Agenda Volume 3 - Methodist Conference

59. Memorials to the Conference
Methodist Conference of 2011 wholeheartedly
affirmed the General Secretary’s
Report which states:
that making more disciples of Jesus
Christ through apt and appropriate
ways is a key priority for our Connexion
today. This involves committing
ourselves, even in a time of scarcity,
to put a disproportionate degree of
resources and energy to this end, as
the acknowledged weakest ‘health
indicator’ throughout our Connexion.
The Synod of the Newcastle upon
Tyne District expresses its concern at
the proposed budget reduction to the
VentureFX project and asks the Conference
to reinstate the previously agreed
VentureFX budget over the next two years
whilst supporting the necessary funding for
Fresh Expressions connexionally to cover
any shortfall. We believe that:
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As a matter of principle a scheme
that was approved and set up by the
Conference with agreed funding for
a specified period of time (ie not an
open-ended commitment) should
not be changed partway through the
scheme.
To move monies allocated to
VentureFX in order to fund other
fresh expressions sets one part
of the Church in competition with
another which is bad practice,
divisive, and damaging to
relationships and confidence.
It is a failure of nerve. Pioneer
ministry within the Methodist Church
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has a very different style to other
pioneering schemes and is highly
regarded across the denominations.
The recently commissioned
independent review of VentureFX
strongly supports the current
work and recommends ongoing
commitment beyond the initial first
five-years’ support for each project.
In a time when Methodist people
are being encouraged to affirm
the suggested emphasis of apt
evangelism and fresh ways of
being church as a priority this is a
negative sign in which our rhetoric
is not matched by our practice. We
ought to be supporting both Fresh
Expressions and VentureFX.
The Conference thanks the Newcastle
upon Tyne Synod for its memorial.
The Conference recalls that the
General Secretary’s Report was indeed
enthusiastically endorsed by the
Conference of 2011, and the direction
of travel that it set now shapes the way
that the Church undertakes God’s mission
across the Connexion. That journey
involves a number of key themes and
priorities, including the need to make
“more disciples of Jesus Christ through apt
and appropriate ways”.
This process of making more disciples is
wide-ranging and requires an incredibly
diverse strategy to engage with our multifaceted
world. VentureFX represents
one way in which the Methodist Church
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