LIVING FAITH

241 Pages·2013·4.45 MB·English

LIVING FAITH
RESEARCH REPORT

October 2013

112 Blandford Avenue, Kettering, NN16 9AS
T - 01536 5219 42 M - 07940 155131
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Research objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Research Method ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Clergy/LLM sample ..................................................................................................................................... 6
PCC Secretary/Church Warden sample .............................................................................................. 6
Congregation sample .................................................................................................................................. 6
Awareness of Living Faith & Level of Engagement ...................................................................... 7
Extent of engagement ................................................................................................................................ 7
Those engaging to a large extent ........................................................................................................... 8
Those not engaging at all .......................................................................................................................... 9
What hindered engagement with Living Faith ............................................................................. 12
Familiarity with purpose of Living Faith ....................................................................................... 14
Living Faith: Source of Awareness ..................................................................................................... 15
Living Faith: what is top of mind ........................................................................................................ 16
Five priorities: awareness, engagement and helpfulness .................................................... 21
Five priorities: awareness and engagement – Clergy/LLMs .................................................. 21
Five priorities: awareness and engagement – PCC/CWs ......................................................... 22
How easy it was to engage with each priority .............................................................................. 23
How useful were the 5 priorities ........................................................................................................ 24
Priority focussing ........................................................................................................................................ 24
Focus on: Sustaining the sacred centre .......................................................................................... 25
Sustaining the sacred centre: outputs (clergy/LLMs) .............................................................. 25
Sustaining the sacred centre: outputs (PCC/CWs) ..................................................................... 27
Difficulties engaging with sustaining the sacred centre ........................................................... 29
Focus on: Making Disciples .................................................................................................................... 30
2
Making disciples: outputs (clergy/LLMs) ....................................................................................... 30
Making disciples: outputs (PCC/CWs) ............................................................................................. 32
Difficulties engaging with making disciples .................................................................................. 34
Focus on: Making a difference in the world ................................................................................. 35
Making a difference in the world: outputs (clergy/LLMs) ...................................................... 35
Making a difference in the world: outputs (PCC/CWs) ............................................................. 37
Difficulties engaging with making a difference in the world .................................................. 38
Focus on: creating vibrant christian communities .................................................................. 40
Creating vibrant Christian communities: outputs (clergy/LLMs) ........................................ 40
Creating vibrant christian communities: outputs (PCC/CWs) ............................................... 42
Difficulties engaging with Creating vibrant Christian communities ................................... 44
Focus on: Shaping confident collaborative leadership .......................................................... 45
Shaping leadership: outputs (Clergy/LLMs) ................................................................................. 45
Shaping confident collaborative leadership: outputs (PCC/CWs) ....................................... 47
Difficulties engaging with Shaping confident collaborative leaders ................................... 48
Focus on: engagement with schools ................................................................................................. 50
engagement with Schools: outputs (Clergy/LLMs) .................................................................... 50
engagement with Schools: outputs (PC/CWs) .............................................................................. 51
Greatest outputs .......................................................................................................................................... 53
Top 12 doing more of – clergy/LLMs ............................................................................................... 53
Top 12 doing more of due to living faith – clergy/LLMs .......................................................... 53
Top 12 influenced by Living Faith – PCC/CWs ............................................................................. 54
Awareness, use and helpfulness of resources ............................................................................ 55
Awareness of resources ......................................................................................................................... 55
Awareness and use of resources: Clergy/LLMs ........................................................................... 56
Awareness and use of resources: PCC/CWs .................................................................................. 57
3
Helpfulness of resources: clergy/LLMs ........................................................................................... 57
Helpfulness of resources: PCC/CW .................................................................................................... 58
How good a use of resources ................................................................................................................ 59
Volume of resources .................................................................................................................................. 59
Living Faith attitude statements ........................................................................................................ 60
Who has been developing Living Faith at the local level ...................................................... 61
Who took the lead in developing Living Faith .............................................................................. 61
Living Faith Outcomes .............................................................................................................................. 62
Living Faith: outcomes (clergy/LLMs) ............................................................................................. 62
Living Faith: outcomes (clergy/LLM) Those engaging more with Living Faith .............. 63
Living Faith: outcomes (clergy/LLMs) Those engaging a little with Living Faith ......... 64
Living Faith: outcomes (PCC/CWs) Those engaging more with Living Faith .................. 65
Living Faith: outcomes (PCC/CWs) Those engaging a little with Living Faith ................ 66
Greatest changes in church as a result of Living Faith ........................................................... 67
Greatest impact on the local community ....................................................................................... 69
Sugestions for the future ........................................................................................................................ 71
Helpfulness of suggested improvements ........................................................................................ 71
Suggestions for future improvement (clergy/LLMs) ................................................................. 71
Suggestions for future improvement (PCC/CWs) ....................................................................... 74
How could Living Faith have been made easier to engage with? ..................................... 77
Other comments .......................................................................................................................................... 79
LIVING FAITH RESEARCH SUMMARY ...................................................................................... 81
Appendices ..................................................................................................................................................... 82
Appendix 1: Listing of open‐ended comments ............................................................................. 82
Appendix 2: Questionnaires ................................................................................................................. 82
Appendix 3: Sample details .................................................................................................................. 82
4
BACKGROUND

The diocese of Oxford is the largest in terms of churches, with 843 across 626 parishes
and an electoral roll of over 50,000. In order to help unify the diocese it set up the Living
faith initiative in 2009 that aims to bring the diocese together under one vision, set of
values, purpose and set of priorities. The central priority of Living Faith priorities is:

 Sustaining the sacred centre

and the others priorities are:
 Making disciples
 Making a difference in the world
 Creating vibrant Christian Community
 Shaping confident collaborative leadership.

A wide variety of communications and resources have been developed by the diocese
including course guides, leaflets, prayer guides, mission guidance and DVDs. Research
was needed to help the diocese understand how effective the Living Faith initiative has
been and provide guidance on further development.
The research focussed on the five priorities, looking at these three areas:

Inputs ‐ the Living Faith initiative, communications, materials and stimulus
Outputs ‐ the activities and actions prompted by Living Faith
Outcomes ‐ what has changed as a result of Living Faith

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1. To give a voice to as many people as possible through the research
2. To provide a benchmark of how well Living Faith has permeated the diocese
a. Awareness
b. Motivations and barriers to engagement
c. Levels of engagement
d. Enthusiasm for Living Faith
3. To assess the effectiveness of the Living Faith INPUTS
4. To investigate what OUTPUTS there have been as a result of Living Faith
5. To understand what OUTCOMES have resulted from Living Faith, and explore
how these might be making a difference in the diocese
6. To provide guidance on the future of Living Faith

5
RESEARCH METHOD

Three web‐based surveys were conducted with the following groups:

1. Clergy and Licensed Lay Ministers (clergy/LLMs)
2. PCC Secretaries/Church Wardens (PCC/CWs)
3. Members of church congregations

The first two surveys were by email invite only, the third was an open invite to members
of church congregations. The fieldwork took place June to August 2013

Here is a brief outline of each sample, more details can be found in Appendix 3.

CLERGY/LLM SAMPLE

296 Clergy and LLMs completed the questionnaire, giving a 31% response rate. 64%
were male and 36% female. 64% were aged 54 to 64. Around half served in rural
locations. 56% had been in the current role for less than five years. 70% had more than
one church in their parish or benefice.

The breakdown by role was as follows:
 33% Rector/Vicar
 19% Curate in training
 18% LLM
 17% Associate clergy
 6% Team vicar
 4% Priest in charge

PCC SECRETARY/CHURCH WARDEN SAMPLE

383 completed the questionnaire, giving a 19% response rate. 68% were Church
Wardens and 30% PCC Secretaries. 77% were aged over 54. 54% had been in their role
for less than five years. Over 70% were based in rural areas.

CONGREGATION SAMPLE

Only 106 church members responded to the survey, most of whom held responsible
post within their church. Due to the relatively low response from congregation
members, findings have only been analysed qualitatively, as the sample is not robust
enough for a quantitative analysis.

6
AWARENESS OF LIVING FAITH & LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT
Awareness of Living Faith was high with 95% of Clergy/LLMs and 76% of PCC/CWs
aware.
Those aware of Living Faith were asked to what extent they had engaged with it. The
majority had engaged to either ‘some extent’ or a ‘small extent’: 75% of clergy/LLMs
and 55% of PCC/CWs.
EXTENT OF ENGAGEMENT

Clergy/LLM 7% 36% 39% 14% 4%
PCC/CW 8% 26% 29% 14% 21%
% of total
To a large extent To some extent To a small extent Not at all Not aware

The following table looks at extent of engagement by role within the church. Sample
sizes are as follows: Main Clergy (127), Other clergy/LLMs (153),PCC Secs (116) and
Church wardens (262). Main Clergy includes priests in charge, rectors, vicars and team
vicars. Other clergy/LLMs includes: associate clergy, curates in training, and LLMs.
As might be expected, main clergy claimed higher levels of engagement than others.
Main Other
Total PCC Sec Wardens
Clergy Clergy/LLMs
To a large extent 7% 7% 7% 6% 9%
To some extent 30% 43% 29% 29% 24%
To a small extent 33% 36% 41% 31% 28%
Not at all 14% 13% 16% 12% 16%

7
THOSE ENGAGING TO A LARGE EXTENT
7/8% of respondents claimed to have engaged ‘to a large extent’. The clergy/LLMs more
likely to engage to a large extent were female, catholic, liberal, aged over 45. In addition,
PCC/CW respondents who were more likely to engage to a large extent were found in
churches that were larger, growing, urban, liberal.
Clergy and LLMs who had engaged to a ‘large extent’ commented that Living Faith had
become integral to the vision, strategy or life of their church. Here are a few examples of
what was written:
We have built it into our vision document, used the graphic in our branding, and
run regular courses linked to its themes
We have built our parish strategy (and now our Mission Action Plan) around it.
We have used the 'living faith' phrase in parish communications: website, on
sweatshirt, pewsheet etc.
When we drew up a 5 year Vision Document (effectively a Mission Action Plan)
in 2011 we used the headings and format of 'Living Faith' as our model.
We have followed each strand and made it the focus for our vision each year
All our mission planning is based around the 5 strands
Used it as the foundation for our vision statement and used each year's theme
although always a year or two behind the diocese as needed time to settle into
parish.
Living Faith was being developed as I arrived in the parish and was beginning to
consider vision with my PCC. It came at the right time and we were able to adopt
the strategy and customise it for our context. We have developed a parish logo &
strapline ‐ Living Faith in Burghfield. Easy to remember!
We use the five stands as areas in our MAP (and did before I arrived too). Our
logo had picked up and developed the paint palette. We have attended the
various conferences and meetings around it. We have the leaflets available
prominently in church. We find it helpful in our planning.
We have deliberately synchronised our own 5‐year vision programme with
Diocesan LF. We changed a couple of the strands a bit, and we didn't use the
logo, but the core 5 strands were the same.
Our PCC agenda is set to the 5 principles of Living Faith
My training incumbent uses it as a framework for our DCC meetings to think
about our life as church. We use the literature and we follow as much as we can
the aspects of living faith in each year.
8
Across the Benefice all the churches have focused on a specific Living Faith
aspect each year. The topics have been the focus of sermons, outreach and
mission, PCC discussions etc.
We have used the different areas as our focus for each year.
It has helped us focus our aims and objectives
It has shaped All Saints' Vision Strategy including the structuring of the
interview process for Team rector of the Wycombe Team Ministry.

PCC Secretaries/Church Wardens who had engaged to a ‘large extent’ also commented
that Living Faith had become integral to the vision, strategy or life of their church. Here
are a few examples of what was written:
Because "Living Faith" forms the framework for the parish's 5 year development
plan and progress is regularly reviewed at PCC meetings. It also serves as a
reference point for new ideas and plans, as in: "Is what we are proposing
consistent with what we have said in our "Living Faith" statement.
Everything that we do is reviewed in the context of the five strands of the Living
Faith and these run through our future plans.
Living Faith runs through our Mission Action Planning, which is regularly
reflected upon and reviewed at PCC meetings. Our incumbent preaches regularly
to the congregation about the various strands of Living Faith and as a church we
are aware which strand we are focusing on for this year.
The Living Faith priorities underpin the strategic planning of the PCC.
We are working through a five year plan based on Living Faith. The plan has
been published by the PCCs of the two churches in the Benefice in a booklet
entitled. ‘Living Faith 2011‐2015' available to the congregation and generally...

THOSE NOT ENGAGING AT ALL
14% were aware of Living Faith but had not engaged with it at all. The clergy/LLMs less
likely to engage were male, serving churches in cities/large towns, evangelical, aged
under 45.
There were a range reasons for not engaging at all with Living Faith, including:
 Time of change at church
 Lack of relevance due to church being too small, elderly, rural, part of LEP, etc.
 Little awareness of Living Faith
 Churches taking no action other than making literature available
 Negative attitudes
9
Examples of comments relating to time of change at the church (Clergy/LLMs):
Messy time in the Parish (involving a previous Vicar who didn't play nicely with
others and pastoral reorganisation) which meant that they've just done what
they could and not worried too much about the rest.
I arrived here halfway through the initiative. I had very much appreciated it in
my previous parish, but felt that the best way forward here was through the
structure of the Parish Profile. This includes the Sharing Life aspects, but
delivered in a way more pertinent to this parish.
Interregnums x 2 in last 3 years, not grounded or led here,
Our previous church leader (now retired) decided not to engage with it.

Examples of comments relating to time of change at the church (PCC/CW):
We are in an interregnum and having difficulty keeping our usual work going.
Sadly times have not been as easy this year, apart from major building works ,
we have struggled to form a PCC and we have had no encouragement from our
vicar to have anything to do with 'Living Faith'

Examples of comments relating lack of relevance (clergy/LLM):
I am not sure where the interface between Living Faith and a small rural parish
exists. I am not sure why I should be really aware of it either.
As a small LEP in the community life is too busy

Examples of comments relating lack of relevance (PCC/CW):
Very small church with Electoral Roll of 8
We have a very small congregation who live in a widely spread area.
We are a small traditional community and church with mainly retired age
parishioners
We are a very small elderly congregation in a small village
Example of comments relating to low awareness of Living Faith (Clergy/LLM):
I have seen no literature or heard it spoken about
(PCC/CW):
Only heard about it about six weeks ago at Church Warden's visation evening
10