13 urban areas, market towns, and rural villages are to be supported with money from the national church to develop Mission Hubs, as part of our diocesan vision to transform and grow the local church.
As part of our vision to Make Jesus Known, an application was submitted earlier this year for some funding from the Diocesan Investment Programme, funded by the Church Commissioners.
£5.1 million has been awarded to accelerate the development of our vision, in response to the core challenges that we have identified: declining attendance, missing generations & diminishing resources.
The majority of the funding will develop the Mission Hubs. Mission Hubs arose from our vision commitment to invest in creative partnerships for local mission. Each hub is committed to partnering with other churches around them to offer resource, expertise and people to share learning, and each is also committing its own funds and resources to develop the partnerships. The hubs, due to their strategic locations, have the capacity to reach three quarters of the population of the diocese. Find out more about the Mission Hubs here.
The 13 are just the first step in our diocesan vision to grow and transform the local church and, over the next few years, we will be working with other local leaders to develop the approach to a second phase of hubs.
Bishop Stephen said: “The first phase of Mission Hubs represents half of our deaneries with the potential to reach three-quarters of the population of the diocese. It is our hope, prayer and expectation that, in time, the whole diocese will experience the positive impact of this investment, which will look different in each missional context and tradition.
“Though we are delighted with this award, our focus remains on implementing the whole diocesan vision and strategy to Make Jesus Known across every part of our diocese. We all need to play a part in working together to implement this vision for growth and transformation and we can do so by being bold in prayer, courageous in leadership, open to change and discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit in our decision making.”