August 2015 - Page 12 of 20

A way forward for selecting and training pioneers (Jonny Baker)

Jonny Baker seeks a way forward for selecting and training pioneers in an extract from his blog.

as a result of the recommendations of the church of england report mission-shaped church two changes were introduced around leadership. one was that a new criteria for selection around mission was introduced (phew – how was that not there before?!). and secondly a new designation for ordination was introduced – ordained pioneer ministry. this was to recognise that the current challenges in the church and encouragement for newness would require different kinds of leadership. the pastor/teacher sort of leader is probably the one that has been recognised the most with people trained to lead parish churches. but starting something from nothing, reaching new communities, developing new projects, working beyond the edges of the church and so on is something that requires a different kind of person and gift/skill set. pioneer is the term that has been settled on. it's been in place 3 or 4 years now and colleges and regional courses have got in the mix to varying degrees offering training to ordained pioneers. there is currently a review of how that is going. i think it's not news to say that it has been mixed – institutions that have been geared to training parish priests for years and years have not found it easy to rethink how training might work for pioneers. and there is also a challenge around recruiting and recognising this sort of a person/potential. it's early days of course and it's amazing that an institution that has as much history and weight as the church of england has adapted so quickly.

i guess you can see where i am leading with all this. cms has been involved for 200 years or so training pioneers in mission (who in years gone by have helped birth two thirds of what is now the anglican communion! and in recent years are connected with lots of indigenous mission movements round the world). so we have been speaking with ministry division of the church of england about the possibility of getting involved in the mix of training pioneers. this has been met with great enthusiasm – so much so that i confess i have been completely amazed. they are now working with us to help us become a normative pathway for training ordained pioneers along with other colleges and courses. and yes yours truly has the lead at the cms end on this. it's a big task ahead and i am both daunted and excited at the prospect.

the training for pioneers will actually not be solely focused on ordained pioneers which i personally think is really healthy. we train people in mission anyway and have pieces like resource in place that we will use as modules of the training. so ordained pioneers will be in the mix with other mission leaders.

the training we do will be totally geared to pioneering in mission with creativity and imagination and will be shaped with and by pioneers rather than pioneering as an add on to existing training for being a parish priest

the other piece that is pretty interesting is selection. again we are working with ministry division to see how we can work with them to develop processes of selection. we already have good and thorough processes for selecting people in mission so adding the pioneer selection in the mix is part of the new challenge and then integrating how that works with the church of england. because we are an ecclesial community with a visiting bishop it means we can engage in this in new ways we think/hope/expect!

lots to be worked out, huge challenges ahead, plenty of change and opportunity. i can't give you the exact shape of the training, a curriculum, a prospectus or even a full process yet. i don't want to nail it down too quickly as i think we need to be as creative and imaginative as possible at this stage. but i can promise that the training we do will be totally geared to pioneering in mission with creativity and imagination and will be shaped with and by pioneers rather than pioneering as an add on to existing training for being a parish priest (priest plus as it's been called in certain circles). if you have thoughts, ideas, interest, wisdom, connections let me know. if you are a pioneer or thinking of doing that be a guinea pig with us!

God is partial to young people (Desmond Tutu)

Desmond Tutu explains why God is partial to young people, in comments from a press conference he gave in Sheffield this month to launch the global gap-year programme, Xplore, for young people aged 18-25 (used with permission).

As an oldie I have increasingly been wowed by young people. I have often been annoyed with you media people for really not being fair. You write banner headline stories about young people who go wrong. You hardly ever write stories about the many, many young people who do fantastic things. I just say, what is amazing is not that some young people go off the rails, make wrong decisions; what is so amazing is that not more of them in fact do that.

Just think now how young people can access the internet and I'm told there are some very, very 'interesting' things on there. They can access anything, and to find that we have young people who can still be so wholesome. I think of young people who could very well have stayed in their countries living comfortably. I've been to quite a number of poor countries and your breath is taken away completely by the number of young people who leave their homes and go and work in these poverty stricken places.

Now here we have a programme (Xplore) that says it wants to prepare young people to become what God wants them to be, because as you know we have a God who is extraordinarily partial to young people, using a Joseph, a David to fight Goliath, a Jeremiah, Mary the mother of Jesus. God constantly using young people.

Don't allow yourselves to be infected by the cynicism of oldies like us. We've made a mess of the world, and we're leaving it to you and know that you are going to help change it.

When we were fighting against apartheid, the people who supported us most of all, not exclusively, but the people who supported us mainly were young people, the students at universities, and it's been so ever since.

You think of the Bonos and all of those people who say: 'Let us make poverty history.' Young people have been passionate in the support of that campaign. Young people are passionate in their support of a world that knows war no more. And here we have a fantastic programme that wants to prepare young people for exposing to their contemporaries the fact that God loves them, that they are very special to God, that God loves each one of them as if they were the only person on earth. Isn't that fantastic?

And these young people, and all of the others who are going to be part of this programme, are saying: 'For us it's not just a gap year where you go off and do something and return to do what you had already decided you were going to do. For us, it's a year that may turn our world upside down.' In fact, many of those who have gone on this programme return totally changed and want to do things they had never believed they would have wanted to do. So turning the world upside down for God is what Xplore says.

So we want you to know too that God gives up on no one. There isn't for God a hopeless case. No one is a hopeless case. No situation is irredeemable. Most people would have thought that South Africa before with apartheid was a totally lost cause. Well, it produced Nelson Mandela and did some very strange things. And look at Northern Ireland. Who would have believed that you would have seen Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley talking together on television.

So we say to these young people and to all of the others who are going to be part of this programme: go on dreaming. Go on being idealistic. Don't allow yourselves to be infected by the cynicism of oldies like us. We've made a mess of the world, and we're leaving it to you and know that you are going to help change it.

Cinema: life through a lens (Michael Johnson)

Michael Johnson looks at life through a lens.

'No-one likes to be preached at any more.' So said a panel guest on a recent Radio 4 discussion. Even so, few of us are oblivious to the big questions of life and the world in which we live.

In the 1998 movie, The Truman Show, the main character Truman Burbank asks the question: 'Who am I? Was nothing real?'

This is perhaps a question that all of us ask at some point in our lives and – like other philosophical and spiritual questions – it has no easy answer. Many films, directly or indirectly, ask philosophical, spiritual, ethical or moral questions. They reflect issues concerned with the meaning and purpose of life – the kinds of questions with which philosophers and religions have grappled for centuries: Why am I here? Why is there injustice and suffering in the world? Does God exist? What is truth? Is violence ever justified? Is it possible to forgive? Do we have free will or are our actions fated?

The facts are undeniable. Millions of people flock to cathedral-like multiplex cinemas every week, where a broad variety of film services have something to say about every aspect of life and how we live it. They can't all be lining up primarily for the communion buckets of popcorn and Pepsi! Perhaps the main feature offers something more lasting in value.

Movies matter. Why? Because they focus some of our experiences of life through a lens.

In 1995's Dead Man Walking, the true story of a death row convict reconciling himself to the stark reality of his life, his actions plays out a deep inward journey – one which few of us will ever want or be able to explore through our own life experiences. By allowing us to travel along with the main characters, the film makes for viewing that is at once compelling, enlightening and inspiring.

Cinema clubs used as fresh expressions of church are simply an opportunity to watch films carefully chosen for their spiritual, ethical or moral themes, perhaps to provoke discussion, certainly to provoke thought and self-reflection. They are best screened in local venues where that kind of discussion can follow easily after the credits scroll. Lubricate the free flow of opinions and ideas with something from the bar (or café at youth screenings). You might choose to come with friends. Or you might meet people you don't know and find they are asking some of the same questions.

A crisis of commitment? (Simon Goddard)

Simon Goddard asks whether the Church is facing a crisis of commitment.

One of the identifying features of a Baptist congregation is its understanding of church membership, but as someone involved in a fresh expression of church, it has become clear that our current interpretation of what it means to be a member is not really 'fit for purpose' in our contemporary society.

The meaning of the word 'member' has changed over time. Previous generations commonly understood this word as a reference to a part of the body and were thus more able to grasp the organic nature of the biblical analogy in 1 Corinthians 12. Contemporary usage of the word, however, is now largely restricted to an organisational understanding, for example, in our membership of the local gym. Here the mutuality and accountability implicit within the biblical metaphor is reduced to a financial exchange or even lost entirely.

Also, in a time when people were less mobile, and denominations less ecumenical, being involved in the life of a local church would have been an enduring and essential component of an individual's identity. Now, however, the believer's relationship with church is changing. Indeed, there are people who believe and yet aren't members, and others who participate fully, but are yet to profess faith.

There are some commentators who argue that the problem is due to a wider 'post-commitment culture' and that the churches should be counter-cultural and better at communicating the need for individuals to commit themselves to church membership. In my opinion, however, commitment per se isn't the problem. Whilst loyalty to institutions and organisations may be disappearing, campaigns such as 'Make Poverty History' and 'Stop the Traffik' show that there is still a strong desire to be involved in movements which seek to have a transformational influence upon society.

Let's be concerned less about membership and more about our obedience to the call for us to be missional communities

A healthy growing church community still needs commitment. This, however, is not to be seen in terms of becoming 'members' of an institution, but rather as entering into active 'partnership' with God and his people in the work of the kingdom. This is a challenge to those who are keen to know who is 'in' and who is 'out' – those who want to see church as a 'bounded' or 'closed' set.

The alternative viewpoint is the 'centred' or 'open' set, which is less focused on who has yet to 'cross the line' and more interested in encouraging everyone to move closer to Christ who is at the centre of our life together. This type of church becomes a more attractive and inclusive community whose very life together acts as an invitation to others and a 'signpost' to Jesus. In all our churches, let's be concerned less about membership and more about our obedience to the call for us to be missional communities.

Inclusivity and fresh expressions (Cris Acher)

Cris Acher reflects on inclusivity and fresh expressions.

I've always been a bit apprehensive about the 'belong, believe, behave' model of discipleship, as people's perceptions of 'behave' vary so much, and I wonder if this is an issue in fresh expressions? Reflecting on my own experience, I would say that a fresh expression begins with loving service. To love and to serve is the calling of all Christians and the church catholic (universal), but so often we have loved and served with the agenda of drawing people in to us and assimilating them into our model.

Cross cultural mission that leads us into loving and serving and which builds community where people interact, must be, by its very nature, inclusive. In that process of starting a fresh expression we build a community where people are themselves, a safe place where people are not judged but seek to learn and grow together. That learning and growing is in dialogue with one another, with the expectation that in dialogue either party is open to spiritual evolution. As a result of that precious dialogue and relationship with those outside of the church, I have not always toed the traditional church line as I have sought to serve and love those around me both in Christ and in a manner meaningful to them.

What does it mean today to behave? Who gets to decide?

What I have discovered and had the privilege of helping to build are rich communities, full of diversity, life and colour, filled with the creative Spirit as all are included, and all gifts are used. That is not to say that I haven't challenged those with behaviour that is destructive to the community and beyond, or indeed to themselves. But in contrast to a traditional church, my inkling is that there are some people who are given responsibility and leadership roles in fresh expressions who would I fear be discouraged, judged or ignored in more traditional churches.

So I am pondering, can all who seek to follow Christ be part of fresh expressions? What does it mean today to behave? Who gets to decide?

Tent making and pioneer ministers (George Lings)

George Lings reflects on tent making and pioneer ministers in this extract from Encounters on the Edge 42: Across a Threshold.

I was struck by the roles played across the whole Threshold history by doctors. Since Paul White's books in the Jungle Doctor series, we have been used to the pivotal role of the overseas medical missionary.

Up till now, I have also imagined that St Paul made tents because he needed to eat. I now wonder if I have misunderstood all this.

Could it be that Paul made tents because it put him in the market place? He met people in a neutral space but also produced something of value to them.

In today's cross-cultural mission at home, could the tent makers of tomorrow be doctors and nurses, solicitors offering legal aid, hairdressers, coffee-shop staff even plumbers and electricians – anyone who meets people in a neutral environment and offers something of value to them, including a listening ear in an environment of trust?

Tent making – is this a possible vision for the new pioneer ministers?

If they were also church planters and leaders, it would mean the forms of church grown would have to be simple and with the work shared across the people of God because they would not have the time or calling to be full-time pastors.

Is this a possible vision for the new pioneer ministers?

Ageing church congregations: problem or challenge? (Mike Collyer)

Mike Collyer asks whether ageing church congregations are a problem or a challenge, in a follow-up to his recent post, The invisible generation.

One cannot deny that most of our congregations are largely made up of older people – that is, people over the age of 55. It is also true that large amounts of resources are invested in maintaining the status quo – time, money and dedicated pastoral care by professional ministers and lay people. The fact that our congregations are mostly made up of older people is often perceived by church leaders and mission strategists as a problem rather than a challenge.

Of course it raises concerns about the future of tomorrow's church. But equally our aged congregations should not cause us to overlook their spiritual needs as they are today's church, not tomorrow's church. What is often not understood or seen is that our aged congregations are an untapped resource for mission in reaching not only their own peer group, but also the younger generation.

In this sense, older churched people feel that they have become invisible, both in terms of their faith-sharing skills and their non-involvement in the decision making processes related to mission strategy. It can often be assumed by younger church leaders that they know what older people want and desire to help their spiritual development. There is a great desire for older people (often returning to church with a Sunday School knowledge of the Christian faith) to want to go deeper and to be disciples.

Reaching older people is often focused on visiting the elderly frail in care homes (who only represent about 4% of our elderly population) and running luncheon clubs mostly catering for women over the age of 75. Although this is highly commendable and provides a much needed service, it does not cater for the thousands of isolated frail and disabled older people living alone at home. What about their spiritual needs?

It does not cater for the invisible sons and daughters of the '60s, now ageing, and the up-and-coming boomer generation with no experience of the church. They will not be coming back to church because they were not there in the first place!

What about the many recently retired non-churched men who are bored out their skulls? They are not too keen in joining luncheon clubs for the elderly frail. What can the church offer them? Is this not a challenge for fresh expressions of church?

Living on the edge for the sake of the gospel (Colin Brown)

Colin Brown explores living on the edge for the sake of the gospel.

Here are some reflections on my time based at Yorkshire ArtSpace in Sheffield. This was a half-time post supported by Sheffield diocese, which ran from January 2006 to March 2009. The aim of the post was to be a Christian presence and witness for the gospel as a fellow artist amongst the 67 creative people in this purpose-built studio collective.

Here are just three of the headings from my reflections, with principles learned. I share them as they may be helpful to you.

Risk and support – There were elements of risk on all parties. It felt very 'on the edge' of the safety of the church, where 'ministry' and how to do it had been ingrained and learned through experience and training. Forming a good level of support was vital, for accountability to the wider church, and for a sense of connection and place to reflect with various levels of leadership.
Principle: form strong links with those who have an interest in the ministry, with regular meetings and reports

Church – It felt difficult to maintain the link with the local parish and with church in general. This was probably due to time constraints, but also reflects a sense of feeling 'dislocated' from inherited church and its models of worship and ministry. I felt stretched in two distinct directions: church and 'the edge'. I felt called to minister on the edge, so had to let go of the other to some extent, whilst maintaining a healthy spirituality and discipleship.
Principle: learn to live with the paradox of being of the church, but (often) not physically in it

Unknown – Although not attending congregational church, God was very much with me (and everyone) in Yorkshire ArtSpace – the place of mission. Prayer was key, asking for the Spirit's leading every day and for encounters with people there. Conversations happened through openness – a deliberate (although I was led to it) attitude of remaining open to the different people and what God might be doing in their lives. I would silently ask 'what are you doing in this person's life Lord, and how might you want me to join in?'
Principle: Be open to being a 'catalyst' to the Spirit in every encounter

The invisible generation (Mike Collyer)

Mike Collyer uncovers the invisible generation.

It is now a well established fact there are now more people of pensionable age than there are young people under the age of sixteen in the United Kingdom today. This fact is hardly acknowledged by the church and society in general in which 'young' is 'cool' and fashionable. There are all kinds of products and cosmetics that promote this idea. In this way we undervalue 'oldness' by trying to make it go away or cover it up with face wrinkle cream!

Institutional ageism, whether we like it or not, exists within the church. For instance, look at the disproportionate resources that are poured into ministry and mission for the younger generation compared with the older. Within the climate of pioneering ministries and fresh expressions of church, how often is attention focused towards older people and their interests? In this sense, older people can be described as a mission blind spot.

So, what about a mission-shaped church for older people – a generation that increasingly feels invisible, undervalued, isolated, an object of fun and whose spiritual needs are often overlooked.

Church Army, in partnership with the Leveson Centre, has produced a training resource entitled A Mission-shaped Church for Older People facing this challenge, which was very successfully launched last November at a day conference of the same name for which over 100 people registered.

Older people can be described as a mission blind spot

To celebrate the success of this event, we are running a duplicate one day conference by popular request in London (St Michael's, Chester Square) on 29th October and wish to send people with responsibility for mission and evangelism (trainers/pioneers) a personal invitation to attend. Bishop Graham Cray will be present, and keynote speakers will be CEO of Church Army Mark Russell and Rev Dr James Woodward, former director of the Leveson Centre and now Residentiary Canon of St George's Chapel, Windsor.

This is a unique opportunity to engage with the issues and to take mission with older people seriously.

Challenging the centre (Bob and Mary Hopkins)

Bob and Mary Hopkins challenge the centre.

A few weeks ago, Ben Edson wrote a blog on Share: Called to the centre? Ben expressed an extremely important view and one which expands on concerns that many have expressed at a movement that has been radical, then becoming suffocated by the institutional embrace.

It is a possibility that needs much serious consideration and assessment of what could be done in the areas in which this can be a real danger. However, at one level a response could be that this is the inevitable outcome of an "edge movement" that is effective and fruitful as it impacts and influences the centre … the challenge being for new edge movements to arise that continually take us further and that in turn challenge the centre to further needed adaptation and flexibility.

We seem to remember that George Lings has long suggested that renewal movements can be likened to his beloved railways. A branch line being like a pioneering movement that starts from but initially is clearly separate and alongside the mainline (institutional centre), but if the traffic on it builds up, subsequently the mainline begins to divert and link to the branch line. Then he has always suggested that the need will be for another branch line. And this is probably just an analogy to illustrate the mechanism by which we observe the truth that Luther proclaimed that the church reforms herself and always is reforming (Ecclesia reformanda e semper reformanda est).

At another level there may be the question as to whether some pioneers are particularly motivated by being "out there, unrecognised, breaking new ground that most in the mainstream haven't woken up to". This could mean that whilst they are worried and feel motivated to "move further out" … the fact that their efforts so far have played a part in how God is stimulating thousands of churches to begin to think beyond their fringe and initiate engagement with non-churched families, de-churched seekers, the homeless, addicts, dwellers in deprived urban estates etc. and that the institution is encouraging this and adapting structures accordingly, has to be fantastically good news – even if it looks domesticated to some.

Lastly I note the many responses to Ben's original piece. There is much important stuff there too. But I confess a slight disquiet that the focus seems to have shifted from an original concern about the domestication of a movement of radical mission to reach broken humanity and transform dysfunctional society, to a primary concern about me and who I am and whether the institution and its structures suits or fits me. I'm personally much less worried about that, sensing that we can mostly find ways around the mismatches in order to follow God's calling to radical mission, if we are flexible and set ourselves to it.

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