St. Luke's Mission Action Plan 

MAP
Mission:  St. Luke’s: inviting everyone to join God’s party of love
Vision:     St. Luke’s Church, Eltham Park: a place of healing and celebration – open to all.

Our Vision and priorities in summary:

Open to all:

• Open to all who join God’s party of love - inclusive church
• Open doors - connections with our community
• Open spaces - creation and eco church – forest church

Healing place:

• Healthy church – confident disciples and church as a place to feel well
• Healing and wholeness for our community – well-being & fitness ministry
• Care for all - pastoral – all ages

Celebration:

• Celebrating the Eucharist - making Jesus present in communion, the Gospel and each other
• Socials – a place to connect and find friendship
• Music – hearing our whole church sing

 
Our Context:
The parish profile and accompanying data
 
Our Values:
 
Open – To be open to God the Trinity, encountered through Scripture, Sacrament and Spirit; to be open in our faith as we grow and develop as a church; to be open to others as we share God’s radical love together; to be open to creation; to be open to our parish and its needs.


Healing – To follow Jesus the healer seeking to become a healthy church which focuses on healing and wholeness; to sow seeds of God’s hope and light to our community and our world; to care for all ages in our community; to create a safe space where all can belong.
 
Celebration – To make Jesus present in our parish celebrating Mass, sharing the Gospel and meeting together; to glorify God as we celebrate that we are redeemed, living in the light of the resurrection; to live life in all it fulness, in faith not fear; to be as little children exploring our playful nature as we bring in the kingdom of God.
 
Our Priorities  - To be healthy as a church – open to all and remaining open; to be a community which celebrates faith and shares God’s love.
 
 

 
MAP Priority 1 – Open

1. We aim to be open to all who join God’s party of love.
2. We aim to open our doors as we connect with our community
3. We aim to go outside to our open spaces to connect with God in creation

Action:

1. Explore joining inclusive church – learning about diversity
2. Audit how open we are to diversity in all aspects of our church life (gender, race, sexuality, age, ability, socio-economic etc.)
3. Actively learn about and listen to all of our parish – open our eyes, minds and hearts to all we serve – what is life really like and what can we offer? 
4. Open doors – aim to open the church building more through increasing our activities – fitness; concerts;
5. Openness by improving our communications – update our website, social media, posters, banners, notice board
6. Open our doors and take church out to our community – explore church gatherings in parish locations; visibly taking part in local things – being present.  Connect with churches together and potentially the group ministry. 
7. Start forest church – once a month initially
8. Explore how our green spaces around church could be updated and open to all
9. Eco-church progression to silver award

 
 
MAP Priority 2 - Healing

1. We aim to be a healthy church – with confident disciples
2. We aim to be a place of healing and safety
3. We aim to be a place which cares for all ages

Action:

1. Healthy church – clear on our identity and who we are – creating worship which expresses our love for God, understanding why we do what we do – teaching and learning together through sermons, discussion groups, Bible study
2. Healthy balance – having a good balance of being and doing – finding ways to make life easier for volunteers, sharing the load, and cutting unnecessary jobs or activities which are not bringing joy or serving our purpose
3. Healthy finances – begin with getting ourselves right first – e.g. manage the hall more effectively to generate more income, discuss with the diocese ideas about things like stewardship campaigns, identify other ways to generate income from our resources, consider having a year out from giving financially to other charities and finding alternative ways to give to ensure our strength for the future 
4. Healing and wholeness – start the fitness ministry
5. Healing and wholeness – explore opportunities to share the Gospel in the language of wellness understood in today’s world – Guid of St. Raphael healing course and explore becoming a healing hub
6. Healing and wholeness – being safe - safeguarding – audit our current set up and action all that needs to be put in place 
7. Self-care – establishing rules of life, going deeper into faith and developing our prayer lives - establishing ways to be church which support busy lives.
8. Care for others – start a pastoral care team - care for older generation / housebound – connecting and including – start a mini magazine
9. Care for children – create a team, bubble church, outreach through school’s work for primary age, brownies/guides build connections, MU explore how support of families in Eltham Park can be developed, pre-school group, confirmation and first communion

MAP Priority 3 – Celebration

1. We celebrate the Eucharist – aiming to make Jesus present in communion, the Gospel and each other
2. We aim to be a church which connects, parties and shares our life together
3. We aim to celebrate God’s party with music to make our whole church sing

Action:

1. Celebrating the Eucharist is at our heart – becoming more active participants in the Mass - midweek communions – increasing accessibility for all ages, abilities and wherever we are on our faith journey
2. Celebrating the story we live – sharing the Gospel – hearing all voices
3. Celebrating each other and recognising vocations – sharing our ministry together – increase rota participants 
4. Celebrating regular social events and acknowledging the importance of our social gatherings as part of church – ensure a cosy space for after church refreshments, support and encourage wider participation of the fellowship, MU, craft fair and Christmas fair.
5. To have regular parties and enjoy each other’s company – PCC parties, newcomer’s lunch at the vicarage, picnics in the summer, celebration drinks for special occasions, trips.
6. To laugh together and cry together – to create space for joy and laughter in our worship and our church life as well as quiet reflection and lamenting when needed, journeying together - organise a pilgrimage. 
7. To use the music budget to pay for a church musician to advise us how to develop our music.
8. To increase our live music - remove the old organ and use the temporary organ and piano as well as those who play musical instruments – look at how to begin a small choir for occasional events.
9. To increase the variety of our music in our worship to reflect all tastes and expressions of worship – have a regular favourite hymn or song and why.