LSM Project Group Meeting: October 7th 2008

The Project Group met today for one of its monthly meetings. There was an opportunity to reflect on events that have taken place since the previous meeting. These included a Team Leaders Meeting which Tim N wasn't sure had achieved very much (since most of those present were also members of the LSM Project Group.) There were, however, meetings of the Ecumenical Oversight Group and the Mission Partnership Exec, both of which included significant discussions about LSM.

Those involved in the Fresh Expressions Project Group gave a brief update of their work, including plans for a Vision Day on the 15th of November.

Tim N reported on the review meeting at St Frideswide on Monday 6th October with Andrew Gear at which around 20 church members reflected on the highs and lows of their first six months as an LSM pilot. The good news is that the community is growing and feeling more confident. Small groups are developing and missionary initiatives are bearing fruit. On the negative side, there is still a certain amount of uncertainty about the future and a feeling that something needs to be done to make the project more official. Caroline Windly is going to be brought on board to help think about vocations and Tim N is going to meet the team again soon to talk about the next steps.

Member of the Project Group were pleased that things have been going well, and suggested that Wendy and Peter be invited to write a reflection about their experience – and the influence of their work together in chaplaincy on their ability to function as associate priests at St Frideswide.

The rest of the meeting focussed on the 'Priorities' document. Brenda Mosedale's comments about the term 'professional' were discussed.

Stantonbury and Willen Parish would like a presentation at some point to help them reflect on LSM. The group suggested that the key questions for ‘communications’ would be:
a)What is the difference between LSM and a shared minister?
b)How can discernment be managed?
c)How does leadership work?

It was decided that it would be good to organise an away day in the spring at which we could give more concentrated time to the project - and perhaps invite a wider group of people to share the conversation with us. A date for this will be set at the next meeting.

The next meeting will be on November 4th at 2:00pm at 1 Cottage Common.
The following meeting will be on December 9th.
Tim will be meeting the St Frideswide’s Team on 18th November.

In the meantime, Tim N agreed to rewrite the 'priorities' document with more examples, suggestions and details.

At the next meeting we will give some time to discuss a possible 'covenant' service at St Frideswide's (which may become a model for future events). We will also discuss the redrafted 'priorities' document and attempt to think further about publicity, and about expanding the conversations... Who should we speak to and how?

On Monday 6th of October, Andrew Gear and Tim Norwood met with the people of St Frideswide Water Eaton for a six month review of their Local Shared Ministry Experiment. Full details can be found on the St Frideswide page. It was agreed that the Bishop should be asked to affirm the experiment in some way - making this a more official arrangement.

I attended the Mission Partnership Exec yesterday and the Team Leaders meeting today to talk about LSM. There were some interesting comments about ordination and professional ministry...

The next Project Group meeting will be on 7th October at 2.00pm at 1 Cottage Common. We will be discussing the possible provision of an introductory course and brainstorming a communications strategy - plus regular updates...

The project group met on Tuesday afternoon at 3 Daubeney Gate. We spent a few moments updating ourselves about fresh expressions, new communities and ecumenical links, but used the majority of the time to discuss “principles”. We agreed that we are using this term to denote characteristics of communities “working towards local shared ministry”. The intention was not to produce a final and definitive statement but an expression of what LSM means for us at this point. This list would therefore be open to change and development in response to experience and further reflection.
A draft document is attached and I have also posted it on the web site: http://www.localsharedministry.org.uk with a forum placed underneath for ongoing discussion. We will review the draft document at the next meeting and make necessary changes.
There wasn’t time to discuss the possibility of providing a course, so this will be on the agenda at the next meeting on the 7th October at 2.00pm at 1 Cottage Common, Loughton. At this meeting we will also think about groups who we may need to communicate with. In the meantime Tim N will attempt raise the issue with the EOG, the Exec and the Team Leaders – as previously agreed.