Growing churches

More than £17.8m of funding has been awarded from the national Church of England to the Church of England Birmingham for the next phase of its strategy to ‘grow churches at the heart of each community.’

The grant will underpin the Church of England Birmingham’s four key strategies:

Sustainability – £2.4m has been awarded to support us in becoming financially sustainable. This will include the creation of a dedicated Generosity Team to support our parishes.

Parish Growth – £3.6m has been awarded to support all of our parishes to  grow in mission.

Leadership – £6.1m has been awarded to help to find, form and deploy additional missional leaders across the Diocese.

Church Planting and Revitalisation – £5.7m has been awarded for new church plants and revitalisations.

Within the church planting and revitalisation theme, the following parishes are being encouraged to give away people and resources to revitalise other parishes and areas:

• Christ Church Summerfield
• St Barnabas Erdington
• St John’s Harborne
• St Luke’s Gas Street
• St Mary’s Bearwood
• St Philip’s Dorridge & St James’ Bentley Heath
• St Stephen’s and St Wulstan’s

In addition to the award outlined above, the national church is providing short term relief to help dioceses with their structural deficits and give breathing space. It is important to be clear from the outset that this award is intended to be a bridge towards long-term sustainability.

As part of the plan, the Church of England Birmingham is looking to recruit a ‘Head of Generosity.’ The successful candidate will lead a new Generosity Team and become the Bishop’s Advisor for Common Fund. Information can be found at CofEB vacancies.

The Bishop of Birmingham, the Right Revd Michael Volland said, ‘This significant investment is a great encouragement. It will enable our Diocese to support churches across Birmingham, especially in overlooked communities, to grow in confidence, deepen faith, and share the love of Jesus Christ. I’m excited by the focus on young people, leadership, and diversity, and I pray this will bear lasting fruit for God’s kingdom.’

Read the full article HERE.