Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to the Autumn! And it does feel autumnal as we wake in the dark and have to think really hard about which coat to wear.

This is a really exciting and rich strategy email, in three parts...

Join us to pray for our vision

Firstly, do please keep coming along to the weekly prayers on Zoom from 8.30 to 8.45 every Tuesday. It has been just joyful to gather with people from the full breadth and height of the Diocese to pray for each other and for the ongoing strategy process.

Vision Prayer Meeting

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 333 747 040 311 0

Passcode: vB6uA7Vk

Living Water: Reflections on our Diocesan Vision

In terms of the strategy process we are building on the priorities set by Diocesan Synod back in March and on all of the consultations since then.

November is a key month as we take the plans to Bishop's Council of Trustees, Bishop's Staff Meeting and Diocesan Synod in order to check that we are on the right lines and focusing on the right areas, and that there is excitement about and great confidence in what the strategy contains.

Back in the spring we produced a paper developing the core Diocesan vision of being Transformed by Christ: Prayerful, Pastoral, Prophetic. We wanted to dig into what it meant to see what God is saying to us through these ideas and where the Spirit is at work. It really helped us to find the richness and the challenge in these ideas and words.

We have now turned those pieces of writing into a flipbook which is easy to read. It is a piece of work which is the foundation of the strategy and of the future of the Diocese – do read it and then do discuss it with others in your church and elsewhere:

Which bits strike you as exciting and true?

Which bit do you need to think about a bit more?

Which idea or concept sticks with you?

Do let us know, especially if you look at it as a group or over coffee after church... 

You can download a copy by clicking here.

Sharing our story of faith

Being a disciple and knowing who Jesus is are two ideas which are going to be at the heart of the strategy as it emerges in the months ahead. We are really proud to have produced this card which you can print out and leave on the table or pew when you have coffee after church (or at any other time you gather with people from church).

Variations of this card and a range of other resources can be found on the Mission Resources page of the diocesan website.

Can you decide as a PCC to use them once a month on a set Sunday and see what God does through your speaking and listening as you bear witness to each other of what God has done in your life and is doing even now? Everyone has something to say. We all love hearing people's stories. And nothing is more exciting or important than talking of our walk with Jesus.

There are three resources here...

The card itself, which is available in various formats so you can print out and leave around on set occasions over coffee. There are also two new videos. A short intro by Revd Canon Richard Lamey and a longer video by Revd Graham Wilkins, the Rector of Cringleford, who digs into the power of story in a way which is warm, engaging and powerful. He looks at the first tellings of the Resurrection and how that example can help us have confidence in our own story of faith and belief. It is well worth investing eight minutes in.

WATCH

Revd Canon Richard Lamey and Revd Graham Wilkins discuss how and why we can most powerfully share stories of faith:

Thank you for reading – do make the most of these invitations – and do please send the email on to other people so that they can engage and join in too. 

Diocesan Strategy Group

The Bishop of Lynn, the Rt Revd Dr Jane Steen

The Bishop of Thetford, the Rt Revd Ian Bishop

Tim Sweeting, Diocesan Secretary

Revd Canon Julie Boyd, Team Rector Aylsham and District

Revd Canon Richard Lamey, Director of Mission and Ministry

Andy Sexton, Strategic Programme Manager

Diocese of Norwich

www.dioceseofnorwich.org