Manchester is a vibrant diocese of opportunity and creativity. Its rich mixture of church traditions makes it a wonderful place to engage in Gospel ministry.
Our vision is to be a worshipping, growing, and transforming Christian presence at the heart of every community. We want to be a Church for a Different World.
It is now over three years since we agreed our ten-year strategy. It has provided an important framework within which we have been able to develop more detailed plans – at parish, mission community, deanery and diocesan level – to inform our priorities and ensure we stay completely focused on mission, individually and locally and as part of the wider church.
We have taken the opportunity in recent months to review our progress and our priorities together – at Bishop’s Leadership Team, with our Area Deans and also at Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod. This time of reflection has enabled us to celebrate the very positive changes that are taking place across our diocese and to reflect joyfully on all that has been achieved over the last three years.
We have also been able to consider the serious challenges still facing us as a diocesan family. Whilst we rejoice at those who have come through Covid and are now back worshipping among us, we also recognise that congregation numbers are not back to where they were in 2019. We face financial challenges too and some are wearied by the demands of sustaining buildings that were built in a very different era. True joy however, is to be found, not in the absence of the ‘tough stuff’, but in the attitude with which we address it. We find joy in facing our challenges undeterred and with our praise of God undiminished.
All this is reflected in the documents below, which set out the ever-greater opportunities for us to work together in the fulfilment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission that have been handed down to us by Jesus himself.
With every blessing
+David Manchester
Our Strategy 2020-2030
Our strategy document and presentation slides have been reviewed and updated in June 2023. They describe our mission goals of growing, nurturing and serving, documenting the progress our diocese has made since 2020, and our priorities for the next seven years. A shorter version of the strategy, produced in July 2023, is designed to be a useful document for all clergy, lay leaders, and interested members of our churches. This tri-fold leaflet is also available to explain our vision at a glance.
This plan on a page is also helpful for those working to deliver the vision.
Our Mission Goals
Growing – engaging new disciples in missionary church communities which are younger, more diverse, active and spiritually engaged
Nurturing - helping new and existing disciples grow in their faith.
Serving - being present for all, speaking and asking prophetically for justice, supporting pastorally especially the vulnerable, deprived and excluded.
Our Values
Faith, Hope and Love.
Our Mission Communities
Our mission communities are working together in prayer and action to:
- Release mission energy, by bringing clergy and laity together in teams to serve their communities.
- Be dynamic, intentional, and focused on the goals we have always wanted to achieve - growing our church, helping people grow in their faith and serving their local communities.
- Support new ways of working, with a focus on developing specific ministries and skills to meet the needs of local people.
- Allow for a variety of expressions of church within a given locality.
- Ensure we have greater diversity in our mission team which in turn will support innovation across our mission communities.
- Strengthen the support we provide for ordinands and lay ministers.
Our Transformation Programme
The core of our transformation programme is to reshape the diocese so we support our ministry at the most local level, to enable us to achieve mission and growth at scale and pace.
Our priorities are to:
- Put in place measures to ensure clergy wellbeing
- Actively promote racial justice, diversity and inclusion
- Support our parishes with generosity and thankfulness
- Support our most fragile churches in planning for the future
- Provide a safe church environment for all by promoting effective safeguarding
This film was created at the start of our transformation programme:
The roles and responsibilities of senior clergy
The roles and responsibilities of senior clergy in our diocese are outlined in this document.