"Catch the Vision" was a draft document for consideration by all United Reformed Churches in January 2004. It is reproduced here, and further developments are given afterwards.
"Catch the Vision"
"It is our goal to become a vibrant and sustainable Christian community in the next ten years.
We are called by God to be a church which is centred upon the gospel and the proclamation of its message
of freedom and justice. In communities throughout our nations we are called to be diverse and lively, inclusive and flexible, as we strive to share the gospel in ways which are relevant to to-day's world. We will seek, visibly and recognizably, to make a difference to our communities and our society, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Achieving that goal will require sacrifices and pruning. We have considerable resources - but we must use them in a more focussed way. We can still attempt great things for God but we cannot do all things. Hard choices will have to be made at every level of the church's life.
Our choices will ensure that power is released to the places where the work of mission is done. We will become less bureaucratic, more ecumenically focussed, and develop the potential of lay leadership.
Working together we can, by the grace of God, be a church that is excited by the gospel and equipped for mission in the name of Jesus Christ."
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This was debated in the National Assemblies in June 2004 and 2005 and can be seen on the national website, and in the September issue of Reform.
Some facts from David Cornick's speech in 2004:-
9% of our churches are growing, and 25% have shown no decline over 5 years.
Adherents are about one third of the number of members.
In the NW region church member are the foremost providers of volunteers in the community.
He gave four examples in which major changes in the way churches operate has led to thriving developments.
The overall message was that there is still a place in society for the church, and to find this we had to make changes, often radical, to relate to the way present day society works.
"Catch the Vision Update 2005"
In 2005 several issues were resolved which should result in freeing up time, reducing costs and exploring new areas of activity.
A layer of management/consulation would be removed. Districts would cease to exist in their own right, and each synod would work out its own way of doing this.
There would be more special category ministers where mission calls for pioneering work - 30 new posts over 5 years.
A commission would exlore the possibility of creating a single synod for London, replacing North Thames and Southern Synods.
The 2006 budget represents only a 0.8% rise in expenditure.
There is likely to be an assembly of reduced size, meeting every other year from 2007.
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