The Ven. Bob Jackson led a stimulating day
on 11 Feb at Lady Manners School, Bakewell. The day was part of
the programme of training for Renewing Ministry and over 400 people
from all over the Diocese packed the school hall.
Bob Jackson addresses the conference
Bob Jackson is an experienced parish priest,
trained economist and a former member of the Springboard team.
He is author of the recently published Road to Growth and he used
his research for this book as a basis for the day conference.
Although the story of decline is serious,
Bob gave the conference many reasons for hope. In his humorous
and direct style, he alerted us to significant common causes for
decline, as well as action that can be taken to reverse decline
and encourage growth in our churches. Bob also helpfully addressed
issues that MMAs are likely to face as they develop their life.
The day included a time where people met
in church groups and were asked to identify three changes that
they were making in their local churches that were hoping them
to grow. The results of these discussions will be appearing on
the website soon.
During the conference each church was invited
to discuss and write down three ‘Changes we are making
to help us grow’ and ‘Important insights from today’.
These responses have been typed up and available for download.
