Circuit Mission Priorities 2025

The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission. It does this through:

Worship
The Church exists to increase awareness of God's presence and to celebrate God's love

Learning and Caring
The Church exists to help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care.

Service
The Church exists to be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice

Evangelism
The Church exists to make more followers of Jesus Christ

Alongside this expression of Our Calling, the Methodist Church has established principles of being a growing, evangelistic, inclusive and Justice-Seeking church and is working to embed them within our polity.

This expression of calling and these principles of being growing, evangelistic, inclusive and justice-seeking apply to the Telford Circuit of the Methodist Church. Within Methodist polity, the Circuit is understood to be the basic unit of mission. This means that the local churches of the circuit are interdependent, mutually supportive and intentionally living and working under the same mission priorities and principles, albeit whilst being in differing geographic and sociological contexts. The Circuit does not function in separation from the local churches and pieces of work. The local churches and pieces of work cannot be complete in separation from each other and the Circuit. This is the expression of the distinct and important Methodist principle of Connexionalism.

This connexional principle means that there is one mission being currently delivered across the Telford Circuit by the sixteen churches of the circuit, one school and other work not located in specific buildings. This does not, however, mean that each of those churches and pieces of work look the same. Styles of worship, learning needs, opportunities for being good neighbours and the way we seek to make more followers of Jesus Christ differ from location to location. The human, financial and building resources differ from location to location. Consequently, the ability of each local church and piece of work to engage missionally with its context differs from location to location. It is the purpose of the Circuit, as the basic unit of mission, to equip, enable and encourage each local church to be missional communities, built upon this expression of calling and these principles of being growing, evangelistic, inclusive and justice-seeking.

The Circuit and the Circuit Meeting are important and powerful entities within Methodist polity. The Circuit controls a substantial portion of the financial and human resources and the Circuit Meeting sets the tone for the Circuit. The members of the Circuit Meeting are managing trustees responsible for the management of the financial resources of the Circuit. Alongside the Superintendent Minister, the Circuit Meeting is responsible for the allocation of lay and ordained ministry resources across the churches and pieces of work. These ministry resources include both the allocation of ordained and lay pastoral ministry to the churches and the creation of the quarterly preaching plan. The Circuit Meeting is directly responsible for those pieces of work that do not currently fall under the control of a local church, such as the work of John Fletcher of Madeley Methodist/CofE Primary School and the Pioneer Mission work currently being explored in Lawley. Although supported and enabled by the Circuit Meeting, the Pioneer Mission work at Dawley Christian Centre is the responsibility of the Dawley Church Council. Decisions about the life of each local church, and the way they respond to the mission priorities, are the responsibility of the managing trustees in each place, meeting as the Church Council. Whilst some of our local churches may have access to substantial financial and human resources, this is not the case for several others. Some of our churches and pieces of work depend very much on the support of the Circuit in order to continue in existence. The mission priorities of the Circuit should be the guiding factor in decision making about the allocation of financial and human resources from the Circuit to the local churches. The Circuit Meeting has the authority to allocate financial and human resources to local churches in accordance to those local churches' engagement with Our Calling and their potential to be growing, evangelistic, inclusive and justice-seeking.

The Circuit's support of each local church and piece of work will look different in each context. In coming to a mind about the specific way the Circuit supports each local church and piece of work, the Circuit Leadership Team and the Circuit Meeting become critical places of decision making. Such decisions shall not, however, be random or ad hoc but shall be consistent with the mission priorities established in this document. In 2023 the Telford Circuit adopted a system of Growth Groups. These groups are not intended to be self-expressing entities but are intended, as their names suggest, to encourage and enable growth in the area of concern that they represent. The intended growth is measured in the appropriate increase of engagement by local churches in the area of mission and ministry concerned. The Growth Groups are places in which curiosity is engaged, enthusiasm is generated and resources are gathered in order that local churches become mobilised. Making minor changes to the 2023 structure, the Growth Groups are:

1. Children and Young People
2. Evangelism and Growth
3. Inclusion and Justice
4. Discipleship and Mission

In addition to the four Growth Groups there is a Resources Support Group which concerns itself with all aspects of finance and property. The Circuit Local Preachers' and Leaders of Worship Meeting hold the portfolio for leading the advancement of matters of Worship and expressions of spirituality across the Circuit. The Circuit Stewards are responsible for staff wellbeing and support. The Circuit Invitations Committee is a standing committee responsible for the management of the appointment of ordained ministers (presbyters and deacons). The Circuit Safeguarding Officer promotes our safeguarding policies and practices across the Circuit and supports church safeguarding officers in their role.

WATERING HOLES AND WELLS : APPLICATION OF OUR PRIORITIES

In the natural world watering holes and wells are important places. They are places of gathering, places of sustenance and places of life-giving. Australian Ranchers tell that, in order to keep their cattle within the boundaries of the vast lands, they do not build fences but dig wells. As we consider the application of our mission priorities to the life of the Telford Circuit, we ask what and where are our watering holes and wells? Are our current churches viable, in the right place, doing the right work? Are there places where the watering holes have dried up and the wells exhausted? Are there places in the geographical area of the Circuit where we need to dig wells, places where we currently have no presence (church planting)? Are there people who desire to have a relationship with the living God, but for whom the church is not a place of sustenance or safety (pioneer mission)? What does it mean for us to be justice-seeking? How do we make our voices heard in campaigning for those things we have a passion to support or change? What are we doing in each church to be inclusive and do we recognise instances where, out of ignorance or wilfulness, we deliberately or unconsciously exclude. Is it possible that the very act of inclusion is also an act of excluding, and how do we manage the contradictory convictions that are sometimes present in our churches? How do we become more Christ-like in our discipleship? Are there wider concerns that we are not currently addressing that we should be addressing?

It is clear that, in applying our established mission priorities, there are many questions to ask and situations to consider. In exercising management of resources, in generating vision and purpose, in supporting the development of mission and ministry and in encouraging growth in discipleship, the Circuit Meeting bears a significant burden of responsibility. Local Churches also bear significant responsibility to engage with the mission priorities, to be proactive in working for the Kingdom, to be wells of sustenance and places of potential. It is the responsibility of the Circuit to support, encourage and direct resources towards those churches where fulfilment of these responsibilities is evident. It is also the responsibility of the Circuit to challenge those churches which do not show evidence of such engagement. It might even be the responsibility of the Circuit to withdraw or withhold support, encouragement and resources from those places where watering holes have dried up and the wells exhausted. The engagement of the local church with the Circuit Mission Priorities, their potential to be a viable missional community will inform decisions about financial support for property, allocation of ministerial time, the creation of the quarterly preaching plan. Resources shall not be allocated equally, but according to need and potential. In some places, local churches may be encouraged to consider merging trusteeship to move the energy away from maintenance of the structures and towards fulfilment of mission potential. In other places, churches may be encouraged celebrate a faithful history, recognise its completion and lay down the work. Conversely, some churches need greater allocation of these resources to bring their potential into fruition. Some churches are in areas of immense need and are engaging with communities in crisis. Some churches gather together people who have nowhere else to be. Some churches have little opportunity for generating income but are places where the waters of missional potential fill the well to overflowing. Additionally, the exploration of pioneer mission and ministry, the creation of new places for new people, the digging of wells in places of potential, projects for growth in discipleship will be priorities in the allocation of resources.