In February 2004 the Diocesan Urban Officer together with a group of clergy published a framework for church development in areas of high multiple deprivation in the Diocese of Newcastle. This was debated at the Open Synod Forum later the same month and adopted by Diocesan Synod in May of the same year.
The Framework is based on a realistic analysis of the contemporary urban areas of the diocese and has at its heart a theological vision for the local church and its environment. Its title, 'For the Many, Not Just the Few' signals a vision for communities that are built around the interests and desires of the whole. The local church is seen as an integral part of its own context - a forming, involving, resourcing, growing, transforming and reflecting body of persons.
The Framework is a piece of theology that affirms local insight and activity, that builds on the excellent work that is being done throughout the diocese, that acknowledges changing and unfinished agendas and is open to unexpected developments. It is one of the things that now guides the work of the Urban Diocesan Task Group.
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