Month: July 2012

What form should our fresh expression take?: New Creations

This story illustrates the principles of What form should our fresh expression take? in the Guide.

New Creations is a craft group begun in 1998 that developed into a church cell attended by over 40 women in a Merseyside parish.

Getting together

Getting together to explore an idea was the starting point. Lay reader and bereavement co-ordinator, Janet Cross, found that one widow she was visiting had taken up crafts. A keen card maker herself, Janet 'could see that it was helping her' so she took the idea of a craft group as 'occupational therapy' for the bereaved to her vicar.

She also approached two friends: a fellow member of the bereavement team and the widow whose hobby had inspired the idea. She asked them both to meet with her to pray for the new group every now and then and to help her run it.

Exploring the possibilities

Exploring the possibilities occurred on a try-and-see basis. An invitation was given out through the parish for anyone interested to join in a crafts meeting every Tuesday afternoon. Tables were set up in the body of the church. An opening prayer was followed by a demonstration and the opportunity to practise.

As New Creations developed, the group discovered that members enjoyed making cards and this has been the focus of the craft session ever since.

Exploring the possibilities occurred on a try-and-see basis

Janet got to know the group and could sense what would work. In time, the opening prayer developed into a monthly ten-minute 'God slot', a short talk centred around the theme of the cards to be made that session.

A while later, Janet asked the members individually whether they would like to come to a support and prayer meeting for half an hour before lunch. A few said they would.

Those who were unchurched (around twelve) began attending one meeting, while the churched (around seven) attended another at the same time, forming two new 'clusters' meeting for discussion and prayer.

These sessions grew into hour-long meetings and eventually merged as the unchurched grew in faith, making one large cluster ready to divide again. Over 40 members are now registered with New Creations, with 16 of them attending the cluster.

Thinking ahead

Thinking ahead in the way that we have described the process doesn't seem to have been part of the story. However, Janet was in a church with a strong tradition of cells and clusters, and it would be surprising if this did not influence her expectations for the group.

Might New Creations help you as you 'think ahead'? You probably won't want to do exactly what Janet did, but does the example of a short prayer evolving into a 'God slot', which then develops into two clusters, spark some thoughts? Might it help you develop a vision for how your fresh expression could develop?

Organising support

Organising support is illustrated in the way Janet has continued to meet with her vicar – the key permission giver – to discuss New Creations. The question, 'How's it going?' is a chance to talk things through and find support. It also means that the work of New Creations is plugged into the life of the church.

Support from people within the group is evident from their financial contributions. Members pay £1 a week subscription to the group, which covers expenses such as heating, cake on birthdays and flowers when a member is sick. They also pay a second £1 for the craft kits.

Janet tries 'to get all involved'. For example, one member provides a cake on birthdays, another arranges flowers when a member is sick, another is good at encouraging members to demonstrate their skills. Several members now take turns at leading the demonstration.

One person, whom Janet describes as 'a listener' and 'very quiet', is the first to call up a fellow member if she is absent one week. She also gives cards and candles to every member at Christmas. Her faith is coming out through her actions, Janet believes.

Nurturing the team

Nurturing the team has taken a while to become a strong feature of New Creations. However, after nearly 10 years Janet is moving on and away from Merseyside. With this in mind, she is inviting the nine helpers within the group to form three teams of three.

Members of New Creations sit at three tables. Each week one helper will lead and assist at their table, and provide a demonstration. So each person in the team will be on duty once every three weeks, sharing the load and helping to avoid burn-out.

The response

When members were asked what New Creations meant to them, the response was overwhelmingly positive. One member spoke of rediscovering a lost childhood faith. 'I realise now what I've missed,' she says.

From an idea conceived by one woman who identified a shared interest and need, several women now participate in supporting a group which offers fellowship and discipleship within the wider support of a church community.

Stop closing my church (Cid Latty)

Cid LattyCid Latty asks whether there's an alternative to closing churches.

There has been a lot of research and debate on the decline in church attendance in the UK, with dire predictions and gloomy statistics painting a picture of a Church that will become extinct in a relatively short period of time.

We see and hear of small churches across the UK whose congregations have shrunk and a decision has been taken to either close or amalgamate them with other churches. Are these the only options? Do these churches have to be closed?

Instead I believe that many can be turned around, that we have an opportunity to see both churches and communities revitalised as we explore this more challenging but ultimately more rewarding option. How can this be done?

By imagining – thinking big, having a vision, pioneering

It is time to dream again. Reversing years of decline is not for every church; in Genesis 26.17-22 we see Isaac's servants re-digging the wells that had originally been dug by his father, Abraham. The servants re-dug the wells until they found one with fresh water flowing and eventually settled where God had made room for them, to prosper. It's about rediscovering what is already there, asking 'What vision do we have for what we could be?' and 'What does it take for us to become missional and embrace people around us in a fresh way?'

By investing – planning, motivating, praying

Doing the right thing at the right time. In Habakkuk 2, God tells Habakkuk to write the message down, to make it clear and to wait patiently because it will be fulfilled – even if it isn't straight away, it will be in time. We should take the vision and say, 'This is what I can see could happen here, this is what we could become and this is how I think we will get there'. Clear presentation of a vision and engendering ownership of the vision and ways it can be achieved give people a reason to come together and ways in which they can do it. People want to join in with something that carries the sense of purpose that this kind of activity brings.

By interfacing – joining with others

Finding commonality in the community. Community projects, such as starting a food bank, provide a great opportunity to link up with other churches and organisations in order to make things happen. It is best to find one thing and to do it well, avoiding the mistake that small churches often make which is to try and do many different things (as if it is a big church) and end up doing nothing well at all.

These principles of imagining, investing and interfacing have already begun to help a number of small churches in the UK to gain a new impetus through the Living Well project.

Some churches may choose to close or have it forced upon them. I hope that others will be encouraged to embrace a future in which the Church is very much alive.

Burning Bush Barn

Burning Bush Barn - paintIt is almost three years since Burning Bush Barn was established as a place of creativity and contemplation. Wendy Shaw has seen how the quiet space has become a place of blessing for many.

The barn is in the grounds of the Rectory at St Mary's Church, Rockland, near Norwich. It was disused and very run down when we first arrived in the area but through a lot of hard work, successful grant applications, diocesan funding and wider fundraising, the barn is now a wonderful, quiet place for people to come and be.

I wouldn't describe it as a church or an art gallery but it has the potential to be more than both can be individually. It is rooted in the understanding that creativity is the language of a God who created and continues to create in us – and through us.

The journey for me involved traditional Church of England training and curacy but I had been trying for many years to find my own voice for prayer and healing through arts. In 2003 my path crossed with that of artist Kate Litchfield and we started prayer painting together and exploring the depth of non-verbal prayer. We began with canvas, making marks and line and colour that enabled us to be honest and play in prayer like we hadn-t done before.

We had wanted to try a prayer painting workshop day and very quickly we had a long waiting list. It was very difficult initially because we had to hire venues, get all the furniture out of the way, 'declutter' the space we were using, put out the art materials and pack them all away again at the end of the session.

The context is crucial, and a silent still space was integral to this way of praying. Word started to spread about what we were doing and we quickly got calls from other dioceses to stage similar days but we eventually took the decision to stay within Norwich Diocese, the place we had been called to and supported by.

Burning Bush Barn - exteriorWhen my husband became Rector at Rockland St Mary, the barn was derelict in the garden but we could see how the building could be used in a new way for our developing needs. The fundraising appeal for £203,000 was launched in May 2007 to renovate and preserve it. Much has been done because we now have a worship/gallery space and studio space but there's more to do because we'd love to have a hospitality space too. We have got planning permission to do that but have still got to raise about £65,000 to pay for it.

We have up to 26 people, Christians and non-Christians, for the Thursday morning breakfast sessions and it's a wonderful time to be together. If God comes up during our conversations during those sessions then that's great but we are not there to evangelise. Our belief is that this creativity is a language of God; it's not art and faith, they're inseparable. Art is not something we do; art is a way of living.

Burning Bush Barn regularly welcomes people from ages 9 to 84, it's a great joy! It is not about making fantastic works of art but instead our focus is on the process; it's in the waiting, of making marks.

So many artists say to me, 'I'm a Christian but I don't go to church, I struggle with it'. How do we gather these people together? We are continuing to grow; people want to be here but they don't have to commit to anything. A hospitality space would allow us to develop the community here because we need to be grounding and acknowledging that and seeing it grow.

We implicitly break bread in recognition of gathering as a body and the presence of Jesus Christ here. We try to pitch it so it's open enough for everybody to be able to find a place; we believe in accepting people where they're at.

Burning Bush Barn - logWe often say we don't know where we're going here but the important thing is to watch and wait for the move of the wave. As a result we don't know how long to be on that wave but that's OK. I may want to know what I'm doing this time next year but I can't tell you that. We have to wait.

In all of the questions about this being a fresh expression of church there is a presumption that we want to make church. Do we? As an ordained priest I know that anything we do is rooted in the gospel – otherwise you can't be flexible – but people ask, 'What sort of shape are you at Burning Bush Barn?' I would say it's not church shaped, it's probably amoeba shaped because the edges of it are ready to change at any time. And we are people who live on the edge. We are edge dwellers.

We are not here to make something permanent because we hold what we have lightly, allowing it to move, and one day it may disappear. We began doing something because we felt that God was calling us to it. The sacrament is at the heart of what we do here; the whole thing is rooted in it; that holds us – but we are a transient group of people that allows freedom of movement. The authorities have had to struggle with that a bit and funding is quite difficult because Christian funders are uncertain about the arts and arts funders tend to be more uncertain about anything that seems to be based around faith or religion in any way.

I am asked, 'How many people do you have?', 'What are your donations like?' Well, as far as the money goes, sometimes it comes in and sometimes it doesn't. But, to us, it is important that what we do here is offered without charge, to ensure that they are truly accessible. We are very grateful to the Diocese of Norwich which pays our services' bills.

We have to live responsibly as artists, as a faith community. We are here to work that out creatively; to live from what we have, not for what we haven't.

Burning Bush Barn - Psalms banner

Burning Bush Barn - mugs

Rainbow Worship

The church of St Birinus and St John is surrounded by three residential care homes for adults with learning disabilities. When a few of the residents started attending Sunday morning worship, church members began to explore the idea of holding a regular service where those with disabilities would feel less inhibited and other residents from nearby care homes could also be invited.

The first service was held in January 2006 and has met monthly on a Monday evening ever since. Worship is interactive, noisy, creative and, most importantly, a huge amount of fun. The team that lead Rainbow Worship describe it as immensely refreshing and highly rewarding.

Over time, Rainbow Worship has developed a congregational life of its own. Those who participate increasingly see it as their main place of church belonging and, as a large group, they have been able to organise outings and events to raise funds as well as to have a good time.

The Bishop of Buckingham confirmed six members of Rainbow Worship in April 2010 and reflected on his visit:

[Rainbow Worship] is rumbustous and celebratory some of the time, but hushed and awed at others. Comments are chipped in from all around as things happen, like an ol' time revival meeting. Craft actvities are built in, and the management has radically tried to break down the distinction between client and helper. On one occasion, as Noah’s Ark was revealed in all its glory, a loud voice cried from the back, 'This is one I made earlier.'

Bishop Alan, Weaving the Rainbow in Wycombe

The Odyssey Mission Community

The Odyssey Community began four years ago with six members. So far there have been seven new Christians as a result of Odyssey members and two of these have gone on to join the community. The others are also members of local churches.

Current areas of mission include: theatre company, alcoholics, drug addicts, sex workers, vulnerable adults living in a particular street, young gay people, family and friends, people with eating disorders and survivors of abuse.

Meetings are kept to a minimum so members of the community are freed up to spend most of their time working in their area of mission. Members are encouraged to venture into one another's mission fields to offer prayerful support to one another.

The community follow a pattern of prayer and hold a rule of life; both of these have been developed as they have journeyed together as well as sharing in the support of one another practically.

Food, fellowship and honest relationships are the key to the community.

The Community of St Jude

In 1994, Tom Gillum went with 35 others from Holy Trinity Brompton to revitalise St Stephen's Westbourne Park. The sending and destination were equally clear – to grow a new congregation in the tradition of Holy Trinity Brompton in a redundant building.

Ten years later, Tom had another strong sense of call, but far less idea of what it might grow into. That is becoming normal. The call was inspired thirty years earlier by his visit to the Sant'Egidio in Rome. Some well-educated young Romans wanted to live out their faith and connect with the poor. They met to pray and started to befriend poor people.

These dynamics have become a rule for this movement. The combination of a mission call and a living spirituality is always a good starting place.

At the invitation of the Bishop of Kensington, who knew of this growing interest, Tom, Joanna and their five children moved to Earls Court in Autumn 2004 to lay the foundations for a non parochial new work based on these values. They were given the vicarage and church of St Jude, which, it was decided, had more future as a specialist ministry within a wider group of churches than as one small congregation serving a small parish.

New work entering new territory needs clear minimalist values and flexibility to what will emerge. The values come partly from Sant'Egidio, but are also shaped by the dynamics of the Trinity and the Body of Christ. Both emphasise the prime nature of being Christian as communal.

The first and central task is to grow quality community with those who are prepared to be committed 'to live with the poor and to pray'. Twenty years ago this might have been a specialist ministry by the likeminded from an existing church. Now a specific mission calling is creating a fresh expression of church. This is a practical example of mission-shaped church.

A prayerful community that shares a passion to be with the poor, which enjoys being together and models everyone joining in, helps break the false divide between rich and poor.

Commitment to Christ is expressed by making a priority of the rhythm of prayer (which operates each midweek day – in the morning by arrangement in members' homes; in St Jude's Church at 12 and 3pm for 15 minutes; and on Tuesday and Friday evenings), and by proactively making friendships with those who are unlikely to have met others. As much as possible, The Community of St Jude volunteers help with existing projects, charities and local institutions.

To emphasise that discipleship is a way of living and not primarily defined by attendance at Sunday worship, The Community of St Jude organises nothing on a Sunday. However, they do have celebrations to mark the major festivals of Advent, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. It is at these celebrations that new members are received.

St Jude's expression of a new monasticism is intentionally less sophisticated than some other UK examples. They are exploring patterns of synagogue (teaching, festivals, family) as well as monastery.

St Jude is the patron of lost causes. In busy time-poor London, in notional communities that may be person-poor, starting communities of St Jude is far from a lost cause.

The Springfield Project

Early in the 1990s, St Christopher's, Springfield, Birmingham, experienced a period of renewal and growth. A small group of mums thought that this excitement within the church should make a difference to the surrounding community. They take up the story.

As with so many churches, a commitment to serve was translated initially into the setting up of a stay-and-play session for local parents. What makes St Christopher's different, though, is that the local parish is predominantly Muslim and other-faith.

The stay-and-play group met in someone's home and numbers were so small that the venture was nearly closed after a year. By 2010, however, what is now The Springfield Project had become the primary mission arm of the church.

It provides a professional nursery, family support work and after-schools clubs linking in with local statutory provision from health workers, midwives and social services. Each week, a purpose-built children's centre and adjoining interlinked church host dozens of local families, the majority of which are Muslim, Hindu and Sikh.

Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch talk of the need for 'proximity space' as we engage with other cultures. The Springfield's Project's practical vision of service provides a good example of church holding the ring as a very public place of encounter between Christians and those of other faiths.

The project has blurred the dichotomy between 'evangelism' and 'social action'. Its strapline of 'God's love in the community', a message that was emblazoned on a banner in the hall, points to an appreciation that the majority of the local community actually recognise a belief in God.

Although Tony Blair's press secretary, Alastair Campbell, may have said that they 'do not do God', most of our neighbours do in fact do God! They are not a a clean slate, on which the church can write answers to questions about eternal destiny. For many in our neighbourhood, God's purposes, moral questions and prayer already figure highly.

This means that for the significant numbers of Christians working in The Springfield Project, their faith is very public. There are regular prayer meetings, information is given about Christian festivals and beliefs, and there are staff days away to affirm and talk through the Christian value-base and how it ought to drive our services. All of these are available for, and discussed with, our non-Christian staff and our users.

The church's determination to see the Christian faith distinctively shape its outreach in a multi-faith context has not led to inter-religious tension and suspicion. Rather, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus have respected the church all the more.

We have been seen to be serious about our spirituality, to pray, read the Bible and be confident Christians. Muslim staff have said that they feel more comfortable, being people of faith themselves in an often threatening, secularising age.

For St Christopher's members, then, church does not stop when the vicar dismisses the congregation with a blessing on a Sunday morning. Monday through Saturday, there is prayer and worship around and alongside very practical provision for our local community.

We have had the privilege of praying with and for those of other faiths as we have openly shared our lives, while always rejecting the manipulative exploitation of vulnerable users of our services.

St Christopher's is not ignoring the very real differences that exist between faiths. It is paying attention to context so that our engagement with the community is able to respond to some of the vital connections and similarities that exist.

On any given day, St Christopher's and The Springfield Project are vibrant hubs of conversation, service, interaction and prayer between Christians and those of other faiths: good news in an age of inter-religious bad news!

Regenerate-RISE

Praise@Platt is a time of worship that has evolved for all those involved with Regenerate-RISE, a charitable organisation that cares for all those who would otherwise be housebound or isolated, living in either high-rise flats in Roehampton or the more wealthy area of Putney. RISE facilitates outings, activities, lunches and a support service with practical help, home and hospital visiting, along with emergency shopping and prescription collections.

Held on a Sunday afternoon, Praise@Platt is low key, simple and about 45 minutes in length. It includes Bible readings, prayer, a time of reflection, worship with members playing musical instruments to modern songs and a short talk. The Gideons have provided large print New Testaments, and the words of the songs – from Songs of Fellowship for Small Groups – are on the wall via an overhead projector. CDs or DVDs are played as musical accompaniment, with appropriate sound levels for the hard of hearing. 

The service is followed by a meal of sandwiches, crisps and cakes, whilst the worship songs continue to play in the background. Each time, the members are given a picture postcard with a Bible verse representing the theme of the service to think about during the week. This is because the majority who attend do not have any basic Christian teaching to fall back on. 

One member of RISE was recently baptised, whilst other members cheered and clapped when he gave his testimony as to how he became a Christian, and a 92 year man was confirmed after giving his life to the Lord at a specially adapted Alpha course. Praise@Platt hopes to expand in the near future to welcoming older people from the local community to encourage them in their faith and give them a new experience of church.

Ealing soup kitchen

Over many years, 13 churches and Christian organisations in Ealing, West London, worked together to provide a soup kitchen for people on the edge of society. The kitchen was held at St John's Church on a Sunday afternoon.

In 2004, the churches and organisations involved decided to fund a worker for homeless people to provide continuity of care and advice every weekend afternoon. Daphne was appointed. Her vision was to minister not just to individuals' emotional and physical needs, but their spiritual ones as well.

She began to invite soup kitchen clientele to the reflective evening service held by St John's upstairs. Those who came could be disruptive, and they tended to sit at the back and watch. But one evening, the service was held café-style. People on the back row became involved and enjoyed it.

The church decided to do this every Sunday. Numbers from the soup kitchen have grown steadily. The original congregation was always pretty small. Some members of it became helpers and leaders in what was effectively a new congregation. Others have found a home in the morning worship.

In 2009, between 40 and 70 homeless and disadvantaged people were attending each week.

The event starts at 5.45, as the soup kitchen is winding down, and lasts for about an hour. People sit round tables, eat doughnuts and drink coffee. A band leads the music. Someone may come to the front to tell a story or give a testimony. There can be a talk, followed by discussion at the tables. Each table is hosted by someone who takes the initiative in introducing people and engaging in conversation. There are about ten leaders and helpers involved each Sunday.

Among those who come are people with childhood experiences of church, some who are Christians, some who know nothing about Christianity, some from other faiths and others who have been hurt by Christians in their past.

It will be interesting to see how this café church evolves. At present it feels a bit like conventional church done café-style for people who are disadvantaged. This has been wonderfully fruitful, but can it ever become church-shaped and led by people on the margins of society? Given the emotional and physical difficulties faced by those who come, this would be a huge challenge.

Sidewalk

Inspired by a year working with Metro Ministries in New York, Barry and Camilla Johnston are connecting with non-churched children and youth in their area by going to where they are.

Every Saturday for eight months of the year (spring/summer/autumn), they take their yellow Sidewalk van to the same local park where local children gather to play. The team run an hour of activities that include songs, games, a memory verse, a drama based on a Bible story, three object lessons and a life lesson (cartoon story tying it all together). Though aimed at the children, parents and older siblings tend to watch from the back. Some are increasingly helping in minor roles and making suggestions of what would make it better.

For all the children they befriend, appropriate longer-term discipleship of those who want to know more about the Christian faith is one that the Sidewalk community takes responsibility for. They make regular visits to the families of the children that come and are starting to look to establishing a community house as a base for some who are involved.

Sidewalk LogoThe Sidewalk community who facilitate this ministry meet weekly for food and fun. They meet in the park to continue to build relationships with families there and then gather in a team member's home. In terms of the fresh expressions journey, they are now preparing for the stage of what kind of worship will sustain them. What kind of deeper spiritual disciplines or input is appropriate for the community that is made up of seasoned Christians, new Christians and not yet Christians that all play a part in making Sidewalk happen?

Being a multi-cultural area, they have found many of the kids coming to Sidewalk are from Muslim families. As cross-cultural mission engagement with Muslim children and their families is not common, there are limited resources available for this kind of ministry. Therefore, they are pioneering something very precious and learning as they go.