catalystSeptember 2010 – March 2011

Making Mission Possible Discover more about

mission-shaped leadership

growing leaders, growing churches

Our vision for the next five years is to be at the forefront of leadership development in churches:

Developing 25,000 men and women to become more effective in leadership.

Equipping churches to train a generation of children and young people for leadership.

Helping 600 18-25 year olds aspire to and prepare for leadership.

Inspiring 150 leaders under the age of 30 to offer themselves for ordination, including pioneer ministry.

Equipping 8,500 leaders to be effective in reaching and discipling children and young people through Ventures and Falcon Camps.

Working with our 500 patronage churches to develop effective leadership.

Promoting research and sharing expertise on issues of church leadership.

To realise this, we will develop mutually supportive relationships with churches and individuals and develop the staff team to fulfil our God-given priorities.

Vision:We long to see a Christ-centred, Bible-based, mission-focused Church where leaders are clear about their call to discipleship, growing in Christ-like character, and competent to lead in a time of rapid change; where leaders discern God’s direction, enable action, build teams, develop leaders, facilitate communication, and nurture people; where leaders work in teams, reflecting the diversity of ministries, and model themselves on the servant character of Jesus; where leaders help transform inherited churches, pioneer emerging churches and deliver creative residential ministry, effectively helping children, young people and adults hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

Mission: CPAS enables churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

catalystEditor: Rebecca Gash Design: Catherine Jackson

Copyright CPAS 2010. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for the reproduction of text from this publication for CPAS promotional use only. For all other uses, please contact us.

Cover image: ©i-stockphoto.com/peepoImage above: © klikk – Fotolia.comThis magazine is printed on paper from farmed forest: for each tree felled, another is planted. The paper is chlorine-free and environmentally friendly.

Contact CPASAthena Drive, Tachbrook Park, WARWICK CV34 6NGT 01926 458458 E info@cpas.org.uk W www.cpas.org.uk

Church Pastoral Aid Society Registered charity no 1007820 (England & Wales) SC039082 (Scotland)A company limited by guarantee Registered in England no 2673220 Registered office as above address

All Bible quotations taken from Today’s New International Version

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04 Missional leadership

06 Making Mission Possible

08 Turning vision into action

10 Leading on a Venture

12 Arrow: Equipped for a lifetime of ministry

14 Growing Leaders: reaching out

16 Introducing Louise Davis

17 Falcon Camps 2010

18 Supporting CPAS

Welcome to Catalyst. This edition focuses on our passion to see the Anglican church in the UK and

the Republic of Ireland led and served by missional leaders – leaders whose cri de coeur echoes our 1836 slogan ‘the gospel to every man’s door’.

These missional leaders carry in their hearts two questions. Firstly, ‘What is the shape of our future?’ This question can be posed in other words and different ways but its essence is an aspiration to enable the people of God to be part of the missio dei. For Moses, it caused him to pursue a vision of freedom from Egypt: for Esther a vision to secure the future of God’s people: for Peter it was this question that led him to defend in Jerusalem the rightness of his gospel preaching in Gentile Caesarea.

The second question is ‘How will we get to this future?’ This area of interest is variously referred to as ‘strategic planning’ or ‘execution’: here at CPAS we use the term ‘enabling action’. For Nehemiah this involved resource management, forward planning and managing conflicting needs; for Paul the implementation of a pioneering model of church planting.

In this edition of Catalyst Bishop Andrew Watson and the Rev John Coyne, CPAS

director of local and regional delivery, explore some of these issues these questions generate. Then discover the stories of men and women in local churches today impacted by CPAS Christian leadership development. These stories include how Leading Edge forums have helped leaders turn vision into action and how the Growing Leaders course has impacted both church goers and the wider community of Holy Trinity, Claygate.

This autumn CPAS is engaged in a project entitled Making Mission Possible. This is an initiative through which we hope to offer leadership development in all 43 English dioceses (as well as in Scotland, Wales and Ireland) in order that local church leaders might be increasingly competent in pursuing the questions referred to above. It is our hope and prayer that by doing so, the evangelisation of our nations might be furthered and quickened – to the glory of God and the hastening of Jesus’ return.

Thank you for reading Catalyst – for your prayers and support.

As everJohn DunnettGeneral Director

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Contents

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missional leadership: the landscape park

deafness to our second calling to ‘put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch’ will effectively sign the Church’s death warrant in this, as in every, generation.

What though do missional leaders look like? Are they simply gifted personal evangelists writ large, or is there a wider pool from which such leadership can be sensibly drawn?

A s a long-term supporter of CPAS, and a graduate from the first-ever Arrow Leadership Programme, I’m delighted

that missional leadership is right at the heart of the organisation’s vision, both founding and future. Two of the great triumvirate of Old Testament leaders (Abraham, Moses and David) were trained as shepherds; all three of Jesus’ closest disciples (Peter, James and John) were trained as fishermen; and while the pastoral ministry remains an essential calling today, a

...at the heart of the good missional leadership lies an approach that is strong but uncontrolling.

Strong, controlling leadership lies behind the formal garden, the wonderfully planned, perfectly symmetrical adjunct to many a fairy-tale chateau in the Loire Valley and beyond: and in church terms there can be real energy in such an approach, with a bulky five-year strategic plan giving a clear sense of direction and priorities, and with everyone invited to play their part in the fulfilment of that bulky five-year strategic plan. Some plants will thrive in such an environment – those that are not too large, perhaps, or who value order, conformity, predictability. Others will be made to feel that they somehow don’t fit, and will resist being cut back simply to fulfil the chief gardener’s vision.

It’s the English landscape park – the work of such inspiring garden designers as the legendary Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown – that presents us with the vision of a leadership that is strong but uncontrolling: a leadership where it’s not the intricate garden design that takes your breath away (for at first sight it hardly looks designed at all), but rather the views and the vistas, the lakes and the trees – the latter all planted to best advantage and able to reach their fullest stature.

The ‘landscape park’ church is more an organism than an organisation, more a sailing ship (setting its sails to the direction of the wind) than a bus (stopping at certain predetermined destinations). It takes seriously the uniqueness

Photos: ©iStockphoto.com/Lovattpics, ©iStockphoto.com/redmal catalyst 05

In both my experience and my reading of Scripture (especially the Book of Acts) there are two key issues here – one of strength, the other of control. All leadership, whether in the Church or outside of it, can be strong or weak, controlling or uncontrolling; and at the heart of the good missional leadership lies an approach that is strong but uncontrolling.

Perhaps we might see it in terms of four gardens: the wilderness, the bonsai garden, the formal garden and the landscape park:

The wilderness is the fruit of a leadership that is weak and uncontrolling, resulting in a plethora of weeds, an absence of pruning, and the largest of plants (however fruitless) overshadowing the rest. Those who lead ‘wilderness’ churches are generally referred to in terms of the adjectives ‘poor’ and ‘old’: ‘poor old Vicar: he means well, but it must be a thankless task’. Meanwhile it’s a dominating parishioner or churchwarden or choir who really calls the shots.

The bonsai garden is the fruit of a leadership that is weak and controlling, resulting in plants being lovingly managed and cut to shape, a fastidious neatness in every aspect of church life, and an environment in which the vicar does it all so nicely that no one wants to interfere. Bonsai gardeners are admired for their hard work and for the lovely display they produce every Sunday morning. Meanwhile the garden remains very beautiful and generally very small.

of the body of believers that God has called together in a place – their gifts and experiences, passions and enthusiasms – rather than attempting to impose any kind of blueprint, along with all the trimmings that a particular churchmanship demands of it. It lives by the Pentecost premise that it’s often the unlikeliest of people who receive the most God-given of visions and dreams.

So what kind of qualities are required in the missional leader? Faith, collaboration, the ability to inspire, certainly; but above all, a deep inner security that is content to allow others to succeed. Perhaps it’s not surprising that business guru Jim Collins – in his research on companies that had moved from ‘good to great’ – discovered that the two qualities that characterised the leadership of those companies were an ‘intense professional will’ (corresponding to the word ‘strong’) and an ‘extreme personal humility’ (corresponding to the word ‘uncontrolling’).

Andrew Watson is Bishop of Aston, and author of the books

The Fourfold Leadership of Jesus: Come, Follow, Wait, Go

(BRF 2008) and Confidence in the Living God: David and Goliath Revisited (BRF 2009).

Constant change is here to stay. Continuous social, cultural and technological change is hitting the Church of God head on as it seeks to faithfully share in God’s mission in the 21st century.

06 catalystThe Rev John CoyneDirector of Local and Regional Delivery

strangers to the love of God in Christ. It is far better, as Bishop John V Taylor said, that we ‘think more of the Church being given to the Spirit’ than the ‘Spirit being given to the Church’2. This is because: ‘The chief actor in the historic mission of the Church is the Holy Spirit’3.

In his recent Grove booklet, Discerning Leadership: Cooperating with the Go-between God, (available for £3.95 from www.cpas.org.uk/shop), Bishop Graham Cray develops these themes with clarity and significant insight to inform and embolden the leadership of a local church – as well as those whose primary missional vocation is expressed within the wider community and workplace. I wholeheartedly recommend this short but perceptive booklet. Read it on your knees and in company with others, and incarnate its thinking in your life and ministry.

As a mission agency whose current strategy is to develop mission-shaped leaders, CPAS is committed to offering training, consultancy and support to churches and individuals. Our new initiative Making Mission Possible sees CPAS in partnership with dioceses, and groups within dioceses, who want to nurture and sustain mission-shaped leadership for a Church seeking to proclaim and demonstrate

the unchanging love of God. The themes we are exploring include:

Mission-shaped leadership.

Discerning direction.

Turning vision into action.

Developing a strategy for youth and children’s ministry.

Multi-church leadership.

Growing young people in a church.

Self-leadership – making space for what matters.

Developing Jesus-shaped leaders.

Models of Christian leadership.

Building and maintaining teams.

Sustaining yourself in leadership.

Running the CPAS Growing Leaders course.

How to run a residential ministry.

Mentoring for missional leadership.

We are open to exploring related themes on request and all the materials can be delivered in a variety of styles and settings. They are intended to encourage reflection and discernment, and not just mission-shaped activity. We would expect a day based on these themes to offer a balance of encouragement and challenge, inspiration as well as information.

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If you would like to partner with CPAS for an event which will equip leaders for mission in your area, please contact John Coyne, co-ordinator of our liaison team, on jcoyne@cpas.org.uk or 01926 458402.

In 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote his book Future Shock which offered perceptive social

commentary on the challenges of coping with relentless change. More recently, Professor David Ford, a Cambridge theologian, writes1 about facing multiple overwhelmings, and of the need to cope creatively with challenge and change in today’s postmodern world.

The Church is discovering that the leadership required to help us navigate through the turbulent waters of a changing missional context needs to be adaptable, provisional and imaginative – while all the time remaining faithful to the gospel. If we are to be a mission-shaped Church, we need a mission-shaped leadership who are not only clear in their vision of God as a missionary God but who also nurture and sustain missional life in their own DNA, and who develop other leaders and followers who share that missional orientation.

Such leaders will be able to challenge and foster courage and imagination in the local church so that we turn ourselves outwards and look for signs of God at work in the people and contexts beyond our church doors. This will mean forming and adapting ways of being Church by engaging and serving others who are at present

For more information on the latest events in your area please visit www.makingmissionpossible.org.uk.

1 D Ford, The Shape of Living: Spiritual Directions for Everyday Life, Zondervan, 2002. 2 John V Taylor, The Go-between God: The Holy Spirit and the Christian Mission, SCM Press, 1975 p.133. 3 John V Taylor, p.3.Ph

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Events on the subject of Leading in a Multi-church Benefice also launch this autumn, following the success of forums which began last year tackling the subject of Discerning Direction.

One vicar who attended Leading Edge earlier this year is the Rev Elaine Jones from St Bartholomew’s, Binley in Coventry diocese. She will also return for an Enabling Action forum in Warwick this autumn.

Elaine said: ‘As a PCC we’re taking a fresh look at where we’re going as a church, seeking God’s vision for how we move forward. The Leading Edge event about Discerning Direction was very informative, and helped confirm that we’re

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turning vision into actionNew Leading Edge forums on the key leadership topic of Enabling Action will explore how the metaphor of going on holiday can help make your church’s vision for growth a reality.

Simon Chesters, CPAS regional leadership development adviser for

the North-west, has written the material for the Enabling Action events.

He explains: ‘Deciding where to go on holiday is only part of the process, just like discerning the direction of a church. Actually arriving at your chosen destination and having a good time along the way is a different matter all together.

‘Using the holiday metaphor may be a bit of fun, but there

is a serious side to these events as we help equip and inspire church leaders for effective and active mission.

‘People planning holidays need to make sure that everyone on the trip actually wants to go, as well as working out how to travel without bickering amongst each other. It’s all about taking the vision of where you’re going as a church and putting it into action, because there’s no point packing the car with all your stuff for a holiday before you’ve worked out the route.’

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going in the right direction about how we clarify the vision of the church.

‘There was a good mix of input from the front and interaction with each other. Sharing ideas and experiences prompted some useful input from other leaders,’ added Elaine, who has been at St Bartholomew’s for five years having previously worked in Carlisle and Lincoln dioceses following her ordination in 1999.

‘This autumn I’m returning for an Enabling Action event with

Find out about your nearest Leading Edge events this autumn at www.cpas.org.uk/leadingedge or call Carol Kennedy on 01926 458454.

Enabling Action is one of the key topics of church leadership highlighted in the CPAS leadership doughnut, which can be explored in more depth at www.cpas.org.uk/doughnut and in recent editions of the CPAS Church Leadership resource.

because this key topic is all about making things happen practically and anchoring that in real life. The events have a mix of theoretical input and sharing experiences, giving space for interaction and discussion.

‘We’re running Enabling Action events because it’s easy to have a vision but do nothing, or discern a direction and not actually get anywhere. These new events are about taking a step on from the vision process, generating some forward movement and being able to focus on the task of mission.’

a member of the PCC who is part of a group which will work out how our vision becomes our strategy. The timing ties in really well with where we are as a church to help take us forward.’

Enabling Action events will cover topics such as getting people on board, planning, prioritising and keeping activities under review. The events are designed for church leaders at all levels, whether they have attended a previous Leading Edge event or not. Simon added: ‘Leading Edge forums are an ideal place to focus on Enabling Action,

Being a first-time Venture leader was a brilliant, fantastic, challenging,

and really tiring experience!’ said Claire Rodemark, who led for the first time on this year’s Maidwell 2 Venture.

Claire was featured in the spring edition of the Ventures update. She had attended Maidwell 2 as a member for four years, and this year stepped up to the role of leader.

Now, having returned from the Venture, she feels she has gained an insight into what it takes to lead, as well as experiencing how rewarding it can be.

‘In some ways it was more enjoyable leading than it was simply attending! I was still able to take part, but I was also

on the “inside”, helping to make it all happen. As it was my first time leading, I was given a number of relatively small

responsibilities: I looked after the bank, updated the

members’ notice board, and was involved in organising the party on the final night.’

The experience of getting everything ready for the party was one difficulty Claire faced during the week:

‘Having worked all day decorating and setting up the room, it was heart-breaking to have to take it all down just two hours later when the party ended. It became clear just how much work being a leader can really be.

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taking the lead

‘

Visit www.ventures.org.uk to find out more about CPAS Venture holidays.

‘I was also a dorm leader, which meant taking the lead in conversations with the other girls in the room, and I found this surprisingly challenging. I’ve always felt confident talking about God, but it was sometimes difficult finding the right balance between the spiritual and the “silly” – we wanted the young people to have fun on the holiday without it being too heavy all the time.

‘I shared this dorm responsibility with another, more experienced girl, and it was helpful to see how she led, while at the same time I recognised that everyone has their own style and I needed to develop my own.

‘One of the girls in my dorm was not a Christian and didn’t know much about Christianity. For example, she hadn’t realised that prayer was such a big thing for

Christians. I was able to have some good conversations with her, and she seemed interested to know more. It would be good to pray for her now she is back at home.

‘The other girls in my dorm were already Christians, and they benefitted from the teaching sessions, which were really relevant. There was a session about Facebook, and one on the media, and the girls were shocked to discover how much time they’d been spending on these

things. I was pleased to be able encourage them and guide the conversations.

‘Overall, the experience was much harder than I anticipated, and quite humbling – but that’s a good thing. We all need a bit of humble pie sometimes! It’s incredible to see how much time and effort the leaders put in to making the Venture so good – and to think they do it voluntarily in their own time! As for me, I learnt a great deal and I’m sure it is something I’ll

be able to build on when I go back in the future.’

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Jon Scamman talks about the transformation he experienced during the CPAS Arrow Leadership Programme, which continues to impact his life, ministry and mission more than three years later.

Jon began Arrow towards the end of his curacy in 2006, but had moved to

become associate minister at St Barnabas, Cambridge by the end of the programme. This summer Jon was appointed as vicar of St Thomas’s, Lancaster, but the ripples from his Arrow experience are still strong.

Jon said: ‘Arrow was life-changing, transforming and powerful, as well as being thoroughly enjoyable.

‘It was helpful at a number of levels, especially the focus on character development and addressing the dangers and difficulties of the “dark side” of leadership, as well as spending time intentionally on my personal vision, goals and priorities.

‘The impact of Arrow is an on-going process. I wouldn’t claim to be living out everything I learned on Arrow, and there’s certainly lots of things I could be doing better. I still keep dipping back into my Arrow files and using the material in all kinds of different situations.

‘Arrow was an enriching and refreshing experience. It provided the opportunity to pause for thought and to lift my nose from the grindstone of day-to-day ministry.’

During the 18-month Arrow programme there are four week-long residentials and meetings with other participants in peer cell groups, as well as mentors and intercessory partners.

Jon continued: ‘There was a great cross-fertilisation of experiences on Arrow, with people doing different jobs in different localities. On the residential and at peer cells meetings we learnt so much from each other, as we reflected on the same material but worked it out in different circumstances.’

‘Having completed Arrow, I understand myself better and have more confidence about how I’m shaped as a leader.’

Arrow is run by CPAS for leaders aged 25-40 who are in full-time ministry roles, developing leaders to be led more by Jesus and help them lead more like Jesus. Arrow helps reflect CPAS’ identity as a mission agency through the third – and most crucial – element of its vision: to help leaders lead more people to Jesus.

Jon commented: ‘Arrow certainly challenged my personal evangelism, making me be more intentional about spending time with people outside the church and developing relationships with them.

‘Also, it highlighted the need for me to be directly involved in helping people come to faith through involvement in outreach ministries such as Alpha. Furthermore, I now recognise the importance of how a church’s corporate vision feeds into evangelism, as well as having others brought on board in order to make mission happen.’

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For further information go to

www.cpas.org.uk/arrow

Jon has recently been appointed at St Thomas’s, Lancaster, which is a CPAS patronage church. Even his application for this role had its roots in his Arrow experience.

‘I would never have had the confidence to apply for the St Thomas’s job without the transformation that has gone on through Arrow and my involvement in other ministries,’ said Jon.

‘The lessons learnt on Arrow have helped me prepare for this change. Moving to a new place means that I’ll have to adopt new patterns of work, making conscious decisions about spending time with non-Christians and investing in other relationships and hobbies which enrich my life.

‘I’m also conscious of finding a balance of work that allows space with God and making sure that I’m not leading in isolation.’

Arrow is targeted at the under 40s to help equip leaders for ministry throughout the rest of their lives and guard against some of the pitfalls of leadership.

Jon concluded: ‘I know that I’m in this for the long term, so there’s no point burning out three years from now. I’ve got 30 years of ministry in front of me and I still want to be leading passionately for God in 30 years’ time.’

arrow: equipped for a lifetime of ministry

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To be led more by Jesus, to lead more like Jesus

and to lead more to Jesus

‘GL has increased the spiritual maturity of the church, and has significantly expanded our capacity to reach out into the community. We don’t want church to be like a football match in which hundreds of spectators watch 22 people do all the work! We want every person in the church to be “taking part in the game” and to serve in their God-given roles rather than watching from the sidelines.

‘Through Growing Leaders we have seen men and women empowered to influence, lead and minister to one another. People have been motivated to serve in new ways, and equipped to carry out existing responsibilities more effectively. Participants have discovered new gifts and new callings, and a fresh vision for their own areas of ministry. ‘

growing leadersReaching out to the community

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The Growing Leaders course, written and produced by CPAS, develops lay leaders with the gift of leadership in local churches. Run over three terms, Growing Leaders uses a mixture of group teaching, mentoring and practical projects to help develop leaders passionate for God’s mission.

Holy Trinity, Claygate is a thriving church where Growing Leaders

has helped to transform the ministries of many of those who have taken part. Yet its influence has been far wider, impacting the whole church and the wider community.

Since Holy Trinity started running the Growing Leaders course in 2007, several new ministries reaching out to the unchurched have been initiated, and existing ways of serving the community have flourished.

Tom Darwent, curate and director of discipleship, explains more: ‘Through Growing Leaders different individuals have discovered a vision and a passion for mission. It has helped us to be more intentional about building relationships with people from outside the church.

‘Messy Church has grown because Growing Leaders motivated people to join the leadership team. Two hundred parents and children now attend Messy Church each month, with two-thirds of attendees coming from outside the church. GL also provoked us to develop a new contemporary evening service to attract people in their twenties, and we’ve already seen quite a few people in this age group come to faith. A new ministry for seniors has also started-up as a direct result of Growing Leaders.‘

growing leaders for growing churches

Andrew Cowie, who is training for ordination at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, took part in the first Growing Leaders in 2007/8, and reflects on the course. He said:

‘As a church we have seen that each GL participant has gone on to some form of leadership either inside or outside the church. This has not always happened immediately, as it can take time for the ideas which come out of GL to crystallise and come to fruition. It goes against the way of the secular world to have the luxury of such time, but over time each person can discover how God can best use them.

‘GL has given me and others in the church an increased understanding that God can use everyone. Mission is not just for the “elite” or the clergy, and it’s great to see people wanting to explore that more.

‘During the course there was a real sense of fellowship as we talked through issues that the course material brought up. I can now really see how God is using each person.’

Jill Griffiths is now the director of children and families ministry at Holy Trinity, and also attended the first Growing Leaders course. She explains how the course helped her apply for her current church role: ‘I went on Growing Leaders with reservations,’ she said, ‘Even though I was involved in children’s ministry at church, I didn’t see myself as a leader. But the course was amazing, and changed my view of leadership. Helpful exercises included the spiritual MOT, looking at vision and learning about my S.H.A.P.E. The experience confirmed my calling, and played a part in my decision to apply for my job as director of children and families ministry.’

Tom Darwent, and the Holy Trinity 20s group

For more information on the CPAS Growing Leaders courses, please visit www.cpas.org.uk/growingleaders.

To discover more about the S.H.A.P.E. exercise which Jill mentions, visit www.cpas.org.uk/shape.

growing leaders for growing churchescatalyst 15

I started in my role as Ventures development manager in March 2010,

joining the team which oversees the organisation, delivery and development of Ventures and Falcon Camps. I’m responsible for identifying and exploring new ways of promoting our residential holidays – quite a change from my previous full-time church-based youth worker roles!

I’ve been doing youth work for over ten years, starting with a volunteer placement during my year out. From the comfort of home and the church family I’d been part of all my life, I headed to Hayling Island where I took on the role of youth worker in a brand new church plant with no young people! On a number of levels that was a tough year!

At the end of that year I went off to university as planned to study music. During my final year I negotiated a placement

introducing… louise davis

as a part-time youth work volunteer at Bromley Baptist, my home church. Over the next two years I worked alongside the youth pastor who did an incredible job of modelling Jesus-shaped leadership to me, both in the way he enabled me to grow and develop as a leader and in the way he nurtured and supported the young people we worked with. I also had the opportunity to use my creative arts background to develop two multi-media evangelistic presentations, and I had some of my most important lessons in vision casting and collaboration as we shaped those initiatives.

I left Bromley Baptist in 2004 to take up the role of director of youth ministries at Ascension Church in Custom House, east

London, having completed my youth work qualification. I joined a youth team of seven, working predominantly in the local community through sports programmes and in local schools. Being based in an urban priority area with almost exclusively un-churched young people challenged both my youth work practice and much of my academic theological study in ways I had never imagined, and my faith is richer as a result.

My most recent youth work post was a stint in rural Leicestershire, building links with the local school, helping to develop an ecumenical community project and supporting work with young people in the two village churches.

Over the last 20 years I’ve been on dozens of residential and I understand their unique ability to create space for deepening relationships, with peers, with leaders and with God. While believing they are a vital part of effective youth ministry, I recognise how challenging they can be to plan, organise and deliver. The fantastic thing about Ventures, from a youth leader’s point of view, is that they minimise the stress of taking a group away because Ventures do all the really hard work for you! Equally, a Venture holiday is perfect for those young people who are the only teenager in their church as they can be sure

they’ll be welcomed into a much larger group of young Christians facing the same challenges and asking the

same questions. What’s not to like?!

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The fantastic thing about Ventures... is that they minimise the stress of taking a group away because Ventures do all the really hard work for you!

Falcon Afloat! is led by Alice and Andy Smith, where this summer 20

young people aged 10-13 enjoyed a week of water-based activities, music and learning more about Jesus. It was one of this year’s 24 Falcon Camps, which are all subsidised Christian holidays for young people who face some kind of disadvantage in their daily lives.

This year’s theme on Falcon Afloat! was ‘Food’, with Bible teaching and discussions focusing on Jesus’ parables and his food-related encounters with the disciples.

saw one girl transformed from being detached and fearful to a look of real joy on her face during a sailing trip towards the end of the week.

‘Another member was really impacted by one leader’s comment of “stick close to God and he will stick close to you” when we scribbled messages on t-shirts for everybody to take home. Lots of children are surprised by the idea of choice – which many rarely get in their lives – and how to take a step towards God on their journey with him.’

Falcon Afloat! takes place on a boat run by the Fellowship Afloat Charitable Trust, who also provide several leaders from their own team to assist on the Falcon Camp. Alice added: ‘This year was such a success because we know the venue and have worked closely with the team there for three years, as well as our fantastic volunteer Falcon leaders.’

Alice, who is a diocesan youth adviser in Chelmsford Diocese, started Falcon Afloat! with her husband in 2008 after they moved to Essex, having previously been involved with the Scarborough Falcon Camp for six years.

Alice said: ‘This summer the members immediately got a sense of what Falcon Afloat! is like with a powerboat trip on the first day, when some of the members even had a go at steering.

‘We didn’t have any previous links with about half of the 20 members, so we assumed nothing and used the stories of Jesus and a lot of music to make everything we do as accessible as possible.

‘There were some real highlights this summer. We

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To get involved with one of next year’s Falcon Camps, please contact Jane Stephenson on jstephenson@cpas.org.uk or 01926 458412.

on board with falcon afloat!

One of this summer’s more unusual Falcon Camps took place on board a

converted lighthouse ship on the Essex coast.

supporting CPAS

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Discover more about growing leaders, growing churches. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

Spread the wordPlease help CPAS by promoting our ministry in your local church. We produce a number of different materials to help people champion the work of CPAS in their churches, including posters, PowerPoint presentations, donation boxes, giving envelopes and leaflets. CPAS staff members are also available to visit churches to explain more about our ministry developing missional leaders at every level in churches. Please get involved by:

Displaying CPAS posters in your church.

Encouraging people to read or subscribe to Catalyst and Prayer Diary.

Using the Praying for CPAS PowerPoint in your church’s intercessions.

Encouraging your church – if it doesn’t already – to donate to CPAS.

Materials for promoting CPAS are available by contacting the CPAS supporter relations team on 01926 458430 or supporter.relations@cpas.org.uk. Many of the materials can also be ordered free-of-charge through the CPAS website, www.cpas.org.uk/promote.

Please spread the word about CPAS so that we can enable churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

SentExploring what it means to be a mission-shaped church in the 21st century was the theme of a recent teaching series at the two St James, Gerrards Cross and Fulmer. The series was entitled ‘Sent’, and on 4 July a number of mission agencies, including CPAS, gathered together at a Mission Field event to allow members of the church to respond practically.

It’s always great to be able to share more about the work of CPAS, and to meet our faithful supporters face-to-face.

We’d love to come to your church, and explain more about our ministry developing missional leaders. If you would like a CPAS speaker, please contact us on 01926 458430. If you would like any materials for Mission or CPAS Sundays, again please do get in touch.

Contact the CPAS supporter relations team on 01926 458430 or supporter.relations@cpas.org.uk

Donate online at www.cpas.org.uk/donate

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Find out about the CPAS Leadership Doughnut at

www.cpas.org.uk/doughnut.

Grow your church... not just your waistline! It was great to meet some of you at the International Christian Resources Exhibition in Esher, the New Wine leaders‘ conference in Harrogate and the New Wine summer conferences in Shepton Mallet.

We were handing out real doughnuts to encourage people to discover more about the CPAS Leadership Doughnut! This highlights key topics of leadership development to bring about church growth.

It was fantastic to talk to people about our different tools and resources, and to meet so many who have already been impacted by the ministries of CPAS.

Look out for us at future events and conferences including the Youthwork conference in November and the Children’s and Family Ministry conference in February in Eastbourne. Thanks to your

support of CPAS we are

able to impact each diocese in

England over the next five

months!

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