A MESSAGE FROM THE BISHOP OF BIRMINGHAM“Birmingham was chosen to host the American and Jamaican Olympics Team in the build-up to the London Olympics in 2012. It was a particular privilege for me to meet the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, who went on to win three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

The Bible (in the Letter to the Hebrews) pictures the Christian life as a race, and challenges us to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus’, as previous Christian generations cheer us on. The call to mission reminds us that this race is not a solo effort, but is rather a relay, with the baton passing from one generation to the next. As the Psalmist puts it:

Growing Younger is a new diocesan-wide initiative within our overall mission strategy of ‘Transforming Church’, and has been made possible by a welcome £1 million from the Church Commissioners. The aim is precisely to pass on the baton of the Christian gospel to children and families, and students and young adults as part of our vision of ‘growing churches at the heart of each community’.

I am asking every PCC member to read this short booklet, and to discuss prayerfully what you might do to help to implement this vision across Birmingham and the Region.”

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‘We will tell to the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done’ (Psalm 78:4).

HOW DOES GROWING YOUNGER WORK?There are five main elements of the Growing Younger initiative:

4. Children’s and Families’ Missioners: Some churches (around 20 to begin with), will be offered the services of a new Children’s and Families’ Missioner, whose job, as well as modelling good practice, will be to recruit, train, equip and inspire congregations to reach out to younger generations in their parishes. These Children’s and Families’ Missioners will work 21 hours a week for three years for which they will be paid £15-18K p.a., depending on experience (paid by the Diocesan Board of Finance, full-time equivalent £25-30K p.a.). Where possible, churches will be encouraged to turn these into full-time posts at their own expense, and / or to put money aside so that the three year contract might be extended further. Expenses will also be paid by the local church. Two or more churches might work in partnership to put together a proposal for one of these Missioners if they don’t make the criteria on their own, or if they think this will enable the initiative to be more sustainable and effective in the long run.

5. A New Church: A new mission church will be set up in the centre of Birmingham, with a special focus on reaching young adults and students, complementing the existing ministries of the city centre churches. Birmingham has over 65,000 students, and 50% of the city’s one million population are under 30, so this is the final key element of the Growing Younger strategy. This will start during 2015.

1. Growing Younger in Every Parish: Each of the churches will be asked to consider prayerfully what they might do to ‘grow younger’, and what they might need along the way. Significant resources (including conferences and training courses) will be offered by the Growing Younger team to assist every church in implementing their own strategy in response to this initiative. You can read more about this at cofe.io/gyr.

2. Growing Younger Facilitators: Our two new Growing Younger Facilitators will work in a focused way with a number of churches who are keen to share the faith with younger generations, but who know they need to do fresh thinking in this area. These facilitators will be highly skilled and able to work flexibly with a wide range of churches to help them discern a vision and strategy for growing younger and to model good practice. There are no cost implications for parishes working with a Growing Younger Facilitator.

3. Mission Apprentices: Back by popular demand, we will be embarking on a second round of the Mission Apprentice scheme, increasing the numbers involved to nine. These Apprentices will be predominantly placed in more deprived areas, where they can expect high quality training as they initiate Growing

Younger projects. They will work 18 hours a week for two years for which they will be paid £10K

p.a. (paid by the Diocesan Board of Finance, full-time equivalent £20K p.a.). Parishes will be expected to make a contribution of £1,000 a year plus expenses towards their costs.

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HOW WILL GROWING YOUNGER BE ROLLED OUT?Transforming Church has always worked through the parishes and the Growing Younger initiative is the same, though rather more focused. We need to use our extra resources as wisely as possible, which will inevitably mean that some parishes benefit more than others.

Meanwhile the Church Commissioners have encouraged us to work towards certain targets as part of the initiative and to ensure that proper training and supervision is given to all involved. Those parishes allocated a Missioner, for example, will, by God’s grace, be expected to see significant spiritual and numerical growth in new worshipping disciples over the first five years. Vicars, Missioners and congregations will be given the support and help they need to make the most of this opportunity.

The Growing Younger timetable will require us all to work quite fast, and will begin with a PCC discussion around the four questions shown on the right.

Meanwhile, a member of the Growing Younger team will be visiting all the deaneries in the Autumn of 2014, to answer any questions you might have.

All parishes are asked to supply (by email to growingyounger@birmingham.anglican.org) a brief summary of their PCC discussion by the end of December 2014, along with a simple statement of interest if they wish to pursue the idea of taking on a Facilitator or Missioner individually or in partnership with another parish. Names of potential Missioners would also be appreciated here, once the job descriptions are posted on the Growing Younger web pages. From then on, the timetable will be as shown on page 4 of this booklet.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT YOUR PCC

1. What kind of structures do you currently

have in place to reach out to children, young

people, young adults and families, to draw

them into the worshipping life of the church?

2. Is there a vision and enthusiasm within the

church to develop these structures further?

3. Which of the resources on page 2 of this

leaflet might be most appropriate at this

time? The general encouragement of the

Growing Younger team or something

more specific?

4. If something more specific, who would be

willing to put together a proposal for the

services of a Facilitator or Missioner?

(Mission Apprentices will be offered, as

before, by identifying appropriate parishes

and incumbents to train an Apprentice in the

more deprived areas of the diocese.)

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Q&AWhat timetable is envisaged?

Following receipt of the statements of interest (mentioned on page 3), we will work to the following timetable:

Oct-Dec 2014 > All PCCs discuss implementing Growing Younger. Parishes send feedback and statements of interest to the Growing Younger team.

Jan-Mar 2015 > More detailed proposals for Facilitators and Children’s and Families’ Missioners are developed with individual parishes.

Apr-Jun 2015 > Job specifications are agreed for Children’s and Families’ Missioners and recruitment begins. Mission Apprentices are allocated to parishes.

July 2015 > Growing Younger is in full swing with Facilitators, Missioners and Apprentices working across 40-50 parishes.

Isn’t Growing Younger ageist?

No. There is a 25-year gap between the average age of people in our diocese (36) and the average age of our churchgoers (61). Evidence from a good number of Birmingham churches, though, shows that this situation is far from inevitable, and that churches that are intentional, prayerful and sacrificial about drawing in younger generations are generally fruitful in doing so.

The intention is not to discourage ministry among the middle-aged and elderly. It’s rather to fulfil the aspiration of Psalm 78, verse 4 (right).

On what basis will Facilitators and Missioners be allocated?

Any parish – or group of parishes – can make a proposal for a Facilitator or Missioner.

Facilitators will be allocated to parishes where there is great potential but relatively little activity among younger generations, and where the vicar and some PCC members recognise the need for significant culture change before anything else will happen.

Missioners will be allocated to parishes with the greatest potential for growth. Criteria to be used in their selection will include the size of the parish or worshipping community, the signs of life, energy and strategic vision in the parish’s annual returns, the church’s track record in releasing the ministry of others, the parish’s engagement with the wider life of the diocese; and, of course, the strength of the proposal itself.

Who will employ the Facilitators, Mission Apprentices and Missioners?

All will be employed by the Diocesan Board of Finance, though the Vicar

and PCC will take the primary role in supervision and line management.

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‘We will tell to the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done’ (Psalm 78:4).

TRANSFORMING CHURCH DIOCESAN GOAL 4:

“To develop a spiritually-enriching children’s and youth ministry in every parish and church school, encouraging clustering where appropriate.”

The Church of England, 1 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2BJT: 0121 426 0400

E: growingyounger@birmingham.anglican.org

cofebirmingham.com/growingyounger