Trevor Reaney Kirk Session, Moira Presbyterian

Moira Presbyterian Church adopted the CCT process in 2016 and began in earnest in early 2017. As a congregation we have been seeking to reach out more into our local community, particularly at a time when a major new church building project might have resulted in us becoming more inward looking. 

Having been involved with Tearfund in Rwanda and seen how successful the church and community transformation model was there, we felt it had the potential for us to use in our outreach work in Moira. Diane Holt met with our Kirk Session and they agreed that Church Community Transformation would fit our needs. We then began working through the stages of the process which an enthusiastic team put in place. The congregation is already involved in a Celebration Event and completing a congregational survey. Good energy and enthusiasm has developed and great ideas are already emerging. 

The next stage for us is to undertake a community audit and then get the congregation involved in selecting their top three issues and ideas for action. Thrive Ireland has provided a structured way to address outreach and community engagement which is engendering the enthusiasm and interest of our congregation across all groups and ages. Thrive Ireland and Diane have been a great support in providing very relevant training and guidance along the way. We would thoroughly recommend that other congregations consider the CCT model as they explore their own local mission plans and strategies.