Seasons – Trusting God's Timing

S, S & S Appendix

Aims: To discern the church's season, adapting to change, and trusting in God's providence.

Possible themes for local preachers:

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – "A Time for Everything". Help congregations recognise and embrace their season of ministry
• John 15:1-8 – The True Vine: "Pruning for Greater Growth". Teach the value of letting go of unfruitful ministries to focus on what bears fruit.
• Galatians 6:9 – "Do Not Grow Weary". Encourage perseverance in ministry, trusting God's timing for the harvest.

Suggested local activities:

• Recognising Cycles: Can you agree on what the current season is, be that in each church of as a circuit: planting, nurturing, harvesting, or resting – and how can you best honour this without rushing or delaying the transition into the coming season? Perhaps you can create an honest timeline (beware of rose-tinted glasses) that shows previous "seasons" of ministry.
• Prune and trim: Encourage those in leadership roles (lay and ordained) to identify those ministries/activities that no longer bear good fruit and will need pruning (or a sabbath) to make space for new growth.

Focus on individual prayers:

• Pray for discernment and wisdom to know what to let go of and what to nurture.
• Celebrate God's faithfulness in each and every season, and commit to God open hearts and hands, trusting that God, as the ultimate Gardener, will bring forth timely and abundant fruit.
• Unite the churches across the circuit by using the "Leading your church into Growth" prayer in meetings and worship services as they begin to assess the church's spiritual, relational, and missional health in the coming months.

Suggested circuit actions:

• Nourishment: Can support (time and finance) be given to one or two small-scale mission and ministry pilots – cafe or dinner church, wild church, movie church, walking church etc and trust that even if the results are not immediately visible, God is at work? Remind people that growth goes beyond numbers/finance. (See 'Fruitfulness' markers in the appendix of the file attached to this page)

Potential Challenges and some Mitigation Strategies:

• Balancing long-term vision with immediate needs: Communicate and celebrate even the 'smallest' of Good News stories, both in the trying and failing to inspire faith and action.
• Difficulty in resting or pruning:Acknowledge those activities that once bloomed, and name them as part of the 'legacy' which now helps to support and nourish the ground through which new growth will occur.