We have come to believe that the Lord is calling us to grow through developing Relevant Relationships:

Growing Deeper in Discipleship with God
Growing Closer in Friendship with one another
Growing Further in Partnership as we reach out.

1/ THE FAMILY TREE

The church family is like a tree, rooted in God with whom we go deeper in Word and Worship. We are united in Christ and grow closer to each other in the various expressions of our life together. As we grow, we reach out further in mission in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In John 15, Jesus pictures the healthy church as like branches of a vine, bearing fruit because they remain in him. It is a picture of fruitful growth through relationship. Growing deeper in discipleship with God means that we believe God is calling us to give attention to our personal relationship with him. Growing closer in friendship with each other means that we believe God is calling us to give attention to our relationship with each other, that our care and concern for one another is real and genuine, especially in a larger church desiring to grow. Growing further in partnership means that we believe God is calling us to reach out with the good news of Jesus in God's way. Just as Jesus came into our world to save us, we are called to go into the ‘worlds' of people outside the church.

2/ RELEVANCE

We have been asking ourselves through this year, what are the things that we assume about our church, the things that make Christ the King what it is, but are so obvious to us that we don't stop to notice them. Boil it all down, we believe that throughout the story of the church is a desire to be relevant.

This is not chasing after shallow popularity. This is rooted in a desire to enable people to truly meet Jesus in their world. In his parables, Jesus was often using examples from every day life to share his teaching to everyday people. He described what the kingdom of God was like by using illustrations in his stories that people would have understood immediately then, and which still speak to us today...he talked about building houses, farming, paying taxes, losing things, family relationships, being taken advantage of at work, overcoming prejudice, going fishing.

In the past Christ the King has avoided being ‘churchy', formal and traditional. The building itself has a more contemporary feel, worship has made use of the most up to date music and children and young people have been well catered for in a style that has been appropriate for today's younger generations. Increasingly the church is represented across all ages. Christ the King is ‘growing up' just like the Ise Lodge Estate in which we are situated. We believe that God is still calling us to be relevant to all people, and with that brings the challenge of expressing the core of what we believe in diverse ways, some new, some old.

3/ RELATIONSHIP

We have also been asking God what is uppermost on his heart for Christ the King at this stage of our life. We believe it is a focus on relationship.

If relevance is at the heart of Jesus' style of ministry, relationship is at the heart of Jesus' message. He comes to restore our relationship with God because at the heart of God is relationship...Father - Son - Spirit (see John 17:3).

Jesus ‘great command' is all about relationship - to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourself (Mark 12:28-34, see also John 15:12). One of the most frequent themes in Paul letters to the churches in the New Testament is all about their relationship with each other (eg Romans 12:9-18).

To focus on relationship with God means that we will aim to deepen our faith at a personal level.

To focus on our relationship with each other means that we will aim to develop closer friendship across church life.

To focus on our relationship with the world means that we will aim to further our partnerships with other churches and community groups, and through these discover mission opportunities.

4/ TOGETHER

As a church we want to move deeper with God, closer with each other, further in mission in partnership with others and we want to do this together as one body. But does that mean that we do all things together?

The Bible says the church is like a body. Every part is different, but important, and every part has a part to play (1 Corinthians 12). Growing Together does not have to mean all growing the same way. Instead it can mean together being committed to grow, and allowing growth to happen in different ways.

Unity does not mean uniformity. Togetherness can allow for diversity. In any family, each member is different, yet there is a ‘family likeness' when the members get together, so the same can be true in the church. On the outside our different activities, congregations, initiatives may look quite different (diversity), yet underlying them all is the same core vision (unity) - the ‘family likeness'.

What is the core vision, this 'family likeness'?
It is to develop Relevant Relationships:

Growing deeper in discipleship with God
Growing closer in friendship with each other
Growing further in partnership as we reach out
Growing Together.

5/ GROWING TOGETHER

You may be interested to read this excerpt from a survey of the 20 fastest growing Anglican churches in the UK:

"It appears that it is impossible to overstate the vital importance of Biblical relationships if a church wants to grow. In the surveys conducted church leaders and members were in full agreement that relationships are crucial, 75% of members saying ‘friends' are one of the main reasons I come to this church.

The New Testament makes it clear that, for a Christian, love that is manifested in action is essential. For "one another" Christians are to: wash feet; love; be devoted, honour; live in harmony; stop passing judgment; accept; instruct; greet with a holy kiss; agree, be perfectly united in mind and thought; serve; be humble, gentle, patient, bear with; be kind, compassionate forgiving; submit to; teach, admonish; encourage, build up; spur on towards love and good deeds; do not slander; love deeply, from the heart; live in harmony, be sympathetic, compassionate; offer hospitality without grumbling; have fellowship. Can there be any mistaking the point?

It is not surprising that churches that put time, effort and energy into encouraging relationships to be built within the church and into the community reap the benefits of God's blessing in spiritual and numerical growth."

The recent survey of the Ise Lodge Estate conducted by Christ the King concluded that the way to reach out to those who live around the church is to ‘build relevant relationships' (arriving at this phrase independently) and asked the following questions:

What relationships do we have?
What do we know about their lives?
What do we know about their faith?

The children and youth work is highly appreciated but are we succeeding in building relevant relationships with parents or just providing another activity for their children?

Going deeper with God, growing closer with each other and reaching out further to others is about using all the resources that God provides to enable us to build relevant relationships with each other with a shared vision that glues us together in unity, and to build relevant relationships with those whom God has planned for us to reach.

Revd Steve Benoy
November 2004