Pelton This church’s Mission Statement was expressed as ‘aims’: To continue to provide and maintain a place of worship for all local people. The most effective methods are to continue to organise church activities which include the local populace as often as possible. Their 3 priorities were: 1
Increased membership
2
Improving/updating premises
3
Ensuring more involvement in the community
Again, maintenance rather than mission together with a strongly place-centred concept of church stood out here. Whilst maintenance was clearly the church’s first concern, there was also a recognition of the need to engage with the local community, including in 3 above the need for church people to be involved in the community, rather than merely expecting the community to come to the church. This was reflected to some extent in the church’s activities, particularly with respect to children and the way church members were involved in local schools. Also, the church hoped to use the premises for a socially-based activity such as clothes exchange.183 Neither in its written response nor in talking to the Church Council did I detect any underpinning theological basis for the church’s approach.
West Pelton West Pelton did not have a formal Mission Statement, but saw its main purpose as: Maintain a Christian presence in the village, and provide a place of worship. To reach out into the community and care for those in the wider world. It felt that the activities which attracted people from the wider community (line dancing, ladies’ circle) and its ecumenical links helped to achieve this, but felt it needed also to ‘try and define the heart of the community’ and ‘find inroads into the community’. It also expressed the need to do more for younger people, but accepted that outside help was needed for this.
This church’s primary purpose (ie the one it mentions first) sounded very much like that of Perkinsville – survival. Problems with vandalism had led to something of a siege 183
This has been incorporated into a weekly morning ‘Pop-in’.
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