Our Mission and Vision in Knaphill with Brookwood

Rev Nick Grew writes: The peacock on the Hall Roof In May 2007 was a sign from God. The 'eyes' on the tail feathers traditionally symbolise the all-seeing nature of God and 2 Chronicles 16 v 9 says, "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him". We are already seeing how God strengthens those he finds 'out there' who are fully committed to Him.

When Jesus told his Disciples to pray to the Father,

"Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as in Heaven"

he was already making that happen, as he explained in reply to a question from John the Baptist.. [Matthew 11v5].

Jesus not only told us to pray for the Kingdom, he gave us access to it through his Death and Resurrection. He also gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could inherit his mantle and become part of the answer to our prayer. Jesus even said we'd do greater things than Him [John 14v12].

If John was to ask for evidence of The Kingdom today we should expect to cite similar evidence to Jesus. In short, our mission is to become more and more a church that is, Making Jesus Visible by Word and Power

Envisioning this Mission in practical and present ways has led us to four Vision themes that shape our strategy...

A Church Between 2 Schools (Knaphill Lower and Knaphill Junior) arises from the location of Holy Trinity Church and most of our activities and goals refer to that. What we have already begun: Parenting courses, Holy Trinity Pre-School, Sunrise Breakfast Club, Holiday Clubs, Young people's groups and opening up the Coffee room every weekday for Mums dropping their children to school. Nick has also met with the New Head Teacher of Brookwood School and we are exploring links and opportunities. We also have plans to employ a Children and Families' Worker which will grow out of our expanding links with families across the whole parish.

Share Your Bread - When I asked God how we should engage with those we encounter in church and beyond, I felt He said "feed them", and when I pressed further, "Share your bread". As Jesus is The Bread of Life I believe we are to share what we know of him through our words & actions. None of us is an expert (not even me!) so this means being ready to pray, share what Jesus means to us, listen with ears of faith, use for others the gifts we have been given… We already share our bread through Alpha, Socials, Outside Light and KHCS and we hope to create opportunities to pray for healing within the church and in the community, put into action a policy to reduce our carbon footprint, develop a 'Festivals' team, send a team to work with Turning Point, and develop the means to support those struggling with debt and marriage breakdown etc.

A Centre for Local Mission arises from the location of St Saviour's which is the only church in Brookwood. There are many Christians in the village who go to other churches. We want to seed activities through St Saviour's which are mission opportunities in the village and draw people from other churches to work alongside us without letting go of their loyalties to their own churches. Events which we have already developed are Easter & Christmas at Brookwood Railway station, 'Lunch with Others' and 'Messy Church'. 2009 is the Centenary of St Saviour's and we hope to have a programme of events involving the local community and look at ways of developing prayer points in the village, for example at Mayo's Fish and Chip shop.

Equipping the Saints refers to all of us! None of the above "trees" can bear fruit if it is not properly rooted so as to be stable & properly nourished. The organisation, worship & teaching of the church have to provide this support & energy. We have already begun this work through Youth Support, Worship, Testimony and Teaching. We are currently putting in place a pastoral care framework and revised 'welcome' process and hope to create a Vision Leadership team, look at how we obtain the additional resources we may need to develop our Youthwork, train more people for pastoral work, refocus and relaunch home groups, and enable people to discern and apply spiritual gifts. By October 2010, we will be delighted to officially welcome Julie Levett as ordained to our parish.

For more detailed plans, a copy of our Vision leaflet is available by contacting the church office via e-mail or by calling 01483 473489 and you can also hear the recording from Nick Grew's Vision Presentation in October.

Contact: Holy Trinity & St Saviour's Church, Trinity House, Trinity Road, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey GU21 2QY
Tel: (01483) 473489 e-mail: holy-trinity@tiscali.co.uk