Parish of Little Heath, Christ Church
« Mission Action Plan »

Evangelism and Outreach
• We have initiated the setting up and running of a Scripture Union Holiday Club in both 2018 and 2019, working with other churches in Potters Bar, reaching 75-80 children each time.
• Starting in 2018 we committed as a church to fundraise for a Children’s Outreach Worker; we then appointed someone to the role in 2019.
• Over the last 1-2 years we have made some good connections with local schools and are building good relationships with them through a variety of means. We have now reached around 500 children in 4 different schools.
• We have a community café which runs once a week, and we have developed it by adding an early morning slot for those doing the school run.
• Over the last 5 years we have run a Christmas Community Choir which has been a well received opportunity for members of the local community to join in, and to share with them more about the meaning of Christmas.
• We have developed our annual Guest weekend in January, and over the last 3 years have run some creative and well attended events, for both adults and children, with evangelistic content, followed by a Guest service on the Sunday.
• On the back of these we have continued to offer Christianity Explored courses and other courses, to give those interested a chance to find out more about the Christian faith and ask questions.
• We have set up and developed a job club which has helped a lot of people facing significant challenges.
Mission support
• We now have an established Mission Hub which has enabled us to have a more intentional focus on World Mission within the church.
• This has included a review of the mission organisations and partners which we support as a church, both in prayer and with finance.
• Each month we have a focus on one within the life of the church, to promote their work and pray for them.
• Each one is linked with a home group so that there can be more individual contact and prayer support throughout the year.
Teaching
• We have continued to keep biblical teaching high on the agenda in the life of the church.
• We have also developed a Sunday evening café church over the last few years which has provided opportunity to explore different issues and to hear from guest speakers on a variety of ethical and topical issues; we have also run some in-depth seminars on current issues.

• Prayer ministry: we have tried several ideas to encourage more people to join in corporate prayer, including prayer breakfasts. While there have been some encouragements, we do see this as an area for continued development and growth.
• During the last 3 years we have concentrated on more targeted outreach, and we haven’t really developed ‘parish visiting’ and ‘prayer mission’. However, we are seeing the current Covid-19 situation as an opportunity to think about what praying for and caring for our parish and local community could look like moving forwards.
• Deaf signing: we have experimented with signing at a few services, but this stopped when the signer moved to another part of the country.

Our great aim: To know Jesus, and to make him known.

As we do this, we would love to be a church which:
• is one family that loves Jesus, follows his ways, and depends on his Spirit
• is compassionate and confident in sharing the good news in word and deed with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues;
• is praying urgently for the world and the church;
• wants to understand and apply what the Bible is saying to us and to others today;
• is training and sending people into ministry of various kinds.

• Rooted in God’s word the Bible
• Motivated by the good news of Jesus
• Serving all by the power of the Holy Spirit
• United together with Christians around the world
• Growing in faith and love

Our Anglican Identity and Convictions
As part of the Church of England, we affirm that:
The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures.
In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal.
(Canon A5)
Five hundred years ago this country was turned upside down, as ordinary people were able to hear and read the Bible for the first time in their own language. And the truths of Scripture are still the foundation of our faith.
The Thirty-nine Articles and the Prayer Book date from that same 16th century “Reformation” period. Some of their language is, not surprisingly, old-fashioned. But they are wonderful documents, which reward careful reading. They are still relevant today, as part of the legal basis for what Christ Church teaches, believes and puts into practice.

To live as one family that loves Jesus, follows his ways, and depends on his Spirit

To make use of personal stories of Christian experience in services and meetings each month

To hold Sunday lunches for everyone regularly as soon as this becomes possible again

To provide a range of opportunities for people to get to know one another

To be more compassionate and confident in sharing the gospel with others in word and deed

To continue to grow our schools ministry, and to encourage more involvement in local schools by church members

In the unpredictable needs and opportunities thrown up by the pandemic, for the PCC to regularly review how we can more effectively and relevantly minister to the needs of our local area

to teach and inspire each other in the way we can read the bible with people who are exploring the Christian faith

To be praying more urgently for the world and the church

To re-establish a pattern of praying regularly for our parish

To share ideas to show how parents and children can effectively pray together, and to explore other ways of praying together that encourage more people to be involved

To encourage the Mission Hub to continue to develop whilst maintaining its clear focus

To be better at applying the truths of scripture to the world in which we live

To give Café Church a specific focus on addressing topical questions about the way our faith relates to the contemporary world, and to grow the regular attendance

To develop an ongoing narrative about how the Christian gospel speaks into the current world and its value systems, using sermons, home groups, recommended reading and shared experiences

To encourage greater attendance at the Keswick Convention, Venture Camps, and other similar activities

To be training and sending more people into ministry, both within Christ Church and elsewhere

Our pastoral worker to offer focussed pastoral training and mentoring in September-December 2020, to help people grow in their ability to speak the truth in love, not least as people deal with the aftermath of the pandemic

To pray for and to train a larger leadership team for all our youth and children’s work

To commit to praying together each month that the Lord would send Christians from amongst us into new fields of work, and into new areas of the world