JourneyOnline
AS THE Together on the way, enriching community journey continues Church members from all over Queensland are reflecting on the future of the Church in their own context.
In the light of the Church’s 2020 Call and Vision, five areas of priority for the next two years have been identified.
Priority Direction E looks at “Engaging in opportunities for intentional, open community connections and partnerships”.
At this stage this group is focused essentially towards congregations rather than agencies, as agencies are already engaged in community.
The group’s report to the 29th Synod say true community engagement will “require cultural change in terms of how as a whole church we understand and approach engaging with our communities as connections and partnerships rather than as charity.”
The group noted the need to learn from the wider community in terms of what partnerships are required.
“We believe that just as we have had the ecumenical question and the youth question on our agenda, community engagement should be on all agendas,” the report said.
“We believe that there are already great stories of the church involved in community engagement that can inspire and excite other groups. Initial energy can be spent in gathering these stories so that they can be shared.”
As always, the key to “engaging in opportunities for intentional, open community connections and partnerships” is developing relationships with people in the communities we serve.
