"Nurturing what God has given us here to be an increasingly effective

centre for our community, giving people of every age the opportunity
to experience the love of God in Jesus through the Spirit for
themselves."

That's a huge statement of intent - but how should we be putting it into action in 2011? Each year,
we talk and pray towards a Mission Action Plan to help answer that question. Overleaf you will find
some of the details of our plans and aspirations under five core values - and below are some of the
‘big picture’ highlights to look out for (and get involved in) throughout 2011....

headlines and highlights...

biblefresh : We’re part of an initiative across hundreds of churches around the UK, using the
400th anniversary of the finishing of the KJV translation of the Bible as a reason to refocus on the
Scriptures. Through 2011, we’ll be aiming to:
Ÿ ...encourage Bible reading through access to resources such as Bible-reading notes.
Ÿ ...support and build the numbers of people meeting regularly to study the Bible.
Ÿ ...training for children’s and youth teams in helping the young read God’s Word.
Ÿ ...build our Digging Deeper short courses - with a particular focus on Lent this year.
Ÿ ...raise money for the Bible Society funding translation efforts around the world.
Ÿ ...find creative ways to help local people discover the Bible for themselves.

children and youth groups : We want Sundays to be unmissable for

children and teenagers in All Souls - and somewhere they want to invite their friends! The
recent challenge of two services, increasing numbers and the length of time we’ve been
running the groups this way, means we are ready for change. We’ll have a new structure
early in 2011 and develop it through the rest of the year.

ivybridge : The Estate is now part of our parish and we are committed to creating a
long-term strategy for our service of and outreach there. This will involve finding ways to
support and increase our Sunday team running ICC and seeking God’s direction for reaching
out to those who don’t already come and making a difference to the needs of the area.

baptism : Many people make first contact with All Souls through a baptism service, as
parent, family or friend. We want to develop a baptism strategy to help us make the most of
the contacts we have and to help families understand and engage with the promises they are
making. We’re looking at, for example, asking church parents who’ve recently had a child
baptised if they would be ‘linked to’ a new household asking about baptism.

celebrations : We’ve enjoyed the chance to join bring the two services together a few
times in 2010 for special occasions including our 10th Birthday Weekend with Bishop Paul
and also for Pentecost. We’re going to build these celebrations into the calendar for the year
- including Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, but also two or three other special Sundays
(alongside the ‘quieter Sundays’ over the summer).

sustainable living : We’re committed to ongoing reduction of the church’s

carbon footprint and encouraging one another to think radically about the lives we lead and
our impact on those who have so much less. We will continue to improve the efficiency of
our buildings and to preach on God’s very best for our lives - beyond the assumption of
“more is better”.

I hope you find reading those headlines - and the more detailed plans and suggestions
overleaf - whets your appetite for what's ahead in 2011. I'm looking forward to another
year leading and being a member of All Souls and discovering that God always has more
in store than we can imagine!
 the
...it’s not about us
This underpins the rest - not something that leads to a series of plans, but that reminds
us Jesus is to be the focus of our Sunday services, our daily lives and in planning our
future as a church.

...building a welcoming & caring

community
...plan Celebration Sundays for the morning and afternoon services to come together
...establish at least one more Home Group and encourage an more to belong
...be more creative and frequent with socials and encourage ways to grow community
...new ways of giving opportunities for receiving personal prayer on Sundays and in groups
...a Welcome leaflet and the newcomers parts of our website to help people belong
...and we're thinking about: ways to help children and teens belong (e.g. midweek
teens hubs)

...making a difference in our world

of all souls in 2011

...focus time and leadership resources on developing our presence on the Ivybridge
Estate and develop a long term plan for ministry and mission in that part of the Parish
...build on this year's new links with Worple and Ivybridge Schools
...continue to cut our site’s carbon footprint as an act of compassion towards the
world’s poorest
...make preaching on lifestyle choices a core part of our year's Biblefresh initiative.
...build on the impact of Little Souls carers’ & toddlers’ group serving local families
...host the Big Lunch and other community initiatives
...and we're thinking about: marriage, money and parenting courses

...helping each other grow in faith

...make use of the resources and opportunities of the nationwide Biblefresh initiative,
feeding into our Digging Deeper courses, Home Groups, prayer/bible triplets and
preaching and web resources
...develop a lending library of Christian books, teaching CD's and small group resources
...roadtest a discipleship course run through the year based on the Why Jesus? model
...repeat and develop the 'Count Me In' campaign next summer to help people make
most use of their gifts within the life of the church
...and we're thinking about: external courses; restart the blog and look at podcasting

...introducing people to Jesus

...build on the foundation of our Monday Communion to reach more local older people
...build on our 'Messy Church' outreach from Little Souls making more of local contacts
...improve our ‘face’ to the community - our front garden, windows, wall, front door &c
...develop a Baptism leaflet and course for parents to help us make the most of
opportunities to explain the Good News of Jesus in this context
...work with the Primary School and teenage members of All Souls to give them
opportunities they'll want to invite their friends to
...and we're thinking about: Biblefresh initiatives to help local schools explore the
Bible, perhaps particularly around Easter and Christmas