Policy

NOTE: this is the old policy. We need to agree a new one, or at least update it, ASAP
1. We will encourage Circuit identity and a sense of shared mission.
Circuit staff will be deployed in order to further the mission of the whole Circuit.
We will encourage more people to respond to the call to be Local Preachers and Worship Leaders.
We will encourage churches to see the Circuit Assessment as missionary giving not as an unwelcome imposition.

2. Our two LEPs give us particular opportunities to work ecumenically.
We are committed to these and will look for other ecumenical opportunities whether through formal relationships or through joining in specific pieces of work.

3. As a Circuit we will give priority to resourcing the four centres (the major towns)
which will continue to be, and will hopefully develop as, strong bases for our work. If the town churches are not nurtured and built up we risk losing those key bases. This prioritising will be reflected in the deployment of staff and in the funding of building schemes which will enhance our work.

4. We will also give priority to those places where major new housing developments are taking place, in particular: Didcot and Grove. Again this will be reflected through staffing and appropriate building schemes.

5. Our village churches will be supported as long as the members of those churches wish to continue their work in those villages; new initiatives will be supported.
If help is needed with specific tasks from members of other churches in the Circuit this will be facilitated if possible.
However, we will not commit large sums of money or large numbers of people to retain buildings in places where the life of a church is no longer sustainable.