Every church in the Diocese of London is required to produce and renew a 'Mission Action Plan'. This is an agreed five year plan for the growth and development of the church's mission and worship.
This plan for St John's has been 18 months in the preparation. It began with the PCC (the Parochial Church Council), who defined the 'Aims' for which we exist as a church, and laid out our 'Objectives' for the coming five years. The plan was then passed onto our different congregations, via their 'Ministry Leadership Teams'. Everyone who worships regularly at St John's was given a chance to contribute to the plan.
These pages lay out a bold and imaginative plan for the future ofSt John's. It involves new challenges, and changes to some familiarpatterns. Some suggestions have already been put into practice, some parts of the plan are close to fruition, other things will take us the full five years to fulfil. The plan is not a rigid rule to limitour future as a Church, it is here to define our vision and pointout the way forward, for us, for now. We never know what lies around time's corners. What is important is that we travel together round life's twists and turns with a clear sense of purpose: to serve God, to proclaim Jesus and to love all those we encounter on the way.
Ultimately, we can only achieve what we have the time, the resources and the inclination to achieve. With just twelve men and a few women, Jesus changed the history of the world. There is no knowing what the Holy Spirit can do in 21st Century Hillingdon, if we will only let him work in us and through us.
Robert Harrison (Vicar)
November 2005