The Darlington District’s vision is to support and encourage Christian communities to develop in ways that:
- attract people to Jesus Christ
- reflect God’s presence in the world
- explore and demonstrate ways to follow Christ and promote God’s rule in contemporary society by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This means that the district will invest its energy in:
Directing churches and circuits in developing the appropriate way forward for each church and circuit in the context of ‘Our Calling’ and ‘Priorities for the Methodist Church’, for example by:
- encouraging and supporting fresh expressions of Christian communities;
- putting resources into specified areas of work where Christians are seeking to stand alongside the weak and disadvantaged;
- giving weight to work with young people and others currently beyond the reach of the Church;
- enabling people to play their part in evangelism and making disciples;
- encouraging and supporting development of mission priorities which are appropriate to context;
- encouraging and enabling relationships with other churches, faith communities and social groups;
Developing structures and processes to enable this way forward, for example by:
- giving priority in terms of stationing and use of resources to churches and circuits which have vision and a commitment to developing creative and contextual ways of working;
- resourcing and supporting learning and development for all who share in our Christian communities;
- participating in consultations where decisions about mission priorities are made.
- planning creative ways of networking which enable the sharing of good practice and learning from one another.
We will underpin everything we do with God centred worship and prayer and seek to develop a high standard of excellence.