“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19
Bolton North and East Mission Community brought members of its parishes together this weekend at St Andrew’s Church, Bromley Cross. The aim was to gather together to celebrate all that the parishes have achieved in recent years and to set plans in place to work collaboratively on missional events over the coming months.
Following collective worship, each parish took some time to review their recent activities and events that had made the most impact in their communities. Participants shared their recent successes which included new family services, Remembrance parades, choir concerts, family fun days and a wide variety of social events.
The groups were then asked to think about new opportunities to which they could invite the entire mission community. Over the next 12 months, each parish will lead a new missional event or service - from Chocolate Cake Day to National Tea Day, World Thinking Day to St Andrew’s Day - there are some interesting, and tasty new things to look forward to!
While each parish will be responsible for leading their event, volunteers and supporters will be drawn across the mission community enabling parishes to work closer together around the Bolton North and East Area.
The mission community has worked together previously and, as a result, was able to make a bigger impact on the community it serves. Last Christmas, there was record demand for toys received from schools in Breightmet as the cost of living crisis hit. The team shared an appeal with the wider mission community and over 400 children received a gift, who might otherwise have gone without.
The final stage of the event was to establish two causes that the entire mission community could work on together. Those in attendance agreed that their areas of focus for 2024 would be:
- Ecology – working together to reduce their environmental impact and encourage wildlife to flourish in churchyards.
- Alzheimer's and dementia – to ensure our churches are welcoming to all.
Volunteers will now be joining mission community working groups to take these two areas of mission forward.
Children at the service were active participants too. Alongside creative crafts led by Jo Haslam, they made suggestions for events they would like to see in the future. A popular idea was making the fun days at St James’ open to every child across the mission community.
The Revd Viv Masters, Acting Mission Community Leader, led the session supported by Revd Simon Cook, Area Dean, and clergy from across the mission community.
‘We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing this. It allows us to do something and do it well. It’s a beginning, a step along the way, and most importantly it's an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.’ (Shane Claiborne)