Ken Morgan has been encouraged by the positive response of parishes and clergy to his new role helping implement Archbishop Freier’s vision and strategic directions for the Diocese 2011-2013.
“Every leader I’ve spoken with has been enthusiastic about the vision and strategy. People are keen to get involved, and are committing their time, effort and prayer towards seeing the vision take form in their local parish,” he told TMA.
As well as assisting the Archbishop in his vision ‘to make the Word of God fully known’ in the Diocese, his role is also to co-ordinate a pilot program focussed on parish growth and renewal. It involves 12 parishes in 2011, and up to 25 in 2013.
Ken is keen to emphasise that he does not believe in approaching parishes and saying, “Right, here is the formula for a successful church, and you need to just conform with that.”
In explaining his role, the former Interim General Manager of the Church Army Australia says he hopes to assist parish clergy and lay leaders in “thinking more strategically and tactically.”
The central focus of the Archbishop’s Vision is the local church, he says. “The local church is the pivotal element, and the key to the effectiveness of the local church is its leadership, both clerical and lay. So I see my main challenge as helping the local church leaders, and their congregations, to become more effective disciple makers – and not just better at making disciples among themselves – but making more disciples, the raw material for which is people who don’t currently go to church.”
In summary, he says, what he aims to do is encourage Melbourne Anglicans to “say, and do, and be, the Word of God.”
He says it is important not just to proclaim the Word of God, but embody it. “Jesus embodied the Kingdom of God, and was the Word of God. He gave signs of what it is like. He was controversial and upset people in power, and showed amazing compassion to the downtrodden. Making the Word of God fully known is to live lives that are mastered by the Word.”
One of the keys to more effective parish mission he believes is for church leaders to think of themselves as missionaries, rather than chaplains. “By chaplains I mean those parish priests who focus solely on the needs of their existing congregations. Of course it’s important to nurture and care for the congregation, but there is also a need to look for opportunities to build relationships with people who are unchurched, either through structured or informal means.”
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