From traditional parish to mission-shaped communities: adversity or adventure? Mark Carey describes the transformation of Kairos Network Church in Harrogate in an article for the New Wine magazine (Autumn 2011 edition).
Harrogate calling
First my attention was grabbed by a job advert promising a 'mission-shaped opportunity'; then I heard a passionate verbal appeal for the same post at the 2007 New Wine Leadership Conference. I was hooked. Here was a fantastic chance to do a new thing.
I arrived in Harrogate to lead St Mary's and All Saints' that October. Within 12 months we began the significant transition from parish church to a 'fresh expression' of church, serving beyond the traditional Church of England parish boundaries.
The parish was originally established to serve a particular part of the town. It had two centres of worship: St Mary's, the main parish church, and All Saints', a chapel for an outlying area. Due to severe structural problems both buildings were closed down shortly after January 2007.
The congregations continued to meet – St Mary's in a school, and All Saints' in the local Methodist Church – but numbers were dwindling and there was a real lack of vision. Something had to change.
Doing a new thing
And change it did. During a transitional period, we:
- Decreased the number of services, to create space for mission;
- Moved out of the school into the old church hall, making it simpler to gather together for worship;
- Began 'café style' worship to help create community;
- Purposefully shared faith stories, raising expectations of Kingdom activity;
- Began to ask: how can we gather as communities of disciples, in simple, flexible and purposeful ways, and still be 'church'?
Out of this process emerged the first mission-shaped communities (MSCs). Each one of these small- to mid-size groups (up to 30 people) is treated as a church in its own right, meeting not in church buildings, but in homes, cafés, pubs, or workplaces. There were thrills and spills, false starts, uncomfortable tensions and downright difficult confrontations; but this new thing began to grow, with a vision to release communities of followers to live out the mission of Jesus.
We renamed ourselves the Kairos Network Church. Jesus used the word kairos of the 'appointed time' in the purposes of God:
The time [kairos] has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news
Mark 1:15
For this church, it was indeed time for a new thing. Kairos also describes how we hope to act in our missional communities – looking for where the Kingdom is coming, and becoming part of it.
We also began the process of becoming a Bishop's Mission Order (BMO), laying down parish status and becoming a network church. Encouragingly, senior Church of England staff were hugely supportive, and we began operating as a BMO in May this year.
Different shapes of mission
Those brave souls who have started a MSC find themselves on quite an adventure. Things can change quickly and look very different within a few months of start-up, as the community responds to the opportunities and calling of God and the personal circumstances of those involved, finding things that don't work – and things that do.
The groups enjoy low control by the church leadership, and we encourage high accountability, aiming to create an environment of trust which allows people to be the disciples Jesus wants them to be. At the time of writing we have a handful of MSCs at varying degrees of development, each seeking to have an impact either on their networks of friendships or particular geographical areas. They tend to meet in between our twice-monthly central gatherings:
The Wanderers are a vibrant example of disciples in mission, paying attention to the transformation of the whole person. This MSC started out with four people connecting with others through social activities. They became part of a walking and exercise group, carrying out street surveys in the centre of Harrogate, and have launched two discipleship groups.
Recently I led communion in the main room of a Wetherspoon pub with The Wanderers. We were with people who – because they have relationships of trust with this missional community, though professing no faith – wanted to share in what was happening. We were seeing people, there and then, coming closer to the Kingdom.
Tom and Hetty Wildblood joined The Wanderers through one of the small Alpha courses they run. They were nominal in belief and their experience of church was largely limited to traditional forms. They describe being involved in a Kairos missional community as having:
a dramatic effect on all aspects of our lives over the past two years.
Following a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit, they are being encouraged to continue living life in the Spirit. In practical terms, Tom and Hetty have been helped to be more financially secure by attending a CAP (Christians against Poverty) course with someone else from the MSC. Another member helped them both stop smoking. They say,
We have certainly become less selfish in our day-to-day actions. Kairos is bringing goodness and understanding of God into a wider community and it doesn't require bricks and mortar as a foundation.
Vintage is a group of young adults building a shared life around meals, worship and mutual encouragement, reaching out to people they meet through workplaces and family life. They recently gathered nearly 40 people for a picnic. One of the couples from the core team is bringing together a group of men for Thursday evening football, as well as getting to know their wives and girlfriends.
Links is a MSC that may point to the development of the wider Kairos network. This group is from another Harrogate church. They want to do 'a new thing' with Kairos, but remain in good relationship with their own church. Thus they are finding missional accountability, supervision and support from Kairos, and pastoral support and encouragement from their 'sending' church. They are now working out a vision for a particular geographical area.
Elpis is a new MSC serving in elderly people's homes and aiming – among other things – to develop discipleship cells. It may not be the most glamorous mission field but promises to be very fruitful, with an ageing population both locally and nationally.
Off the map
Someone who was praying about my ministry a while ago had the words 'off the map' come to mind. How true! Going from traditional parish church to network church is not a much-travelled journey for many churches. Our friends at St Thomas' in Sheffield have been really helpful, but there is still a sense of going into uncharted territory.
We take inspiration from the journey of God's people after the Exodus, especially Numbers 9:23:
At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out.
This is what I continually encourage the community of Kairos to do: live and move at the Lord's command. There is a lot of muddle, we sometimes don't know what to do, and we often fall back into old ways. We aren't anything like perfect at this – but we are learning, and enjoying the adventure.
Mark Carey
Mark leads Kairos with his wife Penny. Their vision is to release communities of followers in the mission of Jesus. They are also on the New Wine North & East Leadership Team, and are members of the Order of Mission, a network community of missional leaders.