First of all, what is R&R? I would describe it as a set of initiatives and activities intended to improve the support that the national church institutions can give to the Church proper (the Church in the dioceses, parishes, schools etc) in its work of mission. It\u2019s coming from the National Church Institutions because it\u2019s about things that those institutions (the Church Commissioners, the General Synod, the Archbishops\u2019 Council etc) can do. But it comes from the national church institutions in response to what the dioceses said when members and staff from Church House asked what they wanted, to help the Church for the future. And because it\u2019s a response, it\u2019s not a national plan or a national strategy for the Church.<\/p>\n
Secondly, what\u2019s it for? This bit\u2019s easy. For me, the purpose of R&R is to contribute to turning around the decades-long decline in the Church: a decline which we all know is there, on almost any measure we choose to look at \u201d\u201c but also a decline which we know can be reversed, because in many places there are hopeful signs of how it can be done. R&R can only be a contribution, because the Church exists in the parishes, not in Synods or Councils. But Synods and Councils can contribute \u201d\u201c and they can help work towards a hopeful future, in which we once again have a growing Church, with more people coming to faith, with more people deepening their faith and living Christian lives, and the Church doing more good for this country.<\/p>\n
Thirdly, why now? If the question is \u201cwhy not before now?\u201d\u009d, I can\u2019t answer that. If it\u2019s \u201cwhy do we have to do it now?\u201d\u009d, that\u2019s because our Church is shrinking fast, and it could start diminishing faster at any moment without action. Only the Church of England has a national mission to be a Church for everyone, in every community. Other denominations have shrunk and withdrawn from great swathes of the country.<\/p>\n