Author: ben-clymo

Joining the marginalised (Jennie Appleby)

Jennie Appleby discusses joining the marginalised.

I'm now Rector of St John the Baptist Church in Leicester but, many years ago, I was working in a very different context in a small northern town – an area that was beyond my experience and totally out of my comfort zone. It was to be transformative in many ways.

Recent closure of the main employer in the town had resulted in massive unemployment for both young and old. Ironically, I had been employed by the local churches (one of the only people to move into the area) to work with young people who faced little prospect of ever finding a job in the area.

'Why do you want to work here with us?', asked the youngsters. Here were a group of lovable kids who lacked self-esteem and hope for the future. I had already been working on the council estate for 18 months when I felt a calling to move there. The young people were surprised I wanted to live amongst them as it was the one place in town where no-one lived out of choice.

Some local Christians, amongst whom I worshipped, had grown up on such estates but had moved away to more desirable areas and thought I was actively choosing to become downwardly mobile; a decision which dumbfounded them. However, I was discovering that when God nudges, experience and expectation are irrelevant. It felt more important to deepen my relationships with the people who were becoming a part of my life than to play the respectable Christian game of climbing the social ladder. The harsh reality was that as I worked with the marginalised, I was becoming marginalised myself from much of the church. Yet, I was experiencing a different way of being church.

Life amongst this new community was transformative and there was never a dull moment. Frequent sights of furniture being moved between houses (usually on foot), early morning police raids and unconventional offers of cheap, electrical items were everyday occurrences. I realised I'd been accepted in the community when I was invited by two women to join them for a drink at the local working men's club, and when someone turned up on my doorstep to ask for prayer.

Amidst the colourful lives on the estate and the disbelief of Christians from the other side of town, I discovered a sense of the tangible presence of God. I could imagine Jesus himself walking the streets with me and I experienced signs of God's Kingdom: people sharing their lives and possessions together – not out of a sense of Christian love or duty but because they had so little themselves. I had never witnessed people sharing on this level before – they were teaching me lessons about how to live the Christian life.

I still reflect on those experiences and thank God for calling me to live there. In my naivety I had thought I was introducing God to the people in that place but I realised that through their love and acceptance of me, their simple lifestyles and so much sharing, they were showing me a new way of recognising God. Working on the edge gave me a vision of God's Kingdom and being marginalised brought me to my knees and a deeper relationship with Christ. A few thoughts as a result of that:

  • as pioneers, are we open to Jesus taking us to uncomfortable places?

  • can we intentionally become downwardly mobile for the sake of the Gospel?

  • if we work with the marginalised, does it follow that we personally become marginalised from much of the church? If so, how can we be sustained in this ministry?

Wichenford Café Church

Carma Wetherall describes how a fresh expression of church has started in the parish of Wichenford, Worcestershire.

Wichenford has over 250 households and a number of working farms spread across a distance of more than three miles. Its shop, post office, bakery and school closed some time ago and the only pub is two miles away from the main housing area.

St Laurence's, Wichenford, is one of 14 churches in the Worcestershire West Rural Team, an outstandingly beautiful part of the English countryside with the River Teme flowing through the middle and the Malvern Hills to the south.

It is part of the Martley benefice, which consists of three parishes and five churches. The vicar of the group is David Sherwin, and he is assisted by non-stipendiary minister Jennifer Whittaker and curate Rich Tweedy.

Wichenford Café Church - buildingThe 12th century St Laurence's Church stands alongside a country lane, surrounded by fields, with the village's Memorial Hall opposite. The nave is fully pewed and can seat 120 at a squeeze – which is often needed for baptisms, weddings and funerals. Villagers love the building and will turn out for big family occasions and special services, especially at Christmas, but there is a definite disconnect otherwise; many just don't 'do' church.

Ten years ago, regular worshippers numbered 20 or so; today on a normal Sunday we are fortunate to see 10. Rich, as our new curate, suggested that a monthly, 90-minute, café church would offer the opportunity to demonstrate God's love by serving our community and, in particular, offer a relaxed and accessible place where we could share faith and the word.

Two generous cash donations enabled us to hire the Village (Memorial) Hall and buy provisions for two Sundays. We were given an industrial coffee machine, borrowed some café tablecloths, gave out invitations by hand and began in February this year.

Café church now takes place every 3rd Sunday of the month in the hall. We open at 10am to provide good quality coffee and tea with bacon butties and then give people an opportunity to sit around the tables to read the Sunday newspapers or just socialise.

After about 10.30am there is an opportunity to ask the vicar to give a Christian perspective on a couple of news items, sing a couple of worship songs, hear a bit of a talk and share in some prayers.

Wichenford Café Church - tablesOn the first morning, a small team assembled to set everything up – only to discover that we had no frying pans for cooking the bacon. Following a quick run home, that problem was solved and by 10am – with food and drink available – the hall gradually filled. The stalwarts of our regular congregation came, mainly to see what it was all about, but we welcomed some new faces too and all stayed – except one who left as soon as he had eaten his bacon buttie! Overall, it was an encouraging beginning  though a regular worshipper said, 'How will this get them to come to church?'

A month later, word had spread and many more new faces appeared – with fewer of the stalwarts. A number of children came too. In April, we greeted more new people and it was obvious that some of the previous newcomers had returned. In June we welcomed 42 adults and 10 children, including some teenage volunteers to help with the worship.

Six months on and there is a real buzz in the community about café church. The numbers attending are holding up, volunteers have come forward to help with the catering and the overall community response is encouraging. Indeed, someone I met tending a grave in the churchyard recently said, 'We just love café church'. I can only say, 'Alleluia, Amen!'

What’s at the heart of innovation? (Daniel Manastireanu)

Daniel Manastireanu asks what is at the heart of innovation.

When we first decide to venture out in creating new expressions of church, the first question we usually ask is 'how?' But before we can ask the 'how to' question, I believe we need to ask the 'where from' question. What do we bring to the task of innovation? Where are we coming from or, more specifically, what are the underlying values that we are taking for granted? The underlying values are tied to our personal histories, to how we were brought up, how we were educated and nurtured, our previous and current experiences of church, and so on.

We can't even begin to look at innovation before we do this preparatory personal work, because otherwise we might end up doing much of the same kind of things, only with some minor variations. It's new, but not really. Instead of making new wineskins, we end up patching up old ones. That is because innovation and creativity takes vulnerability. When we create something new, we open ourselves up to the possibility of criticism and rejection.

I love innovation, and for a long time I could not understand why others did not share my enthusiasm. Then I came across Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk on the crisis in education, where he explores the three major underlying values of most educational systems in the world – conformity, compliance and standardisation – values which were instilled during the Victorian industrial revolution. He shows how these values are mechanistic and unnatural, and proposes a paradigm shift from conformity to diversity, from compliance to curiosity, from standardisation to creativity. Imagine that framework in terms of new expressions of church.

If my underlying value is conformity, then I will react to anything new and different, because it does not fit with that value. For instance, suppose the team is looking at a new way of doing prayers. Someone proposes that we don't have a person 'saying' a prayer out loud; instead we could have it projected on a screen, or written on large sheets of paper with people adding their own prayers. I automatically react against the idea, but I cannot articulate why I'm resisting. Even when the new idea sounds like it could work, I sense a blockage in me that prevents me from even considering it. Why? Because it goes against my 'conformity' value which I take for granted. Robinson calls this 'the tyranny of common sense'.

In order to deal with my internal resistance, I have to become aware of it first. I have to be able to identify what it is, name it, and then own it without judgement of myself or others. Becoming aware of where I am coming from opens me up for new possibilities by creating a space in which I can move beyond it. This work needs to be done both individually, and in a team context, where common underlying values are identified, examined, and negotiated, preferably at the starting point, but also whenever resistance to innovation becomes apparent.

Relationship building as a permission-giver (Mike Redshaw)

Mike Redshaw reflects on the importance of building relationships as a permission-giver.

My credentials are clear – I have a great passion for fresh expressions of church, I'm involved in the mission shaped ministry course and FEAST (Fresh Expressions Area Strategy Team), but often I struggle to give the time I would like as I'm caught up in Superintendency of the Trent and Dove Methodist Circuit.

I was recently involved in a discussion about 'permission-givers', those folk in different denominations who can either block or encourage a fresh expression. In many ways, I have become such a permission-giver and it is hard and frustrating to adjust to the role, because my heart wants to be in the fresh expression – exploring, enabling and encouraging as opposed to simply watching others do it and commending them accordingly.

Superintendency involves so much administration, supervision and dissemination of information that it saps your energy and creativity. However I received a 'friendly wake-up call' in that recent discussion to quit moaning and make the time to 'get on with it'; so I am looking at the possibility of a mission shaped intro course in this area and exploring the possibility of a learning network amongst some fresh expressions that have already begun.

In looking at all of these opportunities, it makes me realise – again – that relationships are so important. The deeper a relationship is, the more that people begin to feel comfortable, becoming increasingly able to share things of real significance.

All the more incredible then that, as Christians, we can simply expect people to walk into our churches – and still we don't attempt to establish any real relationship with them at all. The success of discipleship courses such as Alpha and Essence has been built not on the teaching alone but on the friendships built up over the meal, the discussion and the fellowship.

As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I become more and more convinced that evangelism is not going to achieve real success unless there is a relationship involved. The old-fashioned Billy Graham rallies began in relationship as Billy would urge his followers to invite family and friends, people they could relate to, and then he would expect an on-going relationship after conversion. Why? Because evangelism isn't just about numbers, a 'bums on seats mentality'. No, it's about building a community as Jesus first intended. He walked for three years with the same people. Even though he must have been frustrated and disappointed in them at times, he stood by them and gradually began to change them until the time was right for the final disclosure of the Holy Spirit.

Much of the current fresh expressions movement is about relationships. These may be relationships built in cafés or Messy Churches or wherever; people coming together, learning together and sharing the Lord Jesus with one another. The trouble is that relationships require a lot of patience, tolerance and understanding on the part of the Christians who are encouraging others – and, often, from others in their dealings with us!

So what is the key? For me, the only thing that really forges relationships to a Godly level is when the love of Jesus is present. Jesus may not have liked the lifestyles of people, he may have condemned the sin but he NEVER rejected people. We too must not be judgemental rejectionists, but need to be people of love and find ways of building relationships with people so that they may come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Do we need to be building any bridges with those we are in relationship with in order to show that love? I think that's a challenge for us all.

Heathfield cafechurch – update Oct13

Churches Together in Heathfield and District launched a cafechurch in April 2013. Sue Mumford tells what has happened since then in the East Sussex market town.

More than 40 people came to our first session at Costa Coffee in Heathfield High Street; and we have been very pleased with the reaction to what we are doing. We have learned some valuable lessons so far and hope this learning will help others looking to do something similar in their own contexts.

The most beneficial thing we did in advance of our first event was to have a 'rehearsal' the week before. Involving mainly 'church people', this gave us a chance to iron out problems and get valuable feedback at the end of the evening. It also provided an opportunity for people from all the churches in the area, who wanted to know what it was all about, to come and see for themselves.

We had a good number turn up on the night, including some who were not involved in church at all and quite a lot of young people – which meant we had a useful balance of age groups. The staff in the coffee shop were also very interested to see what was happening; one of them who was on duty behind the counter for the rehearsal made sure he was on duty for the first event!

Heathfield cafechurch - signWhen the night came, there was a real buzz – especially during our quiz and table talk times, a really nice atmosphere. We had two, short, musical 'interludes' during which a young singer/songwriter sang some of her own material, accompanying herself on the guitar. That went down well.

The table hosts, whom we regard as key people in the event, were given a few important pointers and advice before the evening began by a member of our cafechurch planning committee. They also had a pack of materials to distribute to their table when they felt the time was right.

We gave all guests £1.50 towards their first drink and this was appreciated; we will continue to do this. We had some tables with one host and some with a team of two – and we think the teams of two work most effectively.

Our challenges and difficulties became clear very early on. After the 'rehearsal' it was evident there were too many 'greeters' (we had a rota of six). The young people felt as though they were almost confronted on entry by a lot of 'old' folk! So, at the event we had only two greeters; both of whom were on the younger side of 50.

We had said when we first looked at developing a cafechurch that we would focus on attracting 18 to 35-year-olds though all ages would be welcome. It has been interesting to see how the young people reacted to our programme for the evening; they did not want to be served, for instance, but preferred to get their own coffee and then make their way to the table. So, at the event, we completely did away with servers. This made them much happier. The rather slow speed at which the coffee is served is a challenge; but because of the variety of drinks available there is probably not much that can be done about this!

Heathfield cafechurch - menuAt the rehearsal it was made clear that there was far too much information on the tables. There was no time to read newspaper articles and some people did not even notice the 'menu' for the evening's programme amidst all the quiz and discussion material and 'keep in contact' slips etc. As a result, at the event we put nothing on the tables except the 'menu' and encouraged the table hosts to draw guests' attention to it showing the programme for the evening and the publicity on the back about our next get-together. All the quiz material and discussion questions were given in a pack to the table hosts to distribute when they thought appropriate. It worked well.

The young people felt the evening was 'over-structured' at the rehearsal; but we think this was partly just our nervousness about sticking to timings and the newness of it all. We kept the basic structure at the event but were more relaxed ourselves and this seemed to work better.

It is difficult to get a balance between letting people go to whatever table they like and getting a mix of ages at each table. Having two (older) hosts at each table helps. Perhaps this will solve itself as we all become more familiar with the situation and as we build relationships with the guests.

In terms of the effectiveness of publicity for the event. We distributed posters and leaflets in the churches, the community college and the Churches Together noticeboard in the High Street.

Heathfield cafechurch - smileWe also put out a press release in two local papers. This we felt would not be a way of getting young people to come but it was a good way of letting the community know what we were doing as Churches Together. The community college included an item about it in their letter to parents on the front page; some churches put it in their Sunday bulletins and a member of the planning committee sent out details via Facebook and Twitter.

One of the key things we discovered was the importance of negotiating with the right person in the coffee shop business when sorting out details of programming and a guaranteed rate of takings on the night. We had taken steps to inform the local management team and all seemed to be in place but a change in staffing caused various problems – we would therefore encourage anyone to avoid these pitfalls by:

  • making sure you are negotiating with the right person;

  • ensuring the agreement is ratified by any superior authority necessary;

  • being prepared for the possibility of a change in personnel;

  • keeping copies of all correspondence and emails.

We have covered various topics in our cafechurch time; including Stress, Les Miserables (with themes of repentance and forgiveness), and Wealth of Different Kinds. Our next cafechurch is on 24th January 2014 when we look at 'What's love got to do with it?'

Heathfield cafechurch - prayer teamA team of prayer supporters provide valuable prayer backing during the time we meet and we then report back to them as to how the evening has gone and if there are any additional prayer requests.

It is still early days and we don't yet know how things will turn out but we are encouraged to see how relationships have developed, both among those on the planning team and those we're meeting through cafechurch.