Anthony Clowes, Leadership Coach for the Joshua Centre speaks to us about his role and how the future looks linking in with Fit for Mission and continuing to focus on the resourcing and multiplying of new congregations across the Diocese.
As an ordained Methodist Minister, he also works as a Church Planting Officer for the Methodist Church in Manchester and as a freelance coach. He moved to Liverpool last year along with his wife, three children and our foster son and together they attend St. James in the City.
What are the challenges that you encounter when setting up new congregations and how do you try and overcome them?
A few years ago, Bishop Paul stated that ‘the royal road to church growth is in multiplying congregations.’ I passionately believe that planting new congregations holds the greatest potential for reaching new people with the good news of Jesus. However, if this dream is to become a reality, then it is vital that we encourage and equip our ordained leaders and lay members with all the tools that they need to start new faith communities. This will require a focus of recourses in terms of time and money. Churches that are serious about starting new congregations must make difficult decisions about their priorities. Attempting to sustain all the traditional forms of church alongside trying to start new congregations can lead to churches and individuals becoming overstretched very quickly. When I observe churches that have successfully planted new congregations, a key ingredient is always a strong team mentality. Finding people who will share your vision for church planting will make all the difference.
How is the future looking? What are the plans for growing the project further? Are you linked to the Fit for Mission project?
Whilst the formal five-year period of the Joshua Centre ended in June this year, the twenty-nine communities that have been planted under the Joshua banner continue. These congregations meet all over our diocese and come in many shapes and sizes. They include communities that focus on young people, families, asylum seekers, retired generations and students, to name just a few. It has been great to see how many people have taken up the challenge of church planting, and inspirational to see their commitment through all the challenges that Covid presented. The great news is that church planting does not stop with Joshua. As we step forward into Fit for Mission, a key emphasis of our future will continue to be the resourcing and multiplying of new congregations. My role, in part, will be to ensure that moving forward, the Joshua communities stay connected within the diocese, where they can share their stories of how they started and grow new congregations amongst people who weren’t previously part of a church family.
What is the criteria for setting up a new congregation with the Joshua Centre’s help? How do people get in touch with you?
If anyone is reading this and would appreciate a conversation about church planting in their context I’d be happy to chat. You can email me here.