Presbytery of Port Phillip West

Becoming a Church of the 21^st Century

A vision for the Presbytery of Port Phillip West

Our vision

In five years’ time, right across our Presbytery, we will be living, worshipping and engaging in God’s mission in ways that reflect our understanding of what it means to be church in the 21^st century.

We may not all come to the same understanding, or articulate it in the same way. But we will have talked and studied and prayed together about it. We will have discerned what parts of our rich heritage are essential, and what we must let go, in order to make possible new forms of mission in God’s name. Even if a single shared understanding does not emerge, each member of Presbytery will have developed their own understanding of what it means to be church in the 21^st century. They will be leading their congregations, schools, and agencies, and the Presbytery’s own Council and committees to do the same, and to live out that understanding.

 

Some starting points

It’s too early to say where we’ll end up, but we have some starting points for developing a new understanding. We have found inspiration and hope in the words of the Basis of Union. We can develop the theme that we are the “people on the way”, living between promise and fulfilment. We expect to find our identity in being a pilgrim people, a community in relationship with the Triune God. And we anticipate that a new understanding will reflect a theology of God’s abundance, rather than a fear of losing what we once had.

 

Achieving the vision

Some of the things we can do to achieve this vision are:

·       Reflect on and describe our current situation.

·       Engage our ministers in transformative study and dialogue.

·       Create opportunities for Presbytery members to engage in further education and dialogue.

·       Ensure that abundant time and energy go into the preparation and conduct of worship.

·       Reflect on what needs to be “let go” as well as what needs to be “held fast” in order to move forward and create new things.

·       Build more active relationships between all “components” of Presbytery (ministers, congregations, schools, agencies, chaplaincies, Presbytery committees).

·       Share stories of what congregations and agencies are doing (e.g. at Presbytery meetings, through newsletters, websites etc.)

·       Continue to set annual Priority Areas for Presbytery action that are consistent with this vision

·       Develop specific ideas for how congregations worship and develop mission (e.g. initiate missional activities within and between congregations, schools and agencies to address the needs of our communities, proceeding out of our worship of God which is our primary task).

·       Encourage each congregation to reflect on its own vision and mission in light of this Presbytery vision

·       Engage congregations in reflection and education around this Vision, the Basis of Union, etc., through the work of our Presbytery Liaison persons.

·       Ensure that ethnic and cross-cultural congregations, and congregations exploring new forms of mission and ministry, are included in this discussion

·       Continue to improve how Presbytery and its committees meet and work.

·       Contribute to this discussion at Synod level through Presbytery reports and appropriate recommendations.

·       Ask an Implementation Committee to offer further suggestions about who can do what to help achieve this vision.

Making ourselves accountable for working towards this vision

Each member of Presbytery will reflect on how they contribute to Presbytery – as a member of Presbytery-in-Council, a committee member or Chair, an office bearer, and so on. Each of us agrees to periodically set and review specific, achievable goals and tasks towards the achievement of this common vision, as appropriate to our different roles.