RURAL MISSION NETWORKS
Online Mission Forum
Rural Missions hosts regular Online Mission Forums for Rural and Village churches to discuss key issues affecting the Church.
The objective of our Forums is sharing insights, knowledge and experience, thereby encouraging and supporting rural churches in their mission. This is a great way to network, engage and share with others in similar positions.
Who would benefit from this?
While the forum is open for anyone to attend, it is particularly helpful for all who serve their local church in any rural setting, lay or ordained. This could include clergy, licensed lay ministers, PCC members, free-church deacons, church wardens, etc.
The forum will have several key parts, which include:
An introduction, which includes looking at one or more scriptures focused on Mission.
A presentation from a guest speaker, or one of the Rural Missions team.
Small group Discussion - some of the time will be in the form of conversations, where small groups share information about their church and their experiences engaging with the wider community.
Feedback sessions, where each group provides a brief overview and reflections from their discussion.
Missional Networks
These are deliberately fairly small and intimate gatherings of rural church leaders, both lay and ordained. The ideal number is capped at 30, but should be at least 12 participants.
Ideally, Rural Missions looks for a partner body in order to localise arrangements as much as possible. A warm but well-ventilated room with reasonably comfortable seating will be required. Digital projection will be used and Rural Missions can provide equipment if it is not available at the venue. The event usually starts with coffee from 10.30 am , followed by a short act of worship. It concludes no later than 4.00 pm.
We work with our local partners to invite local church leaders who live within a ten to fifteen mile radius. It always helps to get a mix of denominational representation. In any Consultation there is likely to be people with varying levels of experience. The opening session enables each person to introduce themselves and state on matter that has been an encouragement and one that has been a challenge. It doesn't take long for attendees interacting and offering to share their experiences. At the same time the Consultation facilitators from Rural Missions are carefully noting issues to which they can respond.
After the introductions, there will be the first of two key presentations, followed by a question and answer session which takes us to a buffet lunch.
After lunch, we are ready to deliver the second key talk with a question and answer session. The final session in the afternoon is designed to ensure that we have not failed to address the concerns of all who have attended. It also provides the opportunity to introduce the concept of creating a more regular network gathering.
We then encourage Missional Networks to meet six times a year and follow a proven pattern for a two-hour meeting.
Rural Evangelism Network
The Rural Evangelism Network was founded back in 1982 as a space for organisations / denominations and networks to gather to discuss, pray and share together on how evangelism might be shaped across our country. The network has not convened in some time, and as Rural Missions currently holds the responsibility for overseeing the network, we are exploring what this looks like into the future. Here is the list of the current members of the network.