Progress on the diocesan vision: Autumn 2025

Welcome to this, the first of a series of quarterly progress updates on work around our shared Called Together vision and strategy.

It was of course wonderful to share the news earlier this year, that the Diocese had secured £11million of funding from the National Church’s Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB).

This funding - which is in addition to the expenditure on parish ministry already funded by the Common Fund - will support the nine-year Called Together programme of work, which seeks to grow missional churches, with missional leaders and missional disciples that are:

• Growing a safe and healthy culture for all
• Growing younger and more diverse
• Growing spiritually and numerically
• Impacting their communities
• Releasing financial resources for mission
• Planting and growing new missional churches

Seeking God’s kingdom in this way means bringing about a Church where all can flourish and ‘have life in all its fulness’ as God intends (John 10:10).

Since the announcement

I am delighted that a new Head of Programmes, Tia Ndu, joined just before the summer, to take on the vital role of managing and coordinating this ambitious programme of work.

While of course it will need all of us working together to help make the Vision a reality, a Called Together Programme Board has been formed to oversee its progress.

The Programme Board met for the first time in June to start planning next steps. 

Following that meeting, work took place over the summer to finalise details with the National Church regarding:

• expected overall outcomes
• governance stuctures
• ongoing reporting

This is so that we could begin to draw down funding so that the first phases of work could get underway. 

Defining Called Together's overall outcomes

Thanks to this additional developmental work, it is possible to express even more clearly what Called Together aims to deliver, which is that by 2034, we will have a renewed and growing Church with:

Workstreams progess 

With these details now established, funding has started to be released, and work is underway across the four main workstreams of Called Together. A reminder that they are:

• Missional Leadership Development
  Training, formation, wellbeing support, and targeted resourcing for lay and clergy. 
• Missional Development Places
  Recruitment and capital works in selected parishes to grow and sustain worshipping communities and share learning and missional models with others.
• Children, Young People and Families
  Resource hubs, community school engagement, training, apprenticeships, and leadership pathways.
• Revitalise
  Focussed support for parishes facing challenge, using targeted interventions to restore sustainability.

All of the workstreams are to be viewed through the lens of Safe and Healthy Cultures, because if we are truly seeking God's kingdom, then we must reflect is values of righteousness, peace, wholeness, and fullness of life for all.

Scroll down or click for an 'at a glance' look at progress so far on each workstream. You can also access a fuller overview of the vision, and the planned work and expected outcomes within each stream by clicking here.

How you can get involved

I hope you will be excited and encouraged by what you read in this update. 

Please pray for the success of the vision over the months and years to come. It is only by working together that it will be possible.

• If you would like some inspiration, we have a set of filmed prayers linked to the diocesan objectives that you can use – they can also be found as part of the regular diocesan cycle of prayer
• Please also view and share the many Growing the Kingdom filmed stories that are available online, in our News section, and in the diocesan magazine, highlighting the fantastic work and growth underway in parishes

It is important that as many people in the parishes as possible are aware of all that is happening to make the Vision outcomes a reality.

Please do share your thoughts on any materials or content you would like to see provided that would help you and others share this good news far and wide – email: communications@rochester.anglican.org

Thank you.

Bishop Jonathan
Bishop of Rochester

Workstreams: Progress at a glance
 

Each workstream is overseen by a Project Board, and has a fully costed, planned programme of work associated with it, designed to bring long-term benefit across the whole Diocese, not just those that may receive direct funding.

Here's a closer look at what has progressed so far.

Missional Leadership Development
Purpose: To grow and sustain confident, mission-focused leaders - lay and ordained - ensuring wellbeing, succession planning, and collaborative leadership across the Diocese.

Lead: Rev Dr Andrew Dunlop, Director of Mission and Ministry Development

• Strong foundations to commence work have been laid
  Outcomes for this workstream have been defined and submitted to the National Church.
• Learning Communities launched
  Twenty-four leaders are now in learning communities, meeting together for engagement and support around missional leadership.
• Existing training and formation pathways being reviewed
  Covering everything from exploring vocations to post ordination training such as, It’s Your Calling days, Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD), Initial Ministerial Education (IME2), Ministerial Development Reviews (MDR), coaching.
• Recruitment underway
  Of the four new roles within the Missional Leadership Development workstream, one has been recruited (Cascade Wellbeing Project Leader), and one is out for advertisment (Community Engagement and Social Action role).
• Wellbeing Programme launched
  The Cascade Wellbeing Programme has been launched, and a survey and listening project underway to ensure co-production of this wellbeing programme with lay leaders and clergy, headteachers, and diocesan and cathedral staff. Read more

Missional Development Places
Purpose: To grow and multiply new worshipping communities, and through targeted investment in 15 priority places ( including across parishes, a school, and new housing areas) to catalyse growth and resource other parishes through learning, outreach and models of sustainable mission.

Lead: Matthew Girt, Diocesan Secretary

• Completion of capital works and missional resourcing at St John’s Chatham
  St John’s Chatham has benefitted from £4m investment over several years – including national Strategic Development Funding and other external funding. With renovation work now complete, the congregation, which has continued to grow, is moving back into the building throughout the autumn. 
• Money released to support capital project at Holy Trinity,Twydall
  Some of the national funding has been used to help with the installation of solar panels, which not only supports this church's ongoing Net Zero ambitions, but will reduce their outgoings, allowing them to better focus funds on maintaining their presence in the community through outreach, rather than on energy costs.
• Secured long-term partnership commitment to chaplaincy at Ebbsfleet’s new C of E school
  The first of two Community Pioneers now in parishes.
• Engagement initiated with the 15 parishes/places to receive some targeted funding
  As part of the National Church's requirements for the release of funds, Parish Agreements - which ensure clarity around responsibilities, governance and support - have been prepared for places with projects, and will be shared with these places imminently, alongside a suite of supporting materials and guidance.

Children, young people and families
Purpose: To counter the decline in children and youth attendance by resourcing leaders, apprenticeships, resource hubs and school engagement, nurturing faith in the next generation. 

Lead: Cheryl Trice, Lead Adviser Children, Young People and Families Mission and Ministry Team

• Established clear foundations for delivery
  Completed and approved the Missional Plan for the three Resource Hubs providing the roadmap for parish engagement and growth. A detailed Schools Engagement Missional Plan is in progress.
• Commenced recruitment of 3 posts
  Of the five new roles in the CYPF workstream, one has been advertised (Children and Young People adviser) and a further two have job descriptions drafted and are planned to be advertise over the next 3 months. 
• Engagement underway with parish resource hubs
  Early engagement visits to St Stephen’s, Tonbridge, and Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge, supporting them in shaping their journey as Resource Hubs.
• Strengthened financial governance
  Reprofiled the CYPF budget to meet the grading and funding requirements of the National Church across all CYPF workstream roles, ensuring compliance and sustainability.

Revitalise
Purpose: To strengthen those parishes who are facing financial and missional challenge, to improve both spiritual life and financial sustainability through targeted support.

Lead: The Ven Allie Kerr, Archdeacon of Bromley and Bexley, and Bishop’s Lead for Safeguarding

• A Health and Vitality process shaped
  In readiness for work to begin, a Health and Vitality process that will be used to journey with parishes requiring support has been refined to provide clearer criteria and decision-making pathways.
• Identifying need at parish level
  The use of 2024 data and metrics to help identify churches in most need of revitalisation support has begun to be piloted with one of the Archdeaconry Mission and Pastoral Working Groups (AMPWGs). These groups, which include Area Deans and lay people with particular strategic and missional skills and experience, will help identify local need and ensure that any targeted missional support has as wide an impact as possible across their archdeaconry. 
• Recruitment underway
  A DAC Admininstrator has been recruited and a Revitalise Advisor will be advertised in due course - both these roles are about increasing support available to parishes. 

Safe and healthy cultures
Purpose: To help ensure that every workstream attends to our core commitments to safe and healthy cultures, diversity and inclusion.

Lead: The Ven Allie Kerr, Archdeacon of Bromley and Bexley, and Bishop’s Lead for Safeguarding

• Working group established
  The working group has begun looking at what safe and healthy culture does and does not look like. It has also begun work on a theological reflection of 'safe and healthy cultures', with a view to bringing an action plan to a Diocesan Synod in early 2026.
   

Next steps

Looking ahead, immediate next stages for the programme of work include:

• Ongoing recruitment and capital project mobilisation through late 2025 and early 2026
• Continued engagement with Missional Development Places projects following approval of their Parish Agreements
• Strengthened and ongoing communication with the whole diocesan family around impact of vision-work on the ground in parishes
• Further development of robust data and reporting processes (supported by the recruitment of a new Data Analyst)
• Continued embedding of safe and healthy cultures, diversity and inclusion, and attentiveness to Net Zero and environmental sustainability across all projects.
• First major review of outcomes in mid-2026, once projects have been operational for a year
• Continued biannual updates to Bishop’s Council

Explore more

• Called Together - a page dedicated to the Diocesan vision and strategy
• Learn more about the inspiring daily mission and ministry taking place around the Diocese through the Growing the Kingdom films 
• Discover more news and stories - download Together magazine or find our News section.

Key Contacts