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What is the Urban Ministry & Theology Project?

Vision

The vision of UMTP is that the changes taking place in the East End of Newcastle embody the kingdom of God; that new forms of church presence emerge that honour the current context; that we share our learning with those outside our situation and learn from them.

Purpose

The purpose of UMTP is to live out a style of Christian Ministry that assists local churches and communities to engage effectively with the processes of social and economic regeneration in the East End of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Aims

The outcomes of the Project are that the local church might be such that:
  • Existing groups of Christians are growing in spiritual depth, numerically and in theological awareness.
  • New forms of Church presence and mission are emerging.
  • Local Christians are developing models of ministry that arise directly out of the context of social and economic regeneration.
  • There is a strategic and economic use of existing buildings.
  • There is a stimulating interaction with the communities of the East End and appropriate partnerships are being established with both statutory and voluntary agencies.
  • Those engaged in theological training, for lay and ordained ministries and in continuing ministerial education, are able both to share in the learning gained by local people and to make a significant contribution.
  • Theological reflection on the urban context takes place against a background generated by the interaction of all these factors.
Methods

UMTP is working in three areas across the regeneration area of the East Newcastle on three tasks:
  • Community engagement - coordinating the church’s involvement in regeneration structures.
  • Church development - evangelism, new ways of being church, growth of engagement with the community.
  • Theological education and training - offering our own learning to others and learning from outside the area.
  • Each member of the UMTP staff is responsible for leading one of these tasks across the East End, drawing together a wider team of partners, including local persons, to achieve our goals. This is a new way of working interdependently across existing parish boundaries.
Parishes

The parishes have formed a Parishes Advisory Group which has been meeting since July 1999. Presently there are five parishes involved - St Anthony of Egypt, Byker; Christ Church, Walker; St Martin’s, Byker; St Michael’s, Byker; and St Silas, Byker. Representatives from each parish meet three times a year. The clergy and up to three lay representatives from the PCCs attend. The PAG is now chaired by a lay person.

The Project is committed to deepening its ecumenical partnerships and therefore members of the local Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches attend the PAG’s meetings.

So far the PAG have planned for the future, reflected on some of the regeneration activities happening in the East End and heard progress reports from the Project staff.

Achievements
  • A grant secured from the Church Urban Fund to support the community engagement task.
  • Key involvement in the Going for Growth consultation process over the summer of 2000.
  • Volunteer project set up and run in the lower end of the Byker Estate.

  • A participation day conference run in collaboration with the New Economics Foundation.
  • The Healthworks Partnership has been formed and supported and both staff members are on the partnership body.
  • The East Area Asylum Seeker Support Group has been formed and the Project is actively taking part in its development.
  • A day conferences on regeneration was held with Durham University geographers and included participants from the voluntary sector and from the local authority.
  • The formation of the East End Community and Voluntary Sector Forum with the Project staff being members of its steering group.
  • A module in the theology of urban regeneration has been taught at Newcastle university and some MA students have attended a day conference in Byker.
  • One of the Project staff members sits on the East End Partnership and is a member of its executive.
  • A day conference on the implications of Going for Growth for the churches of the East End.
  • Offices for the Project found at the old police station in Walker, sharing this in partnership with one part of the Community Development team, and shortly with a worker who will represent the voluntary sector.
  • Day training event held with trainee Industrial Chaplains, looking at regeneration in the local economy.
  • The Community work training consortium, supported by the Project has begun its work promoting skills in the voluntary sector.
  • Membership of the Walker Riverside Advisory Group, a Cabinet Sub-Committee which has selected the developer for the 20 year programme of regeneration along the Tyne.
  • Practical support of both community workers and community groups involved in the complexities of evaluating potential developers.
  • Membership of the Byker Estate listing group, preparing a conservation plan for the world renowned Ralph Erskine designed Estate, with strong community participation base.
Background

The Project was inaugurated in September 1999 after a year and a half of careful planning. UMTP emerged from a number of existing strands in the life of the local Church within the context of the local community:
  • The strategy of Newcastle Diocese for mission and ministry in its urban parishes. In the years following the publication of Faith in the City (1985) the Diocese has developed its commitment to community Projects and sought to extend its strategic thinking about ministry in its inner-city parishes.
  • The Diocesan mission statement that expresses a commitment to ensure ‘worship, service and evangelism in each community ‘and that Anglican Christians deepen the connection ‘between faith and everyday life’.
  • The Deanery’s formation of parish clusters in response to the challenge to strengthen the identity and interdependence of the local Church.
  • The experience in the Deanery of working across parish boundaries promoting collaboration between both clergy and laity.
  • The local churches involvement in the social and economic regeneration structures of the East End of Newcastle, especially the East End Partnership and the Ouseburn Partnership.
  • The rise of new regeneration initiatives from both central and regional government, all of which are due to have a major impact on the future social and economic structures of our parishes.
  • The need for local churches in the East End of Newcastle to allow their corporate lives to be shaped by and benefit from this abundance of social and economic change.
  • There was a perceived need for those on formal courses of initial and continuing theological education to experience and reflect on the nature of urban regeneration.
  • A national requirement to reflect theologically on the possibilities of being church in an environment of rapid urban development and to reflect particularly on the theme of regeneration.
These strands form the basis from which UMTP operates, drawing them together so that the Church's ministry might be developed locally in an appropriate and effective form.




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