Parish Profile: St Nicholas Allington 2009
We hope this Parish Profile will help you to build up a picture of who we are: our people, our activities, our resources and our community.
Our vision and mission
We want St Nicholas Church to be at the heart of our community: a place where God's love is expressed through our relationships and activities; where the Good News of Jesus Christ is taught and understood; where God's power to heal and to save is experienced; where God's people are encouraged and built up to go out as His ambassadors into their neighbourhood.
We want our church building to be a beacon of God's love for Allington; for our doors to be open to all, for this to be a place where everyone feels welcome and accepted; where anyone can come to talk or to pray, to be quiet with their own thoughts, or to hear a message of hope for the future.
Our mission is to make this vision a reality, so that together we can make a real difference for good in our community!
Our strengths
- We are a welcoming, caring church with strong social networks
- We offer different styles of worship
- We have a range of talents and gifting within the congregation
- We are a traditionally-based church but becoming more mission focused
- Many in the congregation take an active part in running the services
- We are a prayerful and outward looking people of God
- We offer child and family-friendly services
- Many are willing to embrace change
Challenges we face
- Having an uneven spread of ages within the congregation, with the majority being older people
- Developing stewardship within the church - time, talents and giving
- Developing children's, youth and family ministry both inside and outside the church
- Expanding our outreach within the parish, especially to the housing developments which are some distance from the church
- Encouraging the congregation to greater discipleship, for example increasing the numbers in Home Groups and doing regular Bible study
- Making ourselves and our message relevant in today's world