Mission Action Planning
Missional Learning Communities
- Missional Learning Communities (MLCs) help us to find God’s way forward in mission in our changing contexts and changing world – transforming the culture of the church.
- MLCs follow a three year path that gives churches a framework and resources to help them listen attentively to God and their community and decide what God might be calling them to be and do.
The combination of commitment, spiritual disciplines and practical tools make MLCs a powerful process. The evidence is that this kind of process can lead to profound and positive change. Find out more about MLCs.
Resources to Inspire & Equip you for Mission
Discerning the Mission of God through Missional Learning Communities
- P Keifert and N Rooms, Forming the Missional Church: Creating Deep Cultural Change in Congregations (Grove Pastoral P139, 2014)
- Pat Keifert, We Are Here Now. (Eagle, Idaho: Allelon Publishing, 2007)
- Nigel Rooms, Missional Church: What Does Good Look Like? (Grove Mission and Evangelism MEv 128, 2019)
For a more detailed reading list, please contact Mission & Growth Adviser Steve Coneys (07511901334)
Fresh Expressions
The Fresh Expressions website is your best starting point and the latest research on Fresh Expressions can be found on the Church Army website. The following links are particularly helpful:
- Fresh expressions in the Church of England - www.churchofengland.org/about/fresh-expressions-church-england
Greenhouse is the Church of England’s approach to establishing and growing new Christian communities. Greenhouse suits anyone who feels called to establish and grow new, robust Christian communities among people who don’t yet know Jesus. It is all explained here. - Church Army’s excellent research pages - www.churcharmy.org/our-work/research
The following are particularly helpful:- George Lings The Day of Small Things
- George Lings Encountering the Day of Small Things (summary)
- Seeing the Bigger Picture (summary of various reports)
- Playfully Serious – How Messy Churches create new space for faith
- Deepening Discipleship in Messy Church – Collaborative Research with BRF and The Church of England’s Evangelism and Discipleship Team
See also: Michael Moynagh, Being Church, Doing Life (Lion Hudson, 2014) - a good introduction to the fxC landscape
Discerning the Mission of God in general
- Mark Ireland and Mark Chew, Mission Action Planning – prayer, process and practice (Revised edition, SPCK, 2016)
- Asset Based Community Development
Growing the Church of God
- From Anecdote to Evidence (2014, Church Growth Research Programme)
- From Evidence to Action (2016 Archbishops’ Council)
- Shaping strategies for mission and growth in rural multi-church groups (2017, Archbishops’ Council)
- What makes Churches grow? – Bob Jackson, Church House Publishing
Local Data Resources
- Canterbury Diocesan Parish Data
- Church of England Interactive Parish Map
- Church of England Research and Statistics
- Church Urban Fund Poverty Map
Canterbury Attendance Reports
- Canterbury October 2024 Attendance Report, Bob Jackson et al (with forward by Steve Coneys)
- Canterbury October 2023 Attendance Report, Bob Jackson et al
- Larger Churches Day Handout (2 December 2023)
- Canterbury October 2022 Attendance Report, Bob Jackson et al
- Canterbury Easter 2022 Attendance Report, Bob Jackson