Growing in Christ - Executive Summary
This proposal sets out a new way forward for our churches in the Merthyr Tydfil Ministry Area. It’s about helping us grow - spiritually, in our relationships, in confidence, and in numbers - as we grow together in Christ.
Growth is central to our Christian journey as we deepen our knowledge, love, and experience of Christ through study, prayer, and intentional discipleship.
By growing together in unity - encouraging one another and proclaiming Christ in our community - we aim to see the church in this Ministry Area flourish in Him.
The plan comes in response to many of the challenges we’ve been facing: smaller congregations, fewer volunteers, and a lot of pressure on clergy.
It’s been shaped by listening to people across all our churches, through workshops, surveys, and conversations.
The hope is to build something fresh, joyful, and life-giving.
At the heart of this plan is a desire to be united - not just in name, but in spirit and purpose.
We want to move from each church working alone to working together as one family of faith.
One big change is how and when we worship. Instead of spreading ourselves thinly across many small Sunday services, we’re proposing to have three Sunday services across the Ministry Area.
One Main Eucharistic Service. This service will have a sense of joy, and anticipation as people come together, which would be in line with what most of our churches currently do.
One Main Worship Service. This will be an informal, exciting and energetic service where anything could happen. Aimed at engaging people of all ages and abilities.
A Simple Said Eucharist. This would be an intimate, traditional and liturgical service.
All of these services will be warm, welcoming, and well-resourced, with a mix of traditional and more modern worship. We’ll also offer midweek services and special gatherings throughout the year.
Mission is also a big focus. We’re taking a stepped approach - strengthening what we already do well and preparing our people for mission.
Then, we’ll launch new projects to reach out to our wider community, especially in places where there is need.
We’ll also improve communication - using websites, social media, email, printed materials, and noticeboards - to keep everyone informed and connected.
And we’ll bring our money together into one central pot, so we can support each other better, finance our mission activities and plan wisely for the future.
This plan encourages more lay involvement, with teams looking after different areas of church life - from buildings and finance to welcome, fellowship, and mission. Clergy will still lead, but they’ll be part of a team working alongside others.
Some of this may not be easy, but with God’s help and our shared commitment, we believe it will be the beginning of something very exciting. We’re invited to step out in faith, trust in God, and support each other as we move forward together.
10 Key Messages
We’re focusing on growing together in Christ.
We’ll move from many small services to three each Sunday, supported by midweek worship too.
We’ll strengthen what we already do well and prepare our people for mission.
Then, we’ll launch new projects to reach our communities with God’s love.Lay people will take on more responsibility in teams, helping to run and shape church life.
We’ll improve how we share information—online, in print, in person—so everyone stays in the loop.
Instead of each church managing its own money, we’ll bring it together to meet the needs of our ministry area as a whole.
We’ll invest more in digital outreach to connect with people who may never have stepped into a church before.
Our church life will be planned carefully to make sure it’s sustainable and help us enjoy being church together.
Everyone will be welcomed and newcomers supported with simple tools like welcome packs, mentors, and friendly invitations.
This is a significant change, but if we trust God and each other, we believe the best is yet to come.