Southampton District Synod Saturday 23 rd April 2016 Doug Swanney The Connexional Secretary

Confidence and Conviction Where are we and where are we going?

Membership Regrouped Circuits (from 570 to 374) Focus on property Focus on funds held throughout the connexion Confidence in speaking about our faith to the world we live in Taking forward the Past Cases Review outcomes Evaluating partnerships

So who are we?

Time of Flux, Fluidity, and Recalibration in the Church The Ethereal Saint - ‘just leave it to God’ The Technocrat – ‘graphs and stats will do it’ The Doomsayer – ‘we’re all doomed!’

Why Working Harder Isn’t Helping! “Systems are perfectly designed to get the results they are getting.” “The subtlety needed of Church leaders to lead a different sort of organisation” The Giant Hairball effect

A Healthier Conversation Honest prayerful reflection and listening

1.A Strategy for Starting New Churches 2.A Strategy for Ministerial Peer Learning 3.A Strategy for Congregational Intervention 4.A Strategy for Cultivating Clergy Excellence 5.A Strategy for Aligning Budgets and Resources 6.A Strategy for Creating Technically Elegant Governance Systems 7.A Strategy for Reconfiguring Conference Sessions

A Healthier Conversation Priorities How do we understand them and what are they?

Priority - the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important than others.

In partnership with others wherever possible, the Methodist Church will concentrate its prayers, resources, imagination and commitments on this priority: To proclaim and affirm its conviction of God's love in Christ, for us and for all the world; and renew confidence in God's presence and action in the world and in the Church As ways towards realising this priority, the Methodist Church will give particular attention to the following: Underpinning everything we do with God- centred worship and prayer Supporting community development and action for justice, especially among the most deprived and poor - in Britain and worldwide Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and faith in ways that make sense to all involved Encouraging fresh ways of being Church Nurturing a culture in the Church which is people-centred and flexible

Discussion time If you had to prioritise by choosing one thing NOT to do in your local Church or Circuit, what would it be and why? What would you hope the impact of stopping something might be? And any other questions on the Connexional Team,the Connexional Secretary, and the life and work of the Connexion

Let our faith be a love affair With Christ, With the world, With those on the fringes. Rev Steve Wild President of the Methodist Conference