Equipped to Grow - Foundations21 in the Bristol Diocese

Paul Simmonds

We arrived in Bristol amidst great cheering. It wasn't for my wife Helen and me but for Bristol Rover's goal in a match at the ground near where we were staying. I don't know about West Country football, but when it comes to spiritual growth, Bristol Diocese is one to watch. It is not willing just to sit, wait and see what happens to the church in its area; it has committed itself to pray and work proactively for growth.

Bishop Mike Hill and his team of clergy and lay leaders are spearheading this strategy. To strengthen and encourage the churches, he spoke at three special 'Equipped to Grow' Saturdays at which BRF was invited to showcase Foundations21. Bristol Diocese was the first area of the country where people experienced Foundations21 free (or at a subsidised rate) thanks to a generous donation. It was good to meet people who had been using it. For example, a church leader from Swindon was clearly impressed with it and planned to make it available across several churches. We talked to a number of ministers who did not know about the resources for preaching provided in Foundations21 each week, with links to pages which reflect the lectionary theme for that Sunday.

Bristol is a sausage-shaped diocese, geographically speaking, with over 60 miles between Bristol at one end and Swindon at the other, two of the venues for 'Equipped to Grow'. Roughly halfway between them is Chippenham, which was our third venue. There were over 120 people at the Swindon and Chippenham events, and over 300 at Bristol.

A large number of churches sent teams, and we were extremely busy each Saturday, showing people Foundations21 and offering them a complimentary copy of 'Making Sense of the Bible'. This latest offering is a stand-alone course based on Room 2, The Bible, in Foundations21, reflecting many of the different kinds of learning activities there, including questions, video clips and reflection. It requires a leader who is confident to add their own input and happy with using PowerPoint slides as a way of taking people through the themes. 'Making Sense of the Bible' is proving to be an excellent introduction to the Bible for newish Christians and a fresh way of looking at it for those who have been reading it for longer. It is also a good way of way of helping people become familiar with the online pages and resources of Foundations21, because everyone is able to go online after each session and do their own work if they want to. You can find out more about 'Making sense of the Bible' at www.foundations21.org.uk/essentials/.

During these events Bishop Mike encouraged people to have confidence in their faith and live it out, whatever they are doing in life. With the credit crunch affecting so many people I was struck by the particular relevance of the section on Money in the Lifestyle Room in Foundations21, since it not only examines the Biblical principles of how we spend our money but has links to pages about debt and how to keep control of spending. Since then we've added some more links to help people with the issue of redundancy.

Room 12 of Foundations21, Mission, is especially relevant to the theme of 'Equipped to Grow'. One of the videos there talks about some places in the world where they can't build churches fast enough to accommodate the numbers of people wanting to come together to worship. Another speaks of the need to find new ways of 'being church' and on their website at www.bristol.anglican.org/ministry/fresh/index.html, Bristol Diocese showcases some of their attempts to do this.

In fact, Bristol Diocese has one of the best diocesan websites with lots of resources and useful stories. I met Sam Cavender, the man in charge of the website, and discussed with him the value of the Internet in Christian ministry. He pointed out some of the ways in which they have used their website to equip individuals and churches, for example their pages on the Diocesan Growth Programme, where there are stories of how people came to faith - including the Bishop's: he leads by example! I am sure you would be encouraged to read them.

Helen and I enjoyed our trips back to the West Country. Many of the churches were ones we knew from our previous work in the diocese, so it was good to hear how God had led them forward. Foundations21 is now in the hands of many individuals and church leaders, and we pray that they will find it will provide useful resources for discipleship and mission as the diocese continues to grow new Christians.

Now that Foundation21 is available at no cost, you, like the people of Bristol Diocese, can enjoy unlimited access to the thousands of web pages and over a hundred video clips that are part of the Foundations21 site. Look at our new web pages and see for yourself.

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