Partner Church Days - Changed Churches, Changed Lives, Changed Communities.

Last month Jubilee+ ran their Partner Church Days event; 3 days of gathering together for connection, encouragement and equipping. It was also an oppotunity for them to launch their newly rewritten Social Action MOT.

The teaching across the days focused on three key themes that lie at the heart of their mission:

Changed Churches – to see churches where changing the lives of people in poverty in their community is a fundamental part of their focus, vision and values.

Changed Lives – to see people empowered to live a life free from all forms of poverty.

Changed Communities – to see churches known in their communities as places of help and hope for those in poverty. 

Lucy and a small group from New Community Church in SE London attended the training days and wrote about their time together:

If, like me, you're involved in social impact ministries at your church—whether as a leader or volunteer—you’ll know how easy it is to get caught up in the doing. The needs are constant, the work exhausting, and before long, you can feel tired, disillusioned, and question why you’re doing it at all.  Wherever we are serving we often forget to pause, reflect on what we are doing, why we are doing it and how it fits into God’s bigger picture for our church.

In October we got the opportunity to do exactly this as three of us from New Community’s Social Impact Team, along with two elders, attended the Derby Jubilee+ Partner Church Days. Over three days, we were led through the Social Action MOT, a tool designed to help churches reflect on their work and strengthen their vision for changed churches, changed lives and changed communities.

We were challenged right from the start when, in our first MOT session, we were asked: “What does success look like?” Natalie Williams encouraged us instead to think in terms of fruitfulness rather than success. Like all four MOT sessions, we were given 60 minutes to discuss this as a team. Together, we explored what fruitfulness might look like in our social action, which led to a rich and thought-provoking discussion—especially as we unpacked differing perspectives and tensions between elders and those “on the ground” actively involved in the work.

Over the next three days, each session built on the principles of changed churches, changed lives, and changed communities. These sessions gave us space to reflect deeply on our ministry: to celebrate the good, identify areas for improvement, and refine our vision. We examined what is already happening—not just what we do, but why we do it and who it truly serves. The structured questions prompted honest, open conversations within our team, helping us to recognise both the strengths of our ministry and the areas where we can continue to grow together.

It wasn’t all about the MOT. We also had time to network and heard from other partner churches about the incredible work they are doing in their communities, the challenges they face, and the support they need. In a follow-up session, we learned from those who had overcome similar challenges, sharing advice, encouragement, and practical help. 

As a team we left Derby feeling exhausted but with a fresh sense of purpose and vision. We were able to see where we were already bearing fruit: New Community has a rich history of serving its community, and we are grateful for those who have and continue to pave the way.  Through this MOT, we’re excited to build on this foundation, recognising where God might be inviting us to grow; not just within our team, not just through specific projects, which are an important part of social action, but thinking beyond this by making social action part of the very DNA of our church.  Watch this space…