Stage 1: Vision
The objective of Stage 1 is to get teams to think and pray through what God is calling them to do, what we will refer to as their ‘God-given vision’. We are aiming for each team, as they progress into Stage 2, to have a clear sense of that vision.
By the end of this gathering, we aim for each team to have an emerging vision statement, or at least an understanding of the key elements of their vision along with an action to develop this before G2.
Typical Shape of the Gathering
You can shape your own gathering times according to local preferences. All Myriad gathering resources can be downloaded and updated with your own details. The outline below has a Friday evening session running 7:30-9:30pm and a Saturday session running 9:30am - 3:30pm.
Friday evening
- Registration and Dinner
- Welcome & Worship (usual start 7:30pm)
- Devotion
- Where are we up to?
- What's a new Christian Community?
Usual finish 9:30pm
Saturday
- Coffee and pastries (usual start 9am)
- Worship
- Missional Living
- Hearing God for your Place
- Vision
- Rhythms of Review and Action Planning
- Roundup
Usual finish 3:30pm
Mid Stage
The Mid Stage meeting is usually held online but could be done in person. The content focusses on Safeguarding in New Church Communities.
Key Actions during Stage 1
Hub Leader | Hub Administrator | Hub Partner |
After the Gathering - please post photos of your teams' action plans into the WhatsApp group. | |
Safeguarding - please make contact with your denomination's Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO), if you haven't already. Ensure they are briefed on what is happening with the Myriad hub and the teams/leaders who have been safely recruited. Take time to listen to any specific instructions or requirements from the DSO and follow up accordingly. | |
Debrief G1 - with your hub partner:
| |
Mentors - By the Mid Stage meeting, you should have safely recruited a mentor for each planting team leader. Once they are in place, please send them the stage handbook and induction materials. | |
Oversight Ministers -
| |
Thrive in Five - please circulate the relevant content half way between G1 and the Mid Stage meeting, then again between the Mid Stage meeting and G2. | |
WhatsApp - have you got everyone into the group? Where is God at work? Which team/person needs attention? |
Gathering 1
Invitation Template
Dear [FIRST NAME],
We are excited to invite you to the first Gathering of the Myriad Pathway! This is the start of an important 2.5-year journey together and we can't wait to begin it with you.
What to expect:
Gathering 1 marks the beginning of Stage 1: Vision. Over the weekend you will:
- Introduce yourself and your team to the wider learning community
- Explore what it means to form a New Church Community
- Hear from God for your vision and for the place you're called to
- Develop a set of actions to guide you over the next six months
This gathering is built around shared learning, worship, prayer and honest conversation — not a lecture or a course. What you bring matters.
Date: [GATHERING 1 DATE — FRIDAY TO SATURDAY]
Venue: [VENUE NAME AND ADDRESS]
Arrival: Friday evening from [ARRIVAL TIME] for a 7:30pm start
Finish: Saturday approximately 3:30pm
Cost: [COST, IF ANY — OR 'FREE']
We'll provide you with participants' handbook so you can take notes but feel free to bring your own notebook. Do come ready to engage fully over the weekend.
Please confirm your attendance by [RSVP DATE] by replying to this email or contacting [HUB ADMIN NAME] at [ADMIN EMAIL / PHONE].
We are praying for you as this journey begins.
Warm blessings,
[HUB LEADER NAME]
[HUB NAME]
Reminder Message Template
Dear [FIRST NAME],
Just a reminder that Gathering 1 is coming up soon! We're looking forward to welcoming you and your team.
Date: [GATHERING 1 DATE]
Venue: [VENUE NAME AND ADDRESS]
Friday start: 7:30pm (please arrive by [ARRIVAL TIME])
Saturday finish: Approx. 3:30pm
As you prepare, we encourage you to spend a little time reflecting on where you and your team are right now in your journey of forming a new church community — you'll be sharing this with the group on Friday evening.
There's no need to have anything polished or prepared — this is a community of fellow learners and everyone starts from where they are. Simply come as you are.
If you have any questions or your plans have changed, please do get in touch with [HUB ADMIN NAME] at [ADMIN EMAIL / PHONE].
See you very soon!
[HUB LEADER NAME]
[HUB NAME]
Follow Up Template
Dear [FIRST NAME],
What a wonderful start to our Myriad journey together! Thank you so much for joining us at Gathering 1. It was a real privilege to hear from each team, to worship and pray together and to begin to sense what God is doing across all of our contexts.
Key things to carry away:
1. Your action plans — You set 3–5 key actions at the end of the gathering. Please review them with your team and begin putting them into practice. These will be reviewed at the Mid Stage meeting and at Gathering 2.
2. Vision — Spend time as a team praying and journalling together about your God-given vision. The session on 'Hearing God for Your Place' introduced a Place Discernment Tool to help you explore your context over the coming months. We encourage you to begin using it.
3. Missional Lifestyles — You were challenged to identify a new missional habit. What will that look like for you? We encourage you to hold one another accountable to this.
4. Oversight — Please ensure you have a regular meeting in the diary with your oversight minister. Send them your action plan.
Here are some reminders of the next dates for your diaries:
Mid Stage 1: [MID STAGE DATE AND ZOOM LINK]
Gathering 2: [GATHERING 2 DATE AND LOCATION]
If there is anything we can support you with, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We continue to pray for you all.
With every blessing,
[HUB LEADER NAME]
[HUB NAME]
Please be advised that when you download Google Slides as PowerPoint, you need to re-embed the videos. Links to these can be found in the same session tiles.
G1.7 Vision & Prayer Practice
A God-given vision is the starting point for a new Christian community. In this session we introduce vision, then get people working on their own vision through prayer and conversation.
Video Links
G1.8 Rhythms of Review & Action Planning
This session helps teams work out how they will ensure they are making progress towards their vision. It then moves onto action planning, which is the culmination of the gathering.
Resources
- Sarah Sharpe from Connect Gamston
- A1 Action Plan Templates - print one paper copy per team. Many local or online print shops can produce these (look for "plan printing" such as a Plotbot).
G1 Catch Up
Did any of your teams miss the first gathering? We permit teams to join during Stage 1, but must be present for G2 onwards. The Hub leader should use these slides to enable late-joining teams to catch up. If the teams also miss the Mid Stage session on Safeguarding, they should complete that too.
Supporting Materials
G1 Facilitator Briefing
To be read in advance of the gathering by all facilitators.
G1 Facilitator Programme
A 2-page quick reference guide during the gathering. Please add team and participant names to this document before printing.
G1 Participants Handbook
Print one paper copy per participant and share as a PDF if needed.
Stage 1 Handbook
Send this document to Mentors and Oversight Ministers after the Gathering so they can keep in touch with what's happened.
Running a Myriad Gathering
This resource is designed for event organizers (hub administrators) and facilitators involved in the Myriad Pathway.
Oversight Induction
A preliminary 2hr event for all Oversight Ministers to attend together to explain their role and responsibilities, plus a few suggestions on how to supervise well. This Induction should be delivered by the Hub Leader and Hub Partner soon after the first gathering has taken place.
Mid Stage 1
Invitation Template
Dear hub teams,
We are looking forward to seeing you at our Mid Stage 1 online gathering — a chance to reconnect as a learning community, share how things are going and look at an important topic for your new church communities.
When: [DATE AND TIME]
Zoom Link: [ZOOM LINK]
Duration: Approximately 2 hours
During this gathering we will:
• Hear updates from each team on how your actions are progressing
• Explore the theme of Safeguarding in New Church Communities
Safeguarding in a new church community is different from established church contexts. Because your community is developing and changing — new people joining, different meeting spaces, evolving activities — your safeguarding practice needs regular and careful attention. We'll look together at what this means in practice.
Before the meeting, please review your action plans: Where have you got to? What has worked well? What is still a work in progress?
Our next in-person gathering is on [GATHERING 2 DATE]. We continue to pray for you all, so do let us know if there is anything we can help you with.
Looking forward to seeing you all,
[HUB LEADER NAME]
[HUB NAME]
Reminder Template
Hi everyone,
Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible this evening for our Mid Stage 1 gathering online.
We'll have time for team updates, report back, input on Safeguarding in New Church Communities, team discussion and prayer.
Before you join, do review your action plans: Where have you got to? What has happened? What worked well? What haven't you managed? What has been difficult? What is still a work in progress?
Zoom link: [ZOOM LINK]
Time: [START TIME]
See you this evening!
[HUB LEADER NAME]
Follow Up Template
Dear [FIRST NAME / team leader],
Thank you for joining us for Mid Stage 1 — it was great to hear how each team is progressing and to look together at the important subject of safeguarding.
As we discussed, safeguarding in a new church community requires ongoing attention. Because your community is likely evolving — new people joining, changing activities, different venues — your safeguarding culture must be regularly reviewed and adapted. Please see the attached guidance document Safeguarding in New Worshipping Communities.
Action required — please complete by [DATE]:
We are asking each team leader to confirm the following to us and to your oversight minister:
1. That you have checked and agreed with your oversight minister the safeguarding policy and practice/process you are using (or proposing to use).
2. Check with them what safeguarding training you need from where? This applies to all team members.
3. Think through how you are training your current and new team members on policy and procedure?
4. Who's your safeguarding champion? This can't be you as well. Agree this with your Oversight Minister.
If you are still in the planning phase, please send a proposed outline of how you see safeguarding working in your context. The important thing is that all team leaders have had this conversation with their oversight minister.
Safeguarding training is available through:
• Church of England Safeguarding Training Portal: safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org
• Thirtyone:Eight: thirtyoneeight.org
We need to confirm to our Myriad partner that this information has been collected, so thank you in advance for your prompt response.
Gathering 2: [DATE, VENUE AND TIME]
We're praying for each of you as you continue this work.
With every blessing,
[HUB LEADER NAME]
[HUB NAME]
Safeguarding in New Church Communities
As new church communities are often developing and changing more quickly than some traditional models, teams should consider how they will keep reviewing and adapting their practice in line with their oversight structure.
Following this Mid Stage, each team leader should confirm with the hub leader that they have met and agreed with their oversight that everything is in place for safeguarding; including training, checks and that all policies are in line with their denomination or oversight structure. The resource below should be shared with teams after the meeting.
Resources
Supporting Materials
Mid Stage 1 Programme
Use this document to plan your Mid Stage meeting.
Late Arrivals
You may come across one or two teams that are well suited to the Pathway but can't attend the first gathering. The Hub Leader can decide whether or not to admit a team after the first gathering, but we recommend that all teams should be present from the second gathering onwards and no newer teams are admitted so that the community has a chance to forge together.
Catch Up
The Hub Leader should arrange a catch up session for late arrivals. This can be online or in person. The content is much briefer than at the gathering itself, and it is expected that these teams will need to do more homework to catch up.
Ideally, a catch up session is done in person over half a day (it could be a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon session). But if availability is difficult, an online midweek evening session is also possible. The shortest time this can be completed in is 1hr25.
Catch Up Slides
Talk through these slides (39). There will be minimal opportunity for team working but time will be needed for interaction. It covers all G1 content at a high level.
Hearing God for your Place Video
Play this video introduction (6mins).
Place Discovery Tool
Share this document with the team and instruct them to complete it as a team. This is the same resource that was distributed at G1. It is up to the Hub Leader to decide how best to follow up on this (e.g. you can use it as part of a "Where are you up to?" session.
© 2025 The Myriad Collective, registered charity number 1214151 in England. View our Privacy Notice here. Myriad is committed to safeguarding as an integral part of its ministry and mission, promoting a safer culture and the welfare of every child, young person and adult. View our safeguarding policy here.
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