Case Projects
Since 2006, ARCS has worked with 12 Church organisations:
Agency for Evangelisation, Archdiocese of Westminster, Roman Catholic – ARCS worked with the Adult Faith Formation team examining the effectiveness of adult faith formation at deanery level and its role in evangelisation and renewal. It also worked with the whole Agency team.
CaFE – ARCS worked with selected parishes in London to look at the effectiveness of CaFE media resources in equipping participants and parishes for evangelisation and renewal.
CAFOD – ARCS is working with members of staff at the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development to help strengthen their organisational capacity for theological reflection in the area of Catholic Social Teaching.
Diocese of Portsmouth, Roman Catholic - ARCS worked with the Diocese of Portsmouth in support of the development of stewardship in its parishes/pastoral areas. Research involved describing and reflecting upon the theology and practice of stewardship as it developed in its pilot stages.
Diocese of Southwark, Church of England – ARCS worked with the Social Responsibility Network to facilitate theological reflection on issues raised by the economic crisis in London.
Housing Justice – ARCS worked with the national homelessness charity ‘Housing Justice in a Catholic and Anglican parish in London to reflect theologically on the impact of a Churches Cold Weather Shelter on the faith outlook of volunteers and parishes.
I-Church – ARCS is working with I-Church, an online Christian community based on Benedictine principles founded by the Church of England Diocese of Oxford to seek ways of offering online pastoral support to bereaved pet owners.
London Jesuit Volunteers – ARCS is working with London Jesuit Volunteers at Mount Street Jesuit Centre to explore the implicit and explicit values taking place in the volunteer ‘reflective talking’. This will enable other organisations to replicate the ‘Action-Contemplation-Community’ model used by LJV.
Messy Church, Emmanuel Church, South Croydon – ARCS is working with Messy Church at Emmanuel Church, South Croydon to ask the question: ‘How do we make disciples of Christ?’ Children and parents attend a fun and interactive monthly service, which is a Fresh Expression of Church in the Church of England.
St Mary’s Church, Battersea, Church of England – ARCS worked with St Mary's Church to look at the ways in which St Mary's Alpha course impacts upon participants' faith journeys in the parish. A key component of the project was to explore issues of Christian church/community commitment in terms of theology and ecclesiology.
Westminster Justice and Peace Commission – ARCS worked with the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission to explore the impact and significance of fair trade in one Roman Catholic parish, in particular, looking at the different ways in which parishioners connect up fair trade with the wider mission of the parish.
Youth 2000 – ARCS worked with this international Catholic youth initiative to reflect upon the practice and theology of the Youth 2000 retreat and how the retreat enables conversion to Christ and deeper understanding of the Catholic faith.
The ARCS project is no longer working directly with church agencies on a long term, one-to-one basis but for information about our ‘theological action research’ consultancy contact the ARCS Fieldworker and click here: future dissemination 2010-2011
