Ps & Gs Strategy
Context
We are currently developing our next 5-year strategy which we hope to launch in the autumn of 2025. Attendance at Ps & Gs is growing and the 10.00 am service is almost full most Sundays. We are seeing more new people arriving and exploring Christianity. It is an exciting time!
Listening and discerning
We have appointed a Strategy Group to help steer the development process as we seek God, listen to Him and discern His will for the future. This group has spent time praying, reading, listening and discussing our new strategy. There has been collaboration with Vestry and the staff team. The church has been engaged through congregational feedback evenings, prayer times and online feedback opportunities. Our desire has been to clearly hear from God and to act on what He says.
As people have prayed and listened, there have been visions of fresh water bursting forth – springs, rivers, canal locks and waterfalls – and of life multiplying: seeds scattering, cells dividing, and buds bursting open. All pointing to growth, renewal, and movement. Scripture has spoken powerfully too – from Isaiah 54’s call to enlarge our tent, to Jesus' words in John 12 about the seed that dies to produce many seeds.
Update: August 2025
Over the summer, the team have been developing our strategy, exploring each of the areas we presented at the May congregational meetings. The strategy will focus on:
Whole life discipleship
Deepening and expanding discipleship pathways across all age groups
Developing ministry with and for the over 55s
Increasing pastoral care provision
Developing our welcome
Multiplying our sites to offer worship services in other parts of the city
Exploring growth opportunities for the 12 noon and 7.00 pm services
Multiplying our social outreach impact as we seek the welfare of the city
Ensuring sustainability of resources and finances
Work has already begun! We are preparing objectives and a strategy timeline with the leaders in each area to ensure these bold ideas are worked out. Enquiries are being made about a venue for a second Sunday morning service to begin next year, which will serve another area in the city and provide opportunity for growth and leadership development. Budgets for the coming year and proposals for the next five years are being prepared with the finance team.
On Vision Sunday - 28 September - we will share the vision and the Multiply Strategy with the congregation in our services and through all our communications. The Multiply Strategy will outline how we are going to achieve growth in each of these areas in the next five years. Throughout the autumn we will then hear more about the strategic plans and how everyone can get involved through praying, serving and giving. This is a whole church strategy and we're excited for all that God will do through us.
We have begun to consult with different members across the church about the strategy. If there is a particular area of interest to you, please get in touch with the office to find out more. Thank you for all your prayers, insight and support - please continue to pray with us as the strategy develops.
Update: May 2025
The strategy development process is currently about 2/3 of the way through. As we have prayed, listened, and considered, the following is a summary of the possible direction of travel. Our sense is that we are to be bold and brave, and that we are to build upon what God has already been doing at Ps & Gs. A key word that has emerged has been the word Multiply.
At the moment, there is a sense that:
Our vision will remain the same
We will continue to multiply disciples and will keep whole life discipleship as a key part of our strategy
We will deepen and expand discipleship pathways across all age groups
Those aged over 55 have a key role to play in the life and ministry of Ps & Gs and opportunities should be multiplied
Pastoral care provision will be increased and our welcome and connections teams will be developed and expanded
We will multiply our sites to offer worship services in other parts of the city, and in the longer term will explore planting churches in other cities in Scotland
There are growth opportunities for the 12 noon and 7.00 pm services
We will multiply our social outreach impact as we seek the welfare of the city
Next steps
We’ll be working out the details and resource requirements over the summer and aim to present a full costed strategic plan to the church by September. Thank you for listening to God, praying, and walking this journey with us. Please continue to pray for this process. We are excited – watch this space!
Video Recap
Here is Dave with a summary of what was discussed at the Strategy Evenings