Toolkit Overview
The Growing Good Toolkit is a free six session course for churches. Each session includes reflection on scripture, time for discussion, inspiring stories and simple next steps.
Find out how the Growing Good Toolkit can help your church.
Tried and tested by churches
Growing Good helps churches grow in:
1. knowledge about their local community,
2. confidence in their local mission,
3. hospitality and relationships.
Based on research
Growing Good helps churches reflect on the key insights of the GRA:CE project, a three year research project from CUF and Theos that identified some common themes shared by churches that are growing in number, depth and impact.
Flexible & easy to use
Group leaders tell us that the Growing Good sessions are flexible, practical and easy to use. Our Training Hub for group leaders provides everything you need to get started, from an overview of each session to top tips from churches who've used the course.
The Toolkit Sessions
1: Presence
Being seen and known for doing good.
Consider how your church can be an active and visible presence in your community, and hear from an inner city church that has become a beacon of hope in its local community.
2: Perseverance
Being faithful in the long-term.
Explore the value of investing in communities, even when it's hard and slow, and find out how one church has invested in local schools over the long-term, and seen fruit.
3: Hospitality
Building a culture of giving and receiving.
Discuss the importance of offering a welcome that goes beyond offering food, and learn how a church worked with its local community to start a vibrant café and build relationships.
4: Adaptability
Being open to challenge and change.
Explore how being open to doing things differently can encourage new growth and find out how one church has adapted their worship to involve people of different ages, cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds.
5: Participation
Inviting everyone to be part of what’s going on.
Consider how participation in social action can be a way for people to become part of the life of your church and hear what this meant for one family after they had a faced a difficult time.
6: Next Steps
Reflect on the things you have learned from the Growing Good sessions and the practical next steps you might take individually and as a church
Toolkit Resources
Session guides
Each session comes with a downloadable session guide for the group leader. The sessions all follow the same structure and last approximately 90mins.
- Opening question
- Bible reflection
- Case study film
- Group activity or discussion
- Prayer
- Optional next step
Session films
The films share stories from churches that illustrate the themes of the sessions, as well as key findings from the research. You can download the these films from the session page. We’ve provided some background notes at the end of each session guide. If you are looking for more inspiration for your specific context we have three additional films featuring a small church, a church without a building and a rural church. These can be used in the Next Steps session or at any time.
Additional resources
Throughout the sessions we'll signpost to additional activities and resources to help you make the most of our Growing Good journey. We have additional films for churches in different contexts, links to a prayer walk guide and practical suggestions for building community. The Next Steps session provides a template for presenting your ideas to your church leadership.
Support for you
Our Training Hub to give you all the information you need to feel confident about running the Growing Good course. Each short video covers an aspect of the course material, from an overview of each session to top tips from churches who've used the course. You can also download a copy of our guide for group leaders.
