Connexional priority:

The Challenge

Caring

Everyone needs pastoral care, including the carers. We support the Methodist tradition that pastoral care involves regular visiting of church members and being alongside them at key points in their lives. It is a measure of the importance of pastoral care that the only committee a local church must have, other than a Church Council, is a Pastoral Committee.

We believe that the responsibility for pastoral care is shared and rests with us all. In each church there is a variety of pastoral care which is exercised by the minister, pastoral visitors and many informal networks; we should consider how these three interplay to ensure that every individual gets care when needed.

Learning

Our education and training policy applies to everyone, young and old. We seek to help one another to understand what it means to be a Christian and a Methodist, and to relate this understanding to the demands of the community in which we live. We try to learn together, helping one another to understand our calling of worship, learning, caring, service and evangelism and to grow in confidence. We try to equip one another for the specific tasks and responsibilities that need to be undertaken.

We have the services of the District Training and Development Officer to help us and we use many different ways of learning such as Circuit training sessions, Bible study groups, Youth Fellowship, house groups, Network and other fellowship groups.

The Circuit will: