times a year

82        Senior Pastor and Elders to explore the value of retreats, pilgrimages and silence in the life of the believer

New actions - Understanding

11        Elders, via the Outreach Co-ordinator, to set up appropriate teams to recruit and develop members to lead and teach discipleship courses (set out in 79 above)

12        Congregational Elders to identify and arrange residential events for congregations within the church

X       GOING THE EXTRA MILE

We are committed to going the extra mile in love and care of one another, and of those to whom God leads us. This applies to every area of life - work, home, family and church.

General care

We will continue to need:

83        Elders to encourage and develop servant heart attitudes to stress the importance of routine work in the life of the Church

84        Elders to work to avoid stereo typed and discriminatory attitudes within the church (especially in relation to age, gender, race and disability)

85        Elders, via Church Manager, to provide facilities and support for people of all ages with disabilities, and enable them to play as active a part in the programme of the Church as they desire and are able

New actions – General care

13        Elders, via Church Manager, to monitor our provision for people of all ages with special needs

Newcomers

We will continue to need:

86        Congregational Elders and teams to ensure existing members make newcomers feel especially welcome when they attend services or other Church events

87      Congregational Elders and teams, and housegroup leaders, to develop the regular Sunday lunches for welcoming newcomers to the church

Community

We will continue to need the:

88        Elders to ensure the church serves our wider community whenever possible, especially in the immediate locality

New actions – Community

15      Elders to encourage church members to be actively involved in community life (eg in schools, politics and local organisations)