Agenda Volume 3 - Methodist Conference

57. The Fruitful Field Project
Christian communities of faith, hope
and love. “Do not lag in zeal, be ardent
in spirit, serve the Lord.” 16
124 As a submission made by a District
officer noted, it is important to
support Circuits and Local Churches
as they “reflect on the nature of
their current discipleship, on their
engagement with mission in their
localities, and on how the Circuits
and Local Churches need to make
changes to the way in which they
have operated in recent decades, in
order to face up to the challenges
of being Methodism in the current
century.” Support offered here will,
as a District officer’s submission
noted, need to “recognise the impact
of recent and on-going changes in
ministry within Circuits. The Church
will need ordained and lay people
who are trained in approaches to
collaborative ministry (in all its
forms) in the new types of Circuit
and Circuit missional aims and
structures which are emerging in very
different ways across the Connexion.
This includes very different sizes of
Circuits in different places, for good
missional reasons. The pattern of
the Church across the Circuits is now
far less homogeneous and far more
complex, with the level of complexity
and difference developing rapidly.”
The focus must be on the missionfocused
context of Circuits and Local
Churches, and on supporting apt and
effective witness and presence in
changing circumstances. As a District
officer’s submission noted, “to be a
discipleship movement shaped for
mission that will be here in 20 to 30
years time, the Church, and therefore
its training and development, needs
to be culturally and contextually
relevant to the emerging cultures.”
Scholarship, research and innovation
125 The final core purpose of the Network
is to nurture apt and excellent
scholarship, research and innovation
within the Network to inform, equip
and challenge the Connexion:
supporting academic studies and
research projects, intentionally
enabling and encouraging innovative
and creative thinking across the
Network, and ensuring that insights
and outcomes are shared across and
beyond the Network and the Church.
126 As a submission from a tutor made
during the consultation period noted,
“the jury is out when it comes to
the long term survival of theology
as an academic discipline within the
university. Nevertheless, the Church
should be committed to the highest
form of intellectual inquiry, and this
would undoubtedly remain within
the vocation of some people, places
and pathways, but much more firmly
rooted in the Church.” The Methodist
Church has a strong tradition of work
in this area. A Circuit’s submission
noted that British Methodism has
“punched above its weight” in several
theological disciplines, producing,
16
Romans 12:11
692 Conference Agenda 2012