It’s been a busy summer for Transforming Mission across Cornwall, we sent around a set of questions to our churches to find out how things are going through this exciting and challenging time. Please continue to pray for us during these times…
TM Falmouth
New Street, All Saints & Huddle
What has been happening since the last update?
- We have had three new members of team start new roles at New Street: Rev’d Sophie Chatten (Lead Minister), Jonny Lewis (Youth Leader) and Charlotte Butcher (Children and Families Leader). Their moves were postponed due to lockdown but have now taken place
- Jane Wheeler’s role at the church was expanded and she is now the Schools and Families Leader
- We have moved our service online and it has gone from strength to strength. We are looking at how we might livestream our services once we begin meeting together again at All Saints
- Through Matt Parry (Worship Pastor) we were able to be involved in South West Prays and the TM Join Pentecost services
- We’ve had a fantastic opportunity to support our local schools with resources for spirituality during lock down. Our videos with Bible stories, activities and songs have been really well received and some families have begun accessing our main service too. We have been able to use ‘It’s Your Move’ in two schools to help Yr6s transitioning to Secondary School
- Huddle Café has had to close during lockdown but Huddle Worship has moved online
- Online Alpha began on Monday 6th July and will run as a partnership between New Street and Budock
- Re-opened Huddle Café as a takeaway initially
- Complete AV installation and refurbishment at All Saints, now to include the capacity for live streaming
- Recruited our Project Manager
What are your key plans for the next quarter?
- Launch a new youth programme
- Develop local schools ministry
- Establish Leadership Team and hold first AGM for New Street
- Begin a small group programme at New Street
- New Street and All Saints congregations to begin meeting again in some format
- Develop practical and missional ways for New Street to serve in the post-lockdown context
What resources will your project be looking for?
- Possibility for Community Engagement Missioner
- Office base for New Street Team
- Continued refurbishment at All Saints
- Support with the re-opening and fresh vision of Huddle
TM Camborne
What has been happening since the last update?
- We advertised, interviewed and appointed a Project Manager.
- The Local Project Group continues to meet regularly (virtually) and shares updates with the congregations.
- We have developed a strong social media presence, across Facebook, Instagram &Twitter which allows us to communicate with not only our congregation, but new followers as well.
- We have our own You Tube channel so we can all join together in worship, even when we are apart.
- We have agreed a plan for our website and are ready to have it built.
- We have prepared options to improve the entrance to Camborne Church and look forward to sharing them with our community.
- We have advertised and will appoint a Young People Leader & Worship leader.
- We have advertised a Families worker.
What are your key plans for the next quarter?
- To develop the High street/ mobile unit presence, by identifying premises and approaches.
- To begin and develop the musical life of Camborne Church with a new worship group.
- To commission our website and gather content to share with our congregations, new and old.
- To improve our AV systems across all 5 churches, to allow for live streaming and shared remote worship.
- To link our 3 more rural churches to the internet.
- To agreeing the improved entrance to Camborne church.
What resources will your project be looking for?
- Continued support in recruiting and finances.
- Collaborative and supportive suppliers, and contractors to deliver the wide range of works we have planned.
TM St Austell
What has been happening since the last update?
- During the past few months, many of our plans had to be put on hold, but we have now recruited an Ops Manager who is currently working one day a week.
- Although our new Associate Minister for Community and Discipleship will not begin officially until the end of July, she has been working in the background and has already made contact with our small group leaders about possible ways of working in the future.
- She is already working with our team of volunteers and has set up Zoom meetings for our 0 – 11 year olds, with regular email updates.
- Our 11 – 16 year olds have also been having fortnightly Zoom meetings, and frequent communications.Our new CAP worker has been able to begin online training, and will start work in October.
- Our new Pioneer Minister is due to move to St Austell this month, after a long delay, and will start work in August.
What are your key plans for the next quarter?
Our key plans for the next quarter will be to begin to establish and build the new team, and to pray and consider how we can best do pioneering work in the current circumstances.
We have yet to recruit a Pioneer Worship Minister.
What resources will your project be looking for?
- We will be looking for some resources to improve and develop our technology, online presence and virtual services.
- We will be looking for the financial resources to cover the salaries of our new staff members.
TM Truro
What has been happening since the last update?
- Lucas Bostdorff, our Strategic Operations Manager, has been in post since February and has worked to revamp our systems and procedures, bring in new personnel, and develop plans for the future whilst taking on reporting tasks.
- Our two Worship Leaders, Anna Robinson and Wil Berdinner, began in March and have done well in starting their work during a challenging season. Anna has focused on creating meditation worship experiences for our congregation and Wil has focused on recording sung worship and new videos to teach on the theology of worship.
- We have appointed a Social Justice Missioner, Joff Phipps, who started his work with us in July.
- In response to lockdown we’ve had to shutdown our facilities, which has been a challenged, but it has also allowed us to expand the Truro Food Bank’s operation at the church to better serve the community and to develop our online offerings.
- We have expanded our online offerings by creating Sunday worship services delivered via youtube and we have created a new website just to showcase the online teachings, meditations, worship, and blog posts produced during lockdown. All of this is being done whilst caring for our congregation who are not online through regular pastoral calls and a call-in service to hear the sermon and prayers.
- We are recruiting the final members of our TM team, a Pioneer Minister and a Youth/Children’s Minister over the next quarter and are excited at the prospect having a full team going forward.
What are your key plans for the next quarter?
- We plan to begin the construction process on our church facilities soon, which will allow us to use our TM funding to complete the installation of all new audio/visual equipment and increase our ability to provide dynamic Sunday services when we are able to meet in person again.
- With more of the team in place, we will be able to further develop plans for new ministry strategies going forward including the possibility of new services, small groups, and courses.
- We plan to continue to progress in an online ministry presence with increased social media activity, the production of online materials, and the redesign of All Saints’ website and branding/publicity.
TM Liskeard
What has been happening since the last update?
- We successfully interviewed and appointed our Pioneer Leader, Youth Worker and Families & Children’s Worker, so completing our TM team.
- Our Pioneer Leader, Grace, officially started with us on 1 June.
- We have been busy live streaming our Sunday services on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. We’ve also held weekly live quizzes and a daily morning prayer and reflection segment on our Facebook page.
- We successfully ‘virtually’ hosted the Diocese’s beacon event for Thy Kingdom Come on 31 May. This service has been viewed by over 2000 people!
- We’ve now successfully implemented ChurchSuite which will now act as our main database for our church membership and will, alongside social media, act as the main platform for communicating with them. We’ve also set up our online giving platform through ChurchSuite.
- Written to all planned givers using the weekly envelop scheme to encourage them to switch to PGS or standing orders.
- We have just completed a 9-week Discipleship sermon series and are just about to begin a mini Stewardship series.
- Started work on installing and improving the equipment we use for live broadcasts and streaming, and also installing the church lighting.
- Online Alpha launched in June and we’re really expectant on what God is going to do.
- Continued to support the community with the help of additional funding from Liskeard Town Council and Cornwall Council. This includes helping Foodbank with food distribution; supplying hot meals to families in need; helping others in need with small grants or topping up electricity or gas meters; delivering “blessings bags” to single parent households and other families in need; starting to organise mini-concerts on the streets of Liskeard to raise moral.
- Opening up the church for private prayer from the first day allowed, with appropriate social distancing and other safeguards in place.
- We welcomed our Youth Worker Liam in July, and Sandra our families’ worker will follow shortly once groups (ABC, children’s work) begin to meet again.
What are your key plans for the next quarter?
- Complete work on church lighting and broadcasting equipment.
- Look at a further Stewardship sermon series and campaign in the Autumn along with further teaching on the “marks of membership”.
- Complete extensive repairs to our lower hall floors which need to be completely replaced.
- Continue to support those in Liskeard need due to COVID-19 or other circumstances.
