BISHOP Kenneth has urged us to get on our knees to find out God’s will for our diocese.

Bishop Kenneth has called for a month-long commitment for us to pray to listen to God's will

He has invited every parish in the diocese to pray for an hour each week for a new vision of God’s kingdom. This comes as we prepare for the second cycle of our diocesan Kairos initiative, which aims to renew our mission and ministry.

The bishop wants every church and worship centre in the diocese to be available for prayer at a specific time each week between November 4 and December 1.

Worshippers will be asked to pray to discern what the Kingdom of God might look like in their parish, their deanery and the diocese as a whole.

At the end of this time, anyone who has suggestions or visions arising from this time of prayer is asked to let the bishop know.

“This is part of our ongoing work of Kairos, but it’s also an outworking of my challenge to the diocese to create a balance between prayer, theology and organisational matters,” said Bishop Kenneth. “It reaffirms that God’s primary call to the church is to discipleship, and that discipleship is rooted in prayer and waiting upon God.”

The full copy of Kenneth's call to prayer, and some suggestions of prayers you might pray are available here.

The bishop’s call to prayer was unveiled at our diocesan conference in Chichester last month, when more than 200 delegates explored the theme ‘Inspiring Discipleship’.

The conference also heard how our latest Kairos initiative could unfold over the next couple of years. It aims to challenge churchgoers to greater discipleship by focusing on the issue of our church buildings.

If approved by our diocesan synod, the process would be similar to the original Kairos initiative, but with a lighter touch at  key moments. One of the key differences is that each deanery would go through the process separately, rather than the whole diocese together.

Another crucial element would be that deaneries or clusters of parishes would be asked to go through the process together, so they can look at church buildings in a strategic way. That might involve opening new churches, finding new solutions to the problems of ownership and maintenance, or closing some.

The chairman of our Diocesan Kairos Group, the Ven Trevor Reader, said: “This is exciting stuff, because we see church buildings as a real mission and evangelism opportunity rather than just a burden to be coped with.”

The ‘exploration’ phase would include a theology element, in which worshippers would learn why we have church buildings and about sacred space. The research element would involve going back to the research done on our buildings in the first Kairos cycle and updating it if necessary.

A ‘reflection and response’ phase would include the collation of a deanery plan, and a presentation to the bishop at a deanery event. That would be part of a visitation to the deanery by the bishop, and a Eucharist of thanksgiving.