In May 2020, the members of Seer Green Baptist Church adopted a new vision for the future shape of the church.
A key passage of scripture in this process of discernment has been 1 Corinthians 9.19-23. “I have become all things to all people that by all possible means I might save some.” (v22)
We recognised, as Paul did, that the world is a multi-cultural place and that if we want to share the good news of Jesus more widely and more effectively, we need to remain faithful to the message we have received but adapt the method we use to share it.
So our vision is to become a church of small, fruitful groups – to remain one church with multiple branches bearing fruit in a variety of contexts.
We see three main elements needed to support this vision:
- For the church to gather in different ways to aid discipleship;
- For the church to gather at different times to release new forms of outreach;
- To establish a new leadership structure, to support the vision and release the limited resources we have into more missional activity.
If you would like more detail about all the elements of our vision, here are four recordings from Andrew.
Section 1. The Big Picture. In this section Andrew reminds us that we are called to be fruitful. Fruitful in our own lives (John 15:8), fruitful in our lives together (Luke 13:6-9) and fruitful in our mission (John 21:1-6).
Section 2. Meetings and Mission. In this section Andrew develops the thinking around a new framework for meeting together, and fresh expressions of mission so we might develop small, fruitful communities. He uses 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 to explain Paul’s approach to sharing the Gospel.
Section 3. A new structure of meeting. In this section Andrew goes into more detail about the different possible ways in which we may gather together and also meet with the communities around us.
Section 4. A new leadership structure. Finally Andrew considers the important aspect of leadership of the church in the future, and draws lessons from other churches which have seen surprising growth.