HIGHLIGHTS FROM VERNON MARSH'S KEY NOTE ADDRESS TO THE DISTRICT AT THE CLIFF COLLEGE WEEKEND

• We need ways of being church where everyone can be themselves and those who usually do not have a voice can be heard.
• We need to remember that some of the best things which happen to us are God's surprises.
• We need to question whether mission is really about staying alive until something turns up, (The Travolta/Micawber Strategy).
• We need to ask whether we are rationalising our church and circuit life to release new energy.
• We need to appreciate that a circuit's strength does not depend on how many churches and members it has, but on its relationship to the area it covers and the people who live there, and its involvement in the issues which they face.
• We have an opportunity to discover new ways of being church. Let's not use it to move the furniture around (again?) on the deck of the Titanic.