Church Types
Every one of our over 600 churches in the Diocese of Lincoln, the buildings and the worshipping communities, is valuable, loved and a sign of the presence of God. Each has been nurtured and cared for, and can play a role in the Christian life of greater Lincolnshire.
Each church is unique. There’s a rich diversity of tradition and worship. We see reach and activity, plans and people, buildings and resources, a balance of burden and blessing.
Please find more information below of these different types of churches within our diocese.
Key Mission Church
A large, flourishing, confident church, strategically located to serve a significant population and act as a resource/hub for a wider catchment area within the Local Mission Partnership (LMP).
Capable of significant growth, multiple congregations, well resourced for worship, with high quality music, youth and family work, social action, area gatherings, teaching and mission.
Able to cover its ministry costs and to contribute towards the cost of mission across the wider diocese. Good, accessible building and facilities.
Spiritual reservoir for a large area, and an appetite to fulfil its role as a Key Mission Church for a wider area, working in partnership and collaboration with all other church types in its wider catchment area.
Local Mission Church
A flourishing, confident and well used church embedded in a specific village, town or area of a larger town, adequately resourced in skills and lay involvement.
Everyone should have easy access to such a church. A clear sense of mission to a particular locality or a community, and a keen, prayerful and able active lay team with a commitment to growth and mission.
Excellent and attractive welcome, regular worship and nurture, meeting diverse interests and stages of faith, social action and work with young people. Flexible and attractive buildings and resources.
Commitment and ability to contribute financially to at least their share of the ministry they receive from the LMP collegial team, whose main focus such churches will be.
Community Church
A church whose community or active worshippers cannot support the full parish church role of Types 1 and 2, but is keen to keep open with some regular prayer and worship, with a good lay team to help deliver this, and to serve as a focus for the community, and for baptisms, weddings and funerals, and celebrations at key points of the liturgical year where possible.
Able to cover the cost of stipendiary ministry received from the LMP, with a team of lay people able to fulfil all that is needed to enable the life of the church.
The immediate worshiping community will have as rich a spiritual life as they want, locally led, and gaining wider engagement and worship opportunity through links with nearby mission churches, and other community churches, maybe in a rich, collaborative network.
Festival Church
Churches that want to continue as places of worship, but don’t have the personnel, resources or regular congregation to have the level of worship and prayer of a Community Church.
They will still need enough budget to pay a share contribution to be part of the active church family of the diocese, and they will need lay officers of their own or shared with other churches.
They may be open for private prayer, used for a variety of community purposes, offer baptisms, weddings and funerals as part of their LMP, and may be a location for special “festival” events – harvest, carols, songs of praise, mission activities.
The status is not permanent – if resources and will and need increase they can return to a fuller life. Local people may seek worship and fellowship in other nearby churches.
Closed or closing church
For any number of reasons, it is sometimes necessary for a church building to close as a place of worship.
No decision on closure is taken lightly and will involve consultation with those most involved and with the wider community. A Pastoral Scheme from the Church Commissioners is required for a church building to close for public worship.
Reaching this stage will take some considerable length of time. Finding a new use for the building post-closure is also a lengthy process which is largely handled by the Church Commissioners.
The Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 is the mechanism for dealing with such closures.
More information on processes and procedures may be found here.
For those looking to purchase a closed church building, the Church Commissioners advertise those that are currently available.
For any matter relating to Pastoral Reorganisation or Closed Churches, please contact:
Steven Sleight (Pastoral Secretary): steven.sleight@lincoln.anglican.org or 01522 504069
Peter Duff (Assistant Pastoral Secretary): dac.assistant@lincoln.anglican.org or 01522 50404
Changing church type
If you wish to change your church type then please fill in the form by clicking or tapping here.