Some people may think I am being cynical about the present Deanery Vision exercise aimed at developing a 'mission strategy' for the Diocese of Chelmsford. On the contrary, I simply have a memory! Over on my 'Ugley Vicar' blog is a list of similar 'strategies' from 1992-2007. I count more than ten in fifteen years!
John Richardson
Thursday, 8 February 2007
Past mission strategies in the Diocese of Chelmsford
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2 comments:
Well, lest you get totally depressed that there are no Diocesan strategies in the universe that work, let me direct you to the Diocese of London's London Challenge 2012 page.
http://www.london.anglican.org/London-Challenge
Launched last week in St Paul's Cathedral, with mission at its heart.
Absolutely! Hopefully, those who've followed what I've said recently (not just on this blog, though) will be aware I am a keen advocate of Diocese-based mission strategy. In a yet-to-be-published piece for Evangelicals Now I've written this: "Yet all is not ‘doom and gloom’. In some dioceses, serious attempts are being made to put growth on the agenda. In Lichfield, the talents of Bob Jackson, author of The Road to Growth, have been harnessed by bishop Jonathan Gledhill to produce their ‘Going for Growth’ strategy. [..] Other dioceses to watch include Carlisle under Graham Dow, Bristol under Mike Hill, and London under Richard Chartres."
The problem is that using the word "strategy" doesn't mean you've actually got one, and having one doesn't mean you've got one that works. The same is true of mission!
The problem, identified by Paul Roberts, is a widespread misunderstanding of management principles. In this sense, they are 'Dilbertian'.
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