Over the past nine months, six rural benefice teams comprised of a mix of lay and ordained leaders from across Sherborne and Ramsbury have been following the Flex course funded by Rural Hope. The last session of the course was held this month, drawing Flex as a whole to a close.
As a programme focussing on developing collaborative leadership, the course aimed to support flourishing mission and ministry in the rural areas of the diocese. During Flex’s four Saturday sessions, participants dreamed dreams, learned to work together and developed plans for how they could spread God’s word more efficiently in their local communities.
Bishop Karen rounded off the final Flex session off by echoing Matthew 28:19 and sending out the newly fledged Flex graduates to make their dreams becomes a reality and reinvigorate their local mission and ministry.
Looking back over the Flex initiative, Wilts Rural Field Officer, Rhona Floate, said: “Supporting the Flex teams throughout the programme, I’ve witnessed growing cohesion, confidence, and creativity in each of the teams and this leads to benefices also working better together.
"Participants speak of valuing the space to stop and see the bigger picture and of hearing ideas that work and which they’ve been able to adopt and adapt to their own unique contexts immediately. These range from ways to make their churches more welcoming and hospitable to starting a Messy Church, a coffee morning that has attracted a local pre-school to join in with them, to warm spaces initiatives and the launch of a youth drop-in in partnership with a local youth charity.
"All are planning how they will continue to use all that they’ve gained on into the future.”
Support for the Flex teams does not stop here however, as Karen Hutchinson, Lay Ministry Development Officer (LMDO), explains: “It’s been such a joy to see people working collaboratively in their benefice teams, and I want to assure them that the wider diocesan team remains available to help and support these ‘new shoots’ in any way we can.
"As LMDO I have a wide brief and can facilitate conversations or workshops on ministry-related issues with Flex groups, PCCs, or deanery synods - whatever is most helpful.”
Karen is also offering to connect those Flex team members with people who have particular expertise to offer when it comes to setting up their new ministerial ideas.
If any team members would like to take her up on the offer, do get in touch at karen.hutchinson@salisbury.anglican.org to talk through what would be most useful.