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Leading Your Church Into Growth

LYCIG is an organisation which equips churches to grow in numbers, spirituality and mission. LYCIG provide courses, training days and growth resource materials to support dioceses in development and growth programmes.

What is LYCIG?

The core element of the Leading Your Church Into Growth programme is a four day course for teaching, inspiring and equipping ordained and lay leaders. This highly popular course is specifically designed for clergy and lay leaders from across different traditions and denominations who are looking for help and encouragement in leading their churches into growth.

The course takes the form of an open seminar with interactive talks, practical exercises, workshops and time and space for personal reflection. Times of informal conversation provide opportunities for LYCIG team members to answer questions and to explore the profile of individual churches.

For more information, please see the LYCIG website - leadingyourchurchintogrowth.org.uk

Who is LYCIG for?

Ultimately, Leading Your Church Into Growth is for everyone!

For LYCIG conferences groups from each benefice are invited to attend; a benefice team should be made up of the Incumbent and two lay people who will be part of the team putting into place what will be learned at the conference, and helping lead your church into growth.

The leadership of the incumbent is crucial, and it’s also important that the laity of a benefice are involved. These lay people may not necessarily be churchwardens or other officers, but will be people who can work with the Incumbent and have a passion for growing the church. Pressure of numbers means we are unable to offer spaces to curates or assistant ministers, but we hope they will be part of the team putting actions into place back in the parishes.

The Story So Far...

More than two-thirds of the benefices across the diocese have already taken part in one of our Leading your Church into Growth (LYCIG) Conferences in 2015, 2016 or 2018. We are beginning to hear about churches where the talking and planning are beginning to move to action, action which is making growth more likely.

... at Northallerton & Kirby Sigston

The benefits of LYCIG began for us at the conference – to be in a group of 3 from the benefice meant that real conversations could start there and then – rather than a single delegate having to think how to get others ‘on board’. So the momentum began.

On return from the conference 3 quickly became 9 and plans were made to do the ‘LYCiG Local’ course. Some 60 people attended at least one of the sessions (for us about half our usual Sunday attendance) and discussions went on in homegroups too. Experiences were positive with people commenting that they’ve never before been asked what they thought about their church and its future.

Together we recognised our need to pray more and to grow in confidence in our own stories and understanding our faith. Our aim is to get into a habit of invitation and welcome people well when they come. And we are seeking ways to simply serve the community, no strings attached.

One year on from LYCIG Local we have a plan, and a focus, and we are seeing growth – in discipleship and numbers: Pilgrim courses have become a regular part of our calendar along with a new housegroup, and as part of our fellowship and service, a weekly drop-in lunch and monthly Messy Church. LYCIG for us was a means to review what we are doing, and how we are doing as disciples of Christ; it is not rocket science, but it has proved to be a launch pad.

Fiona Mayer-Jones, Vicar of Northallerton with Kirby Sigston