MAPping at Mynyddislwyn
St Tudor’s Church on the mountaintop was the venue for a day of reflection on the MAPping process for a group from the Rectorial Benefice of Mynyddislwyn. On Saturday 22 August, the new Rector, the Revd John Humphries, gathered some twenty parishioners from the benefice’s five churches to take stock of the Mission Action Plan and to look at how to move it forward.
Fr John led a devotional address, and the Parish Resources Adviser for the Diocese of Llandaff (where the MAP initiative was pioneered), Richard Jones, gave a presentation on ‘Where is God in this?’ He described the features of a successful MAP, and emphasised the need to ground the process in discerning God’s will for individual communities.
Lunch was provided, and gave an opportunity for people to discuss the presentation.
After lunch, the Learning Development Officer for the Diocese of Monmouth, Lisa Tregenza, led a session designed to discern people’s gifts, to start people thinking about how they could contribute to the life of the church and the Mission Action Plan.
The afternoon concluded with a discussion facilitated by Ruth Lawler-Davies, Chair of the MAPping committee, which focussed on the next steps for the benefice. Contributions to this discussion also came from the Revd Alicia Baker (Bedwellty Deanery Mission Enabler) and Sharon Smith of the Monmouth Diocesan Office, whose role includes supporting parishes in their MAPping initiatives.