An action plan for today's Church will therefore include an understanding of the culture and context in which the Church is placed and how the Gospel can address its strengths and weaknesses. There will be an emphasis on partnership among churches but also with the state, local authorities, statutory and voluntary agencies. It should be clear, however, that the Church's integrity cannot be sacrificed to short-term advantage, and government especially will have to recognise the nature of the Church and its obligations in its partnership with Christian communities of different kinds. The churches should not only be concerned with decline and with needy areas, important as those are, but actively seek and support those at the cutting-edge of opportunity—young families, students and ethnic and other kinds of groups. 

Local Christian communities should largely be responsible for mission and ministry in their neck of the woods with support from stipendiary clergy and specialists in education, youth work, worship, music and, particularly, the identification and preparation of leaders. This should lead to a streamlining of bureaucracy at every level, as should reinventing how churches gather for making decisions that affect them all. 

At the same time, local and national churches should be aware of the world-wide dimension of the Christian faith. Our partnership with brothers and sisters overseas should be mutually enriching but it may also involve waiting for one another and, from time to time, being willing to be corrected and extended in our particular reading of the Christian tradition. 

We should not be intimidated by the challenge of our times but see it as an opportunity for a vigorous engagement with the needs and questions of the day, confident that the good news of Jesus Christ remains just that—even, perhaps especially, for our own times.