ST GILES - A COMMUNITY ROOTED IN CHRIST SHARING HIS LOVE WITH THE WORLD

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Our 5 year vision...

By 2023 our dream and focus is to see the following:

• Significant growth in numbers and spiritually with lives being changed as a result of people encountering God’s love.
• Regular and varied corporate prayer, together with teaching on prayer.
• Worship that changes us.
• All members committed to giving, meaning we are able to spend money on mission and give away at least 10% of income.
• Majority of members in small groups, caring for and supporting one another, growing in discipleship, inviting others and reaching into the local community.
• Even better links with the schools.
• St Giles a place of fun, friendship and support for the local community, a hub in Desborough.
• Youth work expanding.
• Phase 3 of reordering completed.
• Social media presence working well.
• Involvement by all, including young people.

Our Growth Action Plan for 2020-2021

In February of 2020 the Church Council met to review our growth action plan; many of the targets we set have had to be put on hold due to the then unexpected pandemic. Below we've included the two main themes that arose from the day and a brief comment on how the consequences of the pandemic have affected each of those.

Two over-riding themes that came from our 2020 vision day:
i.  The call for us to work harder at being an invitational community of believers, focused on the call to make disciples. The challenge is as much about working out what is not bearing fruit and therefore might need to be pruned in order to allow for trying things that will bear more fruit.
Little did we know that much pruning would take place in terms of our 'normal' church activities simply as a result of Covid-19! However during 2020 we did continue to focus on the call to make disciples and it's been encouraging to see many people growing in and coming to faith through our online provision. We've developed new ways of being church and have greatly extended our contact with others in our town. So as things were pruned, fruit indeed was produced. The Church Council are now looking at 'where we go post Covid-19' as we reflect together on some of the growth that has come out of new ways of doing things, and make decisions on where God is leading us from here.
ii. The call for us to become better at linking the work we're doing across the different groups/activities, as well as linking better with the community.
Whilst many of our activities have had to cease during Covid-19, we have still worked hard to improve our links with the community. We've blessed our town and schools with cakes, we gave out free Christmas packed lunches, we've done Christmas and Easter activity trails outdoors and SO much more. And some of our church groups have met outdoors when restrictions have allowed which has made them much more accessible to our community. So we have seen much good come out of this very difficult time. Post Covid-19 we will continue to explore how we can further develop these links as we endeavor to show God's love to our community. So many people have been hit hard by the pandemic and we want to do all we can to offer God's love to them.
The Church Council will be meeting in the spring of 2021 to look at what a 'Covid-19 recovery plan' might look like. We will review our 2020 targets and rather than just assuming they will just be carried forward a year some of them may well change in the light of all that has happened since the pandemic. Watch this space!