Mission Action Plan

3-5 Year Vision

What God is calling our church to do and become in the next three to five years
To show God's love to everyone in our parish
For all three churches to be growing, thereby able to better serve our communities
With an especial focus for all three churches to enable growth at St John's and an increased presence on High Path

Core Statement

Our purpose/reason to be here
Faithful to God
Sharing with those in need Caring for one another

Mission Priority One

Building congregation of St John's from within the Team

Action Goals for 3-5 years
1. Form leadership team to oversee Priority 1
2. Church graft from say HT to SJD
3. Early Service/Messy Church at SJD
4. Different time and/or style of service
5. All of the above grounded in prayer

Mission Priority Two

Serving the community at High Path

Action Goals for 3-5 years
1. Form leadership team to oversee Priority 2
2. Audit of what the community wants
3. Working with partners on the estate
4. Increasing church/hall use for community
5. All of the above grounded in prayer

Mission Priority Three

Ministry to young people, including schools

Action Goals for 3-5 years
1. Form leadership team to oversee Priority 3
2. Developing links with Merton Abbey/Harris
3. Bell-ringing for teenagers
4. The answer is table-tennis!
5. All of the above grounded in prayer

Mission Statement

Faithful to God • Sharing with those in need • Caring for one another

Christ Church is part of the Merton Priory Team Ministry under the Diocese of Southwark.

The team ministry constitutes the following three churches:

Christ Church, Colliers Wood
St John the Divine, High Path, Wimbledon
Holy Trinity, South Wimbledon

In Merton Priory Team Ministry, we aim to be a community:

Being ‘Faithful to God’ is the basis of Christian life. But it doesn’t start with us. The centre of Christian faith is the conviction that God is faithful to us. Jesus shows us that God sticks by us, even when we get it wrong. And we stick by God in response to his commitment to us. There are some everyday ways we live this faithfulness: by worshipping, praying, seeking God’s will. So we should ask ourselves: What will we do to stay faithful to God each day and for the rest of our lives?

Sharing with those in need also starts with God: Everything belongs to God and he’s sharing it with us: we say ‘all things come from you and of your own do we give you’. Learning to share is to allow this message not only to be in our minds but also touch our hearts. There are lots of ways to do this; for example, this winter we’ll be sharing with those in need by offering our buildings and perhaps time and money to a Night Shelter project, in collaboration with other churches and community groups. How will you join in our mission to share with those in need?

Caring for one another. The phrase ‘one another’ is important. Being a church is not simply about the vicars caring and everyone else being cared for. Everyone needs to do the caring and everyone needs to be cared for. So we need to make sure we’re part of a network within our parish – a home group, a choir and so on – where this caring becomes real. Which group will let you be part of this caring network, looking out for others and knowing others are looking out for you?

So that’s our mission. We know we don’t always get it right, but we seek God’s grace to fulfil his mission.