September 2010 - FX ARCHIVE...

New report shows range of fresh expressions in Methodism

Recently released figures from the Methodist Church have revealed a detailed picture of the denomination's fresh expressions of church in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Statistics for Mission Report is the first to include data on language, ethnicity, fresh expressions and the number of churchgoers engaged in children and youth ministry. The report identified 893 fresh expressions of church; with café churches, Messy Church and cell groups being among the most popular.

The Methodist Church of Great Britain began the regular collection and publication of statistics in 1766. In recent decades, while collection has continued to take place every year, publication has been triennial. The current triennium covers 2008-10.The next count takes place in October, the data for which is now gathered online.

The statistical report came from the Research Department of the Connexional Team. They published the comprehensive quantitative profile of the Methodist Church in 2009-10 on the basis of the 2009 count.

Dr Christopher Stephens, Research Officer, said the research was taking place annually to build an accurate picture of the Church in the 21st century. He said the data would enable the Methodist Church to better support local churches in their mission needs.

He commented,

This report reveals that we are diverse and modern. We have a huge number of fresh expressions and a wide breadth of worshipping communities. I think this report will surprise some readers, including Methodists. It demonstrates clear areas of growth and a rich diversity…

In addition to the main 306-page resource pack (which includes data at connexional, district and circuit levels), church-level statistics and an atlas of Methodist locations are also available in separate files.

A separate presentation on fresh expressions in Methodism [PPT] is available.

Sanctum

Pioneer Minister and heavy metal aficionado Mark Broomhead used to lead a fresh expression of church called Sanctum at the St Barnabas Centre in Danesmoor. He was recently licensed by the Bishop of Derby, Rt Rev Dr Alastair Redfern, to develop an accessible form of church for Alternative sub cultures in the Chesterfield area. What will he be doing?

Sanctum started in 2006 and, as it is now, is the result of the coming together of two congregations. The idea first came about when I was a member of Christian metal band FireFly and we decided to launch Embryo – a multi-denominational alternative worship event hosted by different churches every two months.

It became clear that this event was the only contact with church that some people were having but it lacked the necessary continuity, teaching, community and pastoral care to nurture that contact. In response to this Sanctum was born, a weekly alternative service based at St Bartholomew's Church, Clay Cross. Meanwhile a small congregation at St Barnabas had faithfully been working towards the vision of replacing the old church and hall with a new multi-purpose building for the whole community. The decision to pool the resources of both congregations led to what became Sanctum.

It is a district church of the North Wingfield Team Parish in Derby Diocese and they continue to meet on Sunday evenings at 5pm in the St Barnabas Centre.

The idea for the new community – called 'the order of the black sheep' – is to go back to the original vision of Sanctum in being something more appropriate for the unchurched. We now plan to take out a very small team and from that plant something new; literally taking a seed for Jesus into the community and see what happens. I'm sure that something of Sanctum's worship style will be replicated in the new community; it is heavily influenced by rock culture and previous activities included putting on gigs, starting a small record label and recording a rocked up Christmas carol album.

One of the connections we have got is the Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival in Derby where I have led the chaplaincy team for several years. Billed as the UK’s No1 heavy metal event, the festival this year hosted about 80 bands across three stages.

Basically we look after anyone who is not in need of hospitalisation or under threat of arrest. Some people lose their tents for one reason or another, for instance. We’re just there 24 hours a day for whenever people a helping hand or a chat or a safe space to recover from a little over indulgence. Lots of people come back to visit us year on year. There are definitely people from the Chesterfield area who go to the festival so being part of Bloodstock gives us respect; they know who we are. That’s a great start.

I often wear my dog collar while wandering around the site. The collar offers instant identification and people seem to be fine with it. I have not been burned at the stake yet so it must be OK. Bloodstock does tend to focus on the darker side of metal, and there are some openly satanic bands though there is a huge range of music. It is fantastic to be involved.

I have played bass for the past 21 years in Christian Metal/Rock bands like Exoria, FireFly, Detritus and Seventh Angel so it’s a very familiar world to me. Bloodstock organisers want to run a battle of the bands-type event with a prize called Metal for the Masses. We have talked about setting up a venue as a central meeting place and finding a pub, bar or nightclub for that event. As a result we can try to build a community rather than a service.

My link with Bloodstock has been very good; they are even offering to fund some of our Christian work through the year as a thank you for the work we do on the welfare provision.

In some respects heavy metal music was a kind of retaliation against Christianity, more culturally than anything else, because the Church was seen as a nice middle-class society. The more uncomfortable people feel about Church, the more it is seen as a target and the more extreme the opposing views become – strangely this makes it very easy for me to talk about Christianity.

I see myself as very much part of that heavy metal community because it's a community I have grown up with since I was 14. It's like the village I grew up in if you like – something you just jump into and get involved in as much as possible.

A friend invited me to see Saxon, my first gig, at the age of 12. I had a really strong sense of gathered community, of not feeling like the odd one out. I recognised the acceptance, the brotherhood of it all and knew I wanted to be part of it.

I really pray that in this next developmental year for the new community that many others will feel that sense of acceptance and brotherhood through being part of a very different form of church.

I've been working with a community that is centred on music, skateboarding etc. People dress in black and hang around on street corners looking frightening. These people I call my friends. I am promoting a form of church that is natural and welcoming to people who wouldn't be able to walk into a normal church building or service and 'get it' straight away.

(CEN) Sorted – meeting them where they are

The average age of Church of England congregations is 14 years older than the national average. In England 34% of adults (16 and over) have never had a significant connection with any church. Another 31% used to have a connection but don’t any more. The vast proportion of children and teenagers has never had a connection to church. So church needs to connect with them.

Sorted – a fresh expression of church for young people, run by young people – has just received a Bishop's Mission Order, among the first to be granted in the country. Church Army evangelist Captain Andy Milne first launched Sorted in 2004. As a keen skateboarder he got to know the area’s young skaters, many of whom went on to become founder members of the youth church in north Bradford.

Andy says,

It has been good to see a lot of young people come from very different backgrounds to be part of this and I have been privileged to witness young people having experiences of God on a Monday night, come to faith and develop into leaders and disciples.

According to the recently retired Bishop of Bradford, Bishop David James,

Sorted is a bold experiment that has come good. The Church Army has enabled us to create a church out of the people you would least expect to show any interest in Christianity. It has had such an impact at Immanuel College, one of our Church of England Secondary Schools, that there is now an off-shoot at Hanson School, which is a local authority school.

Sorted meets on Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights, and sees an average of 130 young people during that time. About 25 to 30 get together for the Monday youth congregation from 7.15 to 9pm. They are very active and help set up the equipment and run the whole thing – including worship, teaching, prayer, and activities in between. The age range is 13 to 20.

On Tuesday night, they meet in a different place and have five different groups with anything up to 35 people there. Each group is led by two young people. Sometimes there is a discussion around a Bible passage and sometimes they work on a fund-raising project but the idea is to try and provide a place where they can talk about their faith and what they can do with that faith. It is more discipleship focused. When they get involved in leadership it really helps their understanding.

If they run it themselves, they really own it and the energy triples,

says Andy.

Fridays involves a short talk for about five minutes and then different activities in the various rooms. There can be 40 or 50 people. What tends to happen is that kids come through their friends or schools to Friday evening sessions because it's very open, accessible to anyone. Then they get to know people and when there is a bit more trust they tend to move into the other two groups.

In June, Bishop David baptised six teenagers from Sorted in the River Wharfe at Ilkley – with an audience of hundreds of sunbathers. The six were then joined by five others to be confirmed and receive communion by the riverside.

Andy Milne adds,

Fewer people than ever before have any meaningful links with the church and its culture so we're meeting people where they are at rather than expecting them to come to church. Sorted helps break down some barriers and the young people can see that we are really concerned about them and the issues they face. We're building a Christian community and family for those who have difficult families at home. We find that the young people often have an experience of God before they follow him. Rather than a gradual intellectual process, they often have an encounter with God and begin to make sense of it later.

We are in the process of setting up Sorted 2 about a mile-and-a-half up the road because we realised that about 80% of those in Sorted 1 were from the same school of around 1200 pupils. The second school in the area is the sixth largest secondary in the country with about 1800 students but it is currently being extended so will be even bigger. It is multicultural and multiracial.

We now see about 30 young people every week in Sorted 2.

Sorted is not the only model for a youth congregation. There are a whole variety of others. But Sorted embodies a vital principle – meeting young people where they are, and then creating church through the relationships made, and the opportunities opened up by the Holy Spirit.

Bishop David says,

It isn't about doing something trendy or relevant – it is about loving in Christ's name.

Norwich Christian Meditation Centre

Norwich Christian Meditation Centre has given rise to an ecclesial community with Eucharist, worship, discipleship nurturing and community building at its heart. Developing Consciousness, an 8-week introductory course on spirituality, has played an important part in the Centre's development. Rev Nicholas Vesey, vicar of St Augustine's, Norwich, explains more.

St Augustine's Church pioneered the Developing Consciousness course as a means of connecting ancient Christian truths and practices with contemporary spirituality. The result is the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre.

Developing Consciousness, and the follow-up 'Into Christ Consciousness', attracts people who are seeking to deepen their personal spirituality and explore Christian faith.

St Augustine's meets as a church on a Sunday but it now offers a lot more than that. The church itself dates from 1163. In 1993 the congregation, some 40 to 50 people, moved out of the church because the roof was dangerous. About £80,000 was raised to renovate the church hall for worship. In 1999, during a long period without a vicar, the old church was declared redundant. By then our numbers had dropped to about 25.

We wanted to grow from there and identified quite a strong 'alternative' community living in our area, and made a decision to be less churchy. New signage encouraged people to 'come and develop your spiritual life'. Then, after surveying newer members to find out what attracted them to St Augustine's, we created the Developing Consciousness course which now runs twice a year.

We re-ordered the building to make it more attractive and rebranded ourselves as the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre – with the blessing of our bishop. Using modern marketing and advertising techniques to publicise our events, we encouraged the development of a community group to include those on the local estate, and organised a regular garden party for all local residents to create a village feel, although we are near a city centre.

Once in contact with the Centre, individuals can connect with the Christian community through our many expressions of worship, spiritual practice and community life: Ambient Wonder (alternative worship community), weekly Christian Meditation group, learning events, Sunday morning services, small groups meeting in people's homes and local community projects.

We are rarely, if ever, all gathered together but our values are to provide space for people to express themselves, connecting with their own creativity in pursuit of our Creator. We are committed to learning from each other and using the skills and talents God has given us to explore new understandings and cement our spiritual experiences into our everyday lives. We know we are called to be in our contemporary culture but not 'of it', and so we aim that what we do together enables us to authentically reflect God's presence in us.

As our community evolves we are working to increase the cross-over between the different groups under the umbrella of the Meditation Centre. We have a database of those who have attended the courses and invite them to guest events with interesting visiting speakers. We finance the entire venture through the speaker programme. So far we have held conferences featuring Richard Rohr and Cynthia Bourgeault. John Bell has just run a two day intensive course for us entitled Moving the Contemplative Heart to Action. This means people can belong without having to pay for the privilege of belonging. We feel that this template could work for any church in any town or city in the UK, so long as there is an interest in meditation among the church members.

The Centre has also launched a programme for men in and around the Norwich area. Soul Brothers is a group formed out of the experience of those learning from the American Franciscan Richard Rohr's teaching on the role of men within a spiritual context. At the moment we hope there will be a large group meeting once every couple of months, with an opportunity to be a part of a smaller group of men (about 10) to get together more regularly. Our next meeting will be in October.

We aim to be a liquid network, with each event or group acting as an access point to belonging in our spiritual community. People can find their home in one or more activities and we journey together towards God, not assuming that we all start from the same place but knowing that we're heading towards a deeper knowledge of divine love and freedom in Christ.

The problem is that churches today are finding it difficult to find a niche within contemporary society. What we see as part of the solution is that many such churches fit naturally into some part of the contemplative tradition and there is a hunger in contemporary society for 'spirituality' or the cultivation of a sensitive and rewarding relationship with eternal truth and love. These churches could institute local Christian Meditation Centres to teach the contemplative tradition, and so appeal to those in search of spirituality. In support of that vision, a book is about to be published which includes all the contents of the Developing Consciousness course.

The Meditation Centre now has 1000 'members' with a small group programme and church at the centre. This provides access points through a culturally relevant structure, enabling people to participate in a Christ-centred community, promoting the purpose of God and the practice of the presence of God.

ThE DEN

When Chris and Tina Adams received a word of prophecy about their garden shed, thE DEN was born and the Holy Spirit has continued to be at work ever since.

After singing in worship one young person was in tears as she understood for the first time all that Jesus had done for her on the cross. She wrote in thE DEN journal: "Dear God and Jesus, I never really thought about your death in this much detail and now that I have… I am eternally grateful for what you have done and sacrificed for us!!…Thank you for bringing kindness and happiness to me. Thank you for truly bringing the Holy Spirit, you and Jesus to me!!" Another was healed of a persistent eye infection after prayer.

A group of sixth formers now come and join us to worship and support the younger ones. Many have difficulties at home and most have very little or no experience of church. They have begun to grow as a group and are becoming good friends. Their new faith has resulted in a noticeable change in behaviour both at home and school.

X-Site

Church Army New Zealand runs a successful bus ministry called Canterbury Kids Coach. Captain Louise Weller tells how a new Christian community, X-Site, has developed to work alongside the mobile ministry to reach families in Rowley, a needy suburb of Christchurch.

We began three years ago, running a children's after school programme on board our Canterbury Kids Coach.

Every six months we move to three more locations. Two years ago, we were given the use of a community house so that we could encourage children who had been on our programme to be involved in something more permanent, and provide support and ongoing discipleship. We call this 'X-Site'.

Parents started coming along to 'X-Site' as well and this has now grown to an average attendance of about 30 children and 9 adults each week. We have not 'arrived' yet but we are well on the way.

The X-Site weekly sessions are from 3pm-5pm every Friday and follow a similar pattern each week. Leaders and other adults from the community arrive from 2.15pm and we stop to pray at 2.45pm. The children arrive from the nearby local school and are given a drink and games to play and we sit around and chat.

At 3.30pm we start our session proper with singing, prayer and a Bible reading. The children themselves lead the prayer and Bible reading while parents are all encouraged to be involved. We then have one of our puppets introduce the theme for the day and then the mums with children of preschool age leave for their own special programme while the others have their separate teaching time. We use lots of different creative ways to encourage the development of faith, including mime, drama, crafts, games with purpose, teaching of puppetry and even learning how to play the ukulele! We usually follow a theme that lasts for 10 weeks.

Refreshments are provided and meals arranged at the end of each term. We carry out visits and follow-up work to help meet material needs and address neglect, truancy and abuse. This is much more than just a bus; it is bringing Church to the people.

Our organisation aims to keep the following values at the heart of all our work:

fully rely on God;

encourage the development of Christian values: sharing, honesty, responsibility, honouring of relationships, serving others, making wise choices and respect;

break down the barriers of isolation and racial disharmony;

see where the Holy Spirit is working and join in;

remain outward focused – seeing the needs in the community and continually looking to 'take new ground'

following the example of Jesus, we seek to love and serve each other, and encourage others to do the same.

Three team leaders are members of the local Anglican Church and two are from the nearest Baptist Church; teenagers help as junior leaders. Although we are a Church Army initiative, we also have the support and encouragement of our local parish and some families have now started attending services on Sunday.

Our goal is however, to encourage the local people to find faith in Christ and grow to become leaders of their own community. This is beginning. For those that come, this is Church.

We are a registered charity funded from trusts and donations from individuals. To spread the vision about what we’re doing we undertake speaking engagements, networking and sharing stories of good practice through the media and our own publications. We understand the value of working together with other organisations, agencies and community groups and work at discovering what is happening in order to encourage one another. It is important to enable people to network together, learn from one another and exercise responsible oversight.

We want to see lives transformed and communities grow. I didn't have an opportunity as a child to hear about Jesus, so I had to struggle alone during my tough teenage years. Consequently I desperately want others to have opportunities to hear about, experience and grow in the love of Jesus, and be equipped to reach their full potential.

It is our hope that parents will take ownership of this and begin to disciple others. With a group of 10 mums, we recently started to organise midweek morning sessions for parents. We hope that these sessions will be a time to focus on being there for these mums and helping them to grow in faith. We are taking things a step at a time, learning as we go, and listening to the needs of the community and to what God is saying. Watch this space!

Contemplative Fire – update Sep10

The vision and call of Contemplative Fire is revealed in the phrase 'Creating a Community of Christ at the Edge'. Founded as a networked community by Revd Philip Roderick in the Diocese of Oxford in 2004, Contemplative Fire is now seeing all sorts of new things emerge. Philip explains more.

We are a 'Community of Christ' because we believe that the risen Christ calls us to journey with him into an ever deepening awareness of what he called 'the Kingdom of God'. It is a call into a relationship of love with God, the whole of humanity and with the created order. Jesus' call requires us to 'travel light' in simplicity of lifestyle and to 'dwell deep' in the presence of God.

We talk of 'the edge' because we value and respect such a place as holding potential for transformation. Edges can be geographical but can also be theological, social, ecclesiastical, cultural, spiritual… To live at 'the edge' is to risk encounter with the unknown beyond the threshold, but is also to recognise that God often beckons us to move beyond self-imposed limitations.

In the past 18 months, we have seen the development of Contemplative Fire Canada. Led by the Revd Anne Crosthwait, it has established a strong base in the Diocese of Toronto and is also generating interest in neighbouring dioceses.

As a dispersed monastic community and a fresh expression of church in the sacramental tradition, Contemplative Fire follows a rhythm of life of 'Travelling Light – Dwelling Deep' that is rooted in prayer, study and action. Drawing from the broad Christian contemplative tradition, we seek to be fully present to the kingdom of God right here and right now. As our name implies we enjoy the mystery and paradoxes of life, of being both contemplative and on fire.

The community may meet in homes, churches, any attractive space or even out-of-doors. In Canada, members meet as a large group for Gatherings (worship services), Pilgrimages (awareness walks and retreat days) and Living the Mystery (study days). They also meet more frequently in small groups for times of deep listening to each other, to scripture, to contemplative texts and trustfully to God. Small groups vary from meditation to study, to food and fellowship times.

Contemplative Fire espouses a rhythm of life based on being, knowing and doing as grounded in the example of Jesus with:

silence;

stillness;

spaciousness;

simplicity.

In January this year, I moved to Sheffield as half-time Bishop's Adviser in Spirituality and Chaplain to Whirlow Grange Spirituality Centre, working with Bishop Steven Croft. I continue as Community Leader to Contemplative Fire.

A new Contemplative Fire local community is also growing well in Brighton and Hove, with Revd Phil Ritchie of All Saints Hove and John Watters as prime movers. They are working with Revd Tess Holland, one of Contemplative Fire's regional leaders.

Contemplative Fire was also at Greenbelt again this year to lead two sessions in new eco-spirituality venue, Abide. Also on site was the Contemplative Fire teepee to offer a 'being-before-doing' space. The music and movement on offer reflects the development of the music ministry.

Contemplative Fire

Candles, quiet drumming and chanting. Anointing with oil. The breaking of bread and the sharing of wine, food and sacred story. It could be any century, any country, any community of Christ's followers. But this is a Gathering of Contemplative Fire, a fresh expression of church.

We welcome the pre- and post-church generation and spiritual searchers of any path seeking to understand the way of Christ the contemplative.

This is an invitation to a radical transformation of consciousness on the Way of Jesus: the ancient and contemporary path of unknowing and knowing, of being loved and loving, of letting go and taking hold.

Whilst Contemplative Fire attracts those from different Christian (and non-faith) backgrounds, it is accountable to and in creative dialogue with the Church of England. Wherever Contemplative Fire establishes itself as a praying, liturgical community, the blessing and partnership of local and diocesan leaders is sought. Such a context allows for two-way prayer support and the opportunity, with the inherited Church, to share and wrestle with theological, missional and pastoral issues.

Contemplative Fire resources its individual members and its network of local groups through a combination of learning materials, experiential processes, creative worship and the training and equipping of its local and national leadership.

To learn more about the activities of Contemplative Fire in your area, or to explore membership, please visit our website.

Travelling light, dwelling deep with Contemplative Fire:

A personal rhythm:

reflective opportunities for opening to the presence of God;

a deep sharing with others;

a learning journey;

costly giving: an offering of our gifts and ourselves to the wider community.

In small groups:

threes – structured silence, deep listening and personal sharing;

sevens – table liturgy celebrating the festivals, with stillness and response flowing from texts from the bible and spiritual writers;

open circles – stories and pauses, with a chosen book as focus;

prayer at the heart – Ignatian group discernment;

still waters – quiet reflection and body prayers from the Christian tradition.

In larger groups:

living the mystery: the way of Christ the contemplative – series of single days of theological and experiential exploration;

gatherings in different places and spaces, for contemplative eucharist;

pilgrimage to now/here – walking in beauty, building awareness and community;

wisdom on the way: rhythm of life weekends and retreats – the dynamic of prayer, study and action;

land, sea, sky: journeying at the edge – seashore conversations;

member events celebrating our journey together as 'companions on the way': a community of Christ at the edge.

StreetWise

Helping to create church for those who find most Christian gatherings too slick and professional is not easy. But that was the challenge facing a group of Sheffield Christians when they formed StreetWise, a fresh expression of church for those on the margins of society.

The aim of St Thomas Philadelphia's Restore ministry is to take the power of God's love to the very edges of society and bring people into the heart of God's family. That doesn't mean getting more people to come to conventional church. But it does mean reaching out to the poor and the marginalised of the city including people who are homeless, those with life-controlling addictions, women working on the streets and people who have been in prison. Those involved in this challenging ministry and mission are committed to a holistic approach meeting practical, social, spiritual and emotional needs.

Andy Niblock leads Restore, and along with Danny Wilson, heads up StreetWise, a fresh expression of church which meets in parallel to St Thomas' main Sunday morning service in a room in the Church's training centre. He explained that StreetWise has a high proportion of members with a variety of personal and social needs and also includes those who 'felt uncomfortable' in many church settings. The aim is to create a weekly worship and fellowship gathering for those who may be intimidated by the way church can sometimes feel middle class or is delivered in a professional way. Andy says that services which may give the impression that 'people here have got it altogether' can often be offputting for those whose lives are not really under control.

Around 50 people meet each week, sharing food together before a simple time of worship, in which everyone is encouraged to participate, and many do. Stories are shared of how God has helped during the week, or of friends who have got difficulties or of ways in which addictions are slowly being overcome. It really is fully church for those who attend and those who go along to be with them. There is down to earth support available from the team during the week too, and that is vital.

One man in his thirties is a regular. He describes himself as once being a violent football hooligan. He knew he couldn't change himself but his two and a half years at StreetWise has shown that God can change him. He has learned how to love other people too, for the first time in his life.

Another man lived on the streets and sold the Big Issue, was addicted to heroin and had 'lost his way'. But when he went to StreetWise he says he genuinely found God and God found him. He knows many of his problems stem from a difficult childhood, but has valued the one to one sessions on offer through Restore ministries. Now he believes he has given all that was weighing him down to God and knows there are so many better things in life than those things that once attracted him.

Andy Niblock believes that one of the strengths of StreetWise is the way it combines practical care and support with the truth of the gospel. This holistic approach has been developed over a number of years, as StreetWise was originally set up to simply feed and minister to people living on the streets. But soon members of the Streetwise team realised that there was a real openness to faith issues too and wanted to demonstrate a lifestyle which said 'Jesus can make a difference to you'. And in the case of many who go along each week a real difference is being made, despite the significant challenges in their lives.

Stephen Lindridge at Greenbelt

Stephen Lindridge, Fresh Expressions Connexional Missioner for the Methodist Church, was given just two minutes by Greenbelt TV last weekend to take a sideways look at fresh expressions of church.

Stephen was joined by Christians from across Britain for one of the country's largest Christian festivals. About 21,000 people attended the event, which focused on Christianity's relationship with society, politics and the arts.

See how he did:

The art of looking sideways: Fresh Expressions with Stephen Lindridge from Greenbelt Festival on Vimeo.