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The Valley Network

Levi Santana is a pioneer ordinand at St Mellitus College. He also leads a small missional community in High Wycombe called The Valley Network.

I have been in the area for seven years as youth worker at St Birinus and St John's Church, High Wycombe. When I started thinking about getting involved in a fresh expression, the Diocese of Oxford was very keen to see how a local person could start a local ministry via the mixed mode training and stay locally for curacy.

As a result, since starting The Valley, we have had a lot of support from the Deanery which has made our work possible. They give us lots of freedom and even help pay my salary, showing their commitment to pioneer ministry. When I am ordained in 2013, I will also be able to do my curacy here which secures the next four years in the life of the Network.

When I sensed a feeling that God was calling me into pioneer ministry I had to ask myself,

What is God saying? What is the need? What does High Wycombe need as a fresh expression of church?

We decided to focus on people who live in and around the town centre in what is an Urban Priority Area and also students.

We have almost doubled our numbers since Christmas and at the moment we have around 40 people involved in our network which meets in local coffee shops for discussion groups and Bible study, and in a local Anglican church that lets us use their building for worship events. We also meet in homes, and much of our work is based at the local YMCA and University where I am a chaplain.

There is a mix of people, some were already Christians when they joined us and some are completely unchurched (although a number are dechurched).

They come from all backgrounds and nationalities – including white British, Brazilians, and West Indians. I come from a Brazilian background and one thing that's very much on my heart is the international community, I would love to see more racial interaction. I think people from an ethnic background might have felt more comfortable about coming in to the group because I look 'different' and don't fit the traditional image of a church minister. The average age of those coming along is about 25 but we have some older and younger people in the mix – we also have a few people with small children.

It all started because St Birinus and St John's had been involved in the work of the YMCA locally for a number of years. Suddenly the person that led that work left and I found myself in charge. So we went into the YMCA and offered to continue to run the games evening.

We then decided to do something on a Sunday evening and we invited the guys from the YMCA and young adults within the network of the church. It was a hit so we started welcoming people into the church building. By January 2011, we had 25-30 people coming twice a month.

It was trial and error, we didn't know what to do next but then we started to throw some worship into the mix. In the end, we did it for six months and reflected that we were trying to do too much, we couldn't do worship with non- Christians and couldn't disciple Christians by just doing social activities.

We took time to take stock and to pray and decided that we should concentrate on the unchurched and dechurched rather than Christians wanting to do something a little differently.

We started meeting in a local coffee shop, firstly inviting people from the games night. We don't use any set material but I always make it clear that I'm a Christian though people have to be free to share their opinion – whatever it is. We always start with people talking about the lowlight and the highlight of the past week. One of the girls who comes to the group is going through a sex change process so she came in and said,

The highlight of my week is that I'm going to be a boy.

She had a letter for an appointment in London to see a specialist and what struck me was that she felt confident she could share that letter first with us.

I realised then that this community was effective. We had all sorts of plans for events to reach out to students but what God was calling us to do was simply to respect them and value them and give time. As a result we have seen that group develop into a little family.

Alongside our discussion group we also identified a need for us to gather Christians together in a similar sort of setting in order to go deeper into the Bible and mission. We launched a Bible study that starts 90 minutes before the discussion group. The study is basically for Christian students and some of them stay on for the group, some of them don't.

We had also seen the development of a mums and tots cell group. From October this year we are going to open it up to the public and we hope to run it in one of the churches.

Recently we have decided to link up with Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing who are planting the Latimer Minster church in Beaconsfield; this helps to put our network within a wider group of missional communities. When I knew they were moving into the area, we met up to talk about it all because there's no point in us doing something similar or being five miles apart with no relationship. By linking up with Latimer Minster, The Valley Network will use their charity number and bank accounts and public liability insurance – all of which means that we are very independent but also accountable.

It became quite a big thing to explain over and over again what The Valley Network was all about whereas, at Latimer Minster, the church's DNA is missional and it's easier for us to be understood. They will also release things quickly into the mission aspect of the work and I think it will be a good relationship based on friendship, not structure.

We are also still linked with St Birinus and St John's as they have been very supportive of our work over the years and because we are expected to meet traditional criteria and to obey deanery and parish boundaries though, in practice, we don't function in them.

The Valley has no income from any other source other than its members, but we need more resources to fulfil the vision God has given us. For this reason we are trying to find 100 people who will pledge to raise or donate £100 over a year. This will give us £10,000 that we will use to fund our ministry, run our conferences and events, and pay for our running and administration cost.

We have a high number of musicians and artists in the community so we are exploring different styles of worship and recording some of the songs we are writing. Our first CD/EP will be ready soon and our intention is to sell our music to fund some of the work.

From October our hope is to have two Sundays a month where we meet for fellowship for a meal and Communion because I think that's where we truly become a fresh expression of church. At the moment we are clusters of mission but we haven't shared Communion together many times.

There is a lot going on but everything is done very relationally and we have seen a few young people being released into leadership which has been particularly exciting – two of them will give about 20 hours from September!

This autumn will see us host our first Missional Church Conference when we hope to engage local church leaders in conversation about reaching young adults. Debbie Orriss, Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing and Steven Cockram will talk at the October event about how churches can explore different ways of doing things within their contexts. We want to demystify missional communities and fresh expressions to church leaders and to encourage churches not to feel threatened by us because we are not sheep stealing.

It's all very exciting but there are many questions too. How can we honour the opportunities that the Holy Spirit is giving us without spreading ourselves too thinly? What are the real areas of priority and how can we make the most of them?

Redeemer Church, Ajax

Fresh Expressions Canada web manager and church planter Ryan Sim is working on a new approach to church for busy commuters in Ontario, starting with a mobile app and community called Redeem the Commute.

Since November 2011 I have been working with the Diocese of Toronto to lead the development of a new church in Ajax, a growing suburb near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

We committed to planning, launching and sustaining a community of new disciples appropriately shaped for mission in its context. To understand that context, we spent six months in prayer, research and planning to learn as much as possible about life in Ajax and where the gospel could best take hold. Our temptation would be to implement forms of church we know and love, but that are incompatible with a changing context, or that might attract only those from other churches already following Jesus. This is a brief summary of our missional listening and research methods, and the plan that is forming in response.

We began by commissioning a study of the entire community, with typical age, education, income and other data, but also learned about common values, buying habits and responses to specific statements. This study helped us to locate a suitable home.

I familiarised myself with the community by walking, driving, shopping and enjoying community spaces, and reading about the history, official plans and news of the community. I interviewed local civic and church leaders, as well as regular residents in more casual conversations.

After observing and listening as much as possible, I began to interpret and look for common threads. It quickly became clear that Ajax has an extremely high percentage of young, multi-ethnic families whose adults commute long hours to work. They spend little time at home, have high demand jobs, and experience stress as a result. They long to reprioritize their lives, but feel stuck.

In times of prayer, I would ask God to reveal needs that were not being served by existing churches in the area. We know the gospel sparks the kind of life transformation and reprioritizing that this group longs to experience, but because of their limited free time at home, it became apparent that any church events, no matter what the time or theme, were unlikely venues for such overcommitted people to learn about Jesus for the first time.

How could we reach commuters with the good news of Jesus Christ, even while on the move? An idea emerged in a moment of inspiration, so we conducted an online survey to test its potential, and decided to go ahead.

Later this year we are launching Redeem the Commute, a mobile app and web site for commuters in our area. Smartphones are everywhere among commuting young professionals, and the commute is often seen as lost time; in need of 'redemption'. To help people redeem that lost time and make positive changes, we'll deliver good quality content that serves the needs of busy, commuting people, beginning with marriage and parenting courses. We'll introduce the Redeemer himself with a Christian Basics course, and then fresh, daily discipleship content for those growing as followers of Jesus.

Our aim is not to start a virtual church, but to bring people together in a dispersed form of cell church. Participants who start a course alone will be encouraged to start or join a discussion group, meeting weekly in places like trains, buses, workplaces and homes. We will 'seed' groups by using area churchgoers, but new groups will be organic and self-organizing, centred around gospel content, and with coaching, oversight and regular visits from staff.

By the end of 2013, we hope to see enough groups running and growing in faith that we can gather them all together for a great celebration in worship – our first of many times worshipping together as one community named Redeemer Church.

This is the very early shape of a church plant intentionally focused on the discipleship of a particular people in a particular place and time. It arose after a time of careful research, interpretation, planning, but especially prayer, asking God to reveal needs, and where a new church could help. I trust that through this process of missional listening, interpretation and creative response, God will reveal to missional leaders new people groups and new forms of church for any context, and transform our neighbourhoods, communities and world.

(This story was originally published in the ECGI newsletter)

‘To do’ list for a journey towards missional community (Gavin Tyte)

Gavin Tyte writes his 'to do' list for a journey towards missional community.

I am two-and-a-half years into parish ministry in the Church of England, my mission being to lead a traditional, semi-rural, multi-church benefice into becoming a Missional Community.

I started off employed on a half-time basis and the church currently employs me for four days per week. I came with a lot of vision, drive and a few ideas that I thought might work. There have been highs, such as 300 people turning up for Easter morning worship this year, and lows – including the emails telling me to clear off out of the village.

To be honest, I do feel a little tired and occasionally grumpy because working with people is messy, complicated, frustrating and painful. However, working with God is exciting, fulfilling, energising and inspiring. To this end I would like to share 10 tongue-in-cheek practical 'notes to self' for vicars in the same position as me – working with multiple churches in a semi-rural setting. I hope they will be helpful.

1. Ensure you have a sound theology of mission

Your understanding of the nature and purpose of God and his church will underpin and shape how you do the job. If you think that the purpose of church is to get everyone into Sunday BCP (Book of Common Prayer) worship then you're probably not on the right page. There are some great mission resources out there so it might mean some reading or going to a conference or two. To ensure that your understanding is clear and coherent have a go at writing it down and then put it somewhere public – for example your church website.

2. Be prepared to shift your thinking

Do you oversee more than one church or congregation? Then you have Episcopal oversight. The 'one vicar does it all and takes five services in five churches on a Sunday' is going to go.

3. Adopt a model of multiple churches each with multiple congregations

You might only have one congregation per church when you start. That's okay. Understand that God wants everyone in your communities to know him and be known by him. People will express their spirituality in different ways and long-term you will need to establish multiple congregations such as Messy Church and Youth Church. Don't be afraid of homogeneity – your congregations are probably already homogenous (i.e. aged 65+) but we've been in denial.

4. Grow congregational leaders

Be prepared to give up leading a congregation. I know this goes against everything you were taught in theological college but if God's church is going to grow and be effective in its mission then you need to grow leaders by identifying:

each existing congregation. Work towards growing one or more people to lead that congregation.

potential congregations. Look at 'growing' someone to lead these emerging congregations. Gather these leaders together monthly or bi-monthly for mutual encouragement and support. The good news is that you are skilled and trained. It's time to share it.

5. Help existing groups become missional and possibly congregational.

This can include toddler groups, youth groups, choirs, bell-ringers and Bible-study groups, etc. For example, instead of having a traditional youth group, help the youth leader see the youth group as 'church' and release, support and equip them to grow and lead this church. To help groups think missionally, encourage them to complete this strapline, 'We seek to bless the community through…' Some won't budge but don't worry, work with those that are flexible.

6. Stop doing corny or cringe-worthy mission and evangelism

If someone suggests singing 12 traditional hymns on the village green as a form of witness, say no. If you have a 'mission' subcommittee of the PCC, gently scrap it. Mission should underpin all you are as a church. It is through encouraging people to join in with God's mission in the world that people will come to know him. Sure, the old model of inviting people to attractional Sunday worship or an evangelistic event does work with some people but the Church of England has been doing it for years and things aren't going so well are they?

7.Identify the mission areas for each church under your care. Come up with at least three for each church

The good news is that these should be obvious and will simply be a case of identifying and naming that which the church is already doing. For example, in the Church of England we do funerals and visiting in the community so pastoral care is there right away. Other mission areas might be overseas mission, families or school.

8. For each separate church form a staff team that meets weekly

To start off with it might just be you and a churchwarden. Have a strategy to include on this staff team a person that oversees each of the missional areas of the church.

9.Meet God's expectations and not people's

If you try and meet everyone's expectations or live in fear of upsetting people then you will be remain permanently in maintenance mode and the church will stay static. Be clear about the church, its mission and purpose, and warmly invite people to join in. Some will choose not to. Sometimes, although it hurts, you just have to let them go – even if it's the organist and choir. God won't let you down.

10. Ensure you have support for your model of ministry and the mission of your church

For example, aim to go and have coffee with your Diocesan Missioner once per month because their job is to encourage you in mission. Let them do it.

Upstart Church

A brief encounter with a coffee shop owner changed the way Greg LeMaster thinks about church.

Greg learned the coffee shop was struggling to make a profit and wanted to help. So he asked if the space might be used for an 'upstart church' on Sunday mornings. Without hesitating, the shop owner offered him a key to the building.

Greg has worshipped at Graceland Baptist Church – just west of Richmond, Virginia – for 20 years; the last five as the church's part-time minister of outreach. With a weekly attendance of 250, churched families who move to the area almost always move their church membership to Graceland as well.

But Greg is now helping the Graceland congregation to see things differently, going outside the walls of their building to the people not reached by any church.

Greg started the process by asking a few people from his congregation to begin meeting in coffee shops. They in turn were to invite friends who would normally meet them for coffee but not for church. The format for the group remained the same:

catch up with one another;

a short reading and reflection from the Scriptures;

a conversation about the Scriptures and how it applies to our daily life;

prayers for the group members and for the people in the place where they are meeting.

Greg has also been delighted by what has become a regular get-together for people from around the world. It started a couple of years ago when Greg and the associate pastor at Graceland arranged an outreach event at a Richmond apartment block. They organised some games and handed out ice lollies to the children while a team of visiting, Spanish-speaking missionaries shared a brief message with the people living there. Not only did they encounter Spanish speakers but they also met people of many different nationalities with some from Latin America, Jamaica, Sudan, Nigeria and the Congo (DRC). To their amazement, 15 of the residents became Christians.

This 'one-off' event has become a weekly gathering. Every Friday afternoon, a small group of people, some of whom first met at the original event, get together for church. They meet on Friday, because they (like 30% of people in the US) work on Sundays.

This has connected Graceland, a predominately Anglo congregation, with Colonial Place Christian Church, a mainly international congregation in neighbouring Henrico County. Greg says,

You know it's a move of the Spirit, when all of these informal partnerships start to spread. A few months ago, we did not know any internationals. Now, we're doing church together.

This group is beginning to function as a church in its own right. They regularly share the Lord's Supper together and collect a weekly offering.

Greg's son Daniel is autistic and while Graceland is a welcoming place for him, he wanted a place where his son could be as expressive as he needs to be. So Greg started a group in his living room using the same the four-step pattern as in the coffee shop and apartment block. Several other families, uncomfortable about bringing their own special needs children to a traditional church, soon joined.

On most Sundays, Greg and his family go to an early service at Graceland and then return home where they are joined by a group of 12 to 14 others for Joy Church. It's a place where parents can share their joys and concerns – and where their kids are free to praise the Lord as they are comfortable. At Joy Church, an outburst is a welcomed part of worship.

Greg comments,

All the groups that we have started are foundationally set to be church. Some people may get confused with what they consider outreach because they have grown-up in traditional church from a very young age. However, the truth is that each is a church and has the DNA (Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships, and Apostolic Mission).

As far as pressure to bring these into the 'real church' is concerned, I think that it may exist to some degree but the truth is these churches function by themselves. I have no problem that some people elect to get additionally involved in what they may perceive to be 'real church'.

I think this complements the ministry of Graceland Baptist as we together desire to disciple and direct folks towards a deep life in Christ. I feel that people at Graceland are beginning to see that we must engage the culture as we can no longer attract the culture into the church. We simply must take church (us) to them in fresh expressions.

What is a missional community? (Andrew Roberts)

Andrew Roberts explores missional communities and whether the term is helpful.

The phrase missional community seems to be being used both more frequently and in more diverse ways in the mission-shaped/fresh expressions movement. In a moment I want to ask if the phrase is helpful but first here is a quick attempt at a typography.

I am aware of four ways in which the phrase is being used. You may well be aware of others so do please add to the list.

1. As an alternative description of a fresh expression

A pioneer minister in Birmingham said to me recently that his community were thinking of identifying themselves as a missional community rather than as a fresh expression. At the moment their website declares

we are a fresh expression of church and are currently exploring what it might mean for us to become a new monastic community for the city.

'Missional community' could be a very good descriptor of many a fresh expression. The bread-making church Somewhere Else for example is demonstrably both missional and a community. Interestingly their website declares them to be a

a Methodist church journeying with people of all faiths and none. Gathering as a community around the making and sharing of bread.

2. To describe intentionally-small fresh expressions or emerging churches

Especially those that might be described as new monastic. safespace in Telford might be described in this way. On the Fresh Expressions website, Mark Berry says

Perhaps the best way to describe who we are is as a new-monastic community, a community of followers who are seeking first and foremost to be equipped, resourced and supported in living a life that exudes mission.

3. To denote small- to medium-sized groups that are constituent parts of larger church

Groups that gather in community and who engage in mission together to a particular neighbourhood or network. Good examples would include those that are part of St George's, Deal and St Thomas', Sheffield. Confusingly they can also be called many other things including clusters, go communities, mid-sized communities, mission-shaped communities, and MSCs.

4. To describe an Order of Mission

A dispersed community of people who are united by a common rule or covenant and a shared commitment to mission. Examples would include The Order of Mission (TOM), the Methodist Diaconal Order and CMS.

Is the term 'missional community' helpful?

In the light of the above I want to ask:

first, is the language understandable when it is being applied in so many ways? Or has it becomes so complex that it has become devalued? We may understand what we mean and developing a comprehensive typography could be the basis for a good MA dissertation, but what does someone with no Christian experience make of it all?

second, is the term 'missional community' helpful, particularly when others (eg. the local Mosque, an AA group, the aficionados at the Apple Store) may legitimately argue they are a missional community too? Where is the Christian distinctiveness?

thirdly, and ironically, could the term be a hindrance to mission? Is there a risk that it objectifies and therefore puts off the people the community is seeking to reach?

As for an alternative, if it is necessary to explain what a missional community is by using the word Christian, why not simply talk of Christian community in the first place?

What are your thoughts?

church@five

Helen Shannon is an Ordained Pioneer Minister in the Diocese of London, serving at St Barnabas, Woodside Park. She oversees church@five and has plans for other estates in the area.

Strawberry Vale, East Finchley, is in the top 10% of the most deprived areas in England and I moved here with my husband Mark and family in 2008.

I'd been a young, single mum on one of the estates locally and had gone to church throughout my childhood but no-one had introduced me to Jesus. Then one day I walked into St Barnabas Church (known as St Bs) and I realised straight away that they knew him, they knew who they were worshipping and I came to know him too.

I got involved in children's work and did a lot of children's evangelism, eventually becoming the church's first full-time children's worker. I met and married Mark and, when I gave birth to my second son, we lived off an estate for quite a while but we were in a house on a busy road which had no soul, no heart and no community – I missed that strong sense of belonging! Strawberry Vale is not the estate where I lived in my late-teens and twenties but it's not too far away and I value all that it offers to us as a family.

I realised that it wasn't the case that people didn't believe in God in this environment; it was because they hadn't been introduced to Him – as I had been at St Bs, a New Wine Network Church. At the start I would have said that the gap was geographically too wide for people to come to church at St Barnabas; now I would say that for some the cultural gap is an issue too.

In the early days it was all about seeing what God was already doing here and serving the people; we hadn't decided that a church plant or a congregation plant was what we were going to do. I remembered what a blessing it had been to me to come into a church where I wasn't 'pigeonholed' as a single mum; I wanted that same experience of 'come as you are' for the guys on the estate.

In the end we set up a community congregation called church@five rather than a church plant; this gave me a large amount of freedom as to how it developed. If those who come along end up going to the 'big church' at St Bs, that's fine. It's also fine if they put down their roots with us.

I use the words 'community congregation' because the people here wouldn't have a clue about what 'fresh expression' means. The phrase, fresh expressions, covers a plethora of things and I don't think it would have helped the team either. I also went for community congregation because, from the start, I wanted to be able to replicate what we had done here elsewhere – that whole business of starting with the end in mind.

Encouraging indigenous leadership was also very much part of our thinking when the whole thing got off the ground. We really wanted to be a bridge between the estate and the church so that the people weren't isolated in their faith.

This is also about broadening horizons; one of the things about being in this sort of environment is that people can have very low expectations. We want to demonstrate that all of God's wonderful world and life is fully available to them whereas society would build estates with one road in and one road out to corral the people in there.

Well-meaning people can think there's a real problem communicating the gospel on an estate but I find a latent respect for the church here. The word 'church' is not an issue with people but communicating the gospel in a very real and honest way can be because they want to know, and quite rightly, how the gospel can change lives and make a very real difference day to day.

We have five or our six children at home now, ranging from 8 to 15, and my husband Mark is involved in every way in what we're doing here. He had to leave his work in the City because of chronic back problems but I haven't ever seen him so fruitful in ministry! If I'm out and about at meetings, more often than not he's the one who's around when people knock on the door with their problems or questions.

It all started by gathering people around us from St Bs who had a heart for the same kind of thing, we prayed and ate and talked and began to serve the community. We work with a partner charity called Hope House and started some youth and children's activities in the Green Man Community Centre which is run by the residents.

We joined the Centre's committee and, as we served, we heard God telling us that it wasn't to be just about children or young people; it was to be for the whole community – for us – bringing people together in community is a move of the Kingdom of God and by putting Christians back into the estate we reckoned that the whole place should undergo a shift, a change, after all it only takes a little bit of yeast to make the whole batch of dough rise.

We don't preach the Gospel at these things, instead we work together to see people achieve their goals and visions. It took about two years before the regular gathering together of a worshipping community. We had done Christmas and Easter events but it was always in our minds that the vision was not just for Strawberry Vale but also for neighbouring estates, The Grange and Market Place. But we got to the stage where we had built community, found people of peace, were talking Jesus with those people and had been praying with them. It was then very natural to bring that together in a weekly gathering.

Church@five now meets on a Sunday afternoon at the community centre. We have lots of cups of tea, an informal service around tables with sung worship, share community news, someone prays for our church and community, and then we have the offering because we wanted to build in the value of giving back to God right from the start. We read together from the Bibles, we always put Bibles in people's hands as soon as we can and we give away quite a lot of them, have a short interactive talk and prayer ministry time and drink more tea and then eat together.

We have got quite a lot of people from the estate helping with the midweek kids' work. It's hard going when developing indigenous leadership because some people live quite chaotic lives and to put them into a structure can be difficult.

One of our trainees had found it quite difficult to ask people help at in their midweek group, praying for them was fine but requesting that they might give us a hand was something else. But I told her that it was a very middle class way of thinking about things because most middle class people are working all the hours God sends and are struggling to find the time to do all the things they want to do with their families and everything else. However many of the people we're living alongside are jobless and society says to them they can't do anything.

One of the real issues they face is boredom and a lack of purpose. I encouraged the trainee to think of asking them to help as a fantastic gift, the chance for them to know they are contributing something.

Our team is made up of people who live on the estate, others very committed to the place but don't actually live here and a group who we call our 'scaffold team' – these are good, solid Christians who support the new Christians, encouraging and nurturing their growth. There are also those who come and serve on our teams or who act as Godparents, people who pray regularly for us.

We have already got some indigenous worship leaders, someone else who coordinates prayer and another who's taking a lead with hospitality. We are currently looking at how we might develop a discipleship year for some of the young people on the estate.

When we moved on the estate, we said that unless God moved us on, we would commit ourselves to being here for 10 years. We are still in very early days but we are now looking at how we gather another team to move on to the neighbouring estate at The Grange which is very different to Strawberry Vale. Every estate has got a different history and it's important to take that on board, it's so, so important. So, at the beginning, it's all about listening to people, doing research, and finding out what local people think of that estate, it all takes time.

St Bs has been absolutely brilliant about all of this. If I had done a church plant route I would have had to look to becoming self-financing and self-governing; but this way we can be missionally quick because St Bs is very generous with finances and provide governance/oversight for us. St Bs has always been missional but our experiences on the estates have sharpened that missional focus and helped form new ways of looking at things.

Hopefully this is a model that other big churches could apply, particularly in London where richer areas and poorer areas are cheek by jowl. If they can afford to finance it, they could put people in to live on these sorts of estates on their doorstep; people who will build community around them and look to see what Jesus is doing and then join in with Him.

How can we get support?: Tas Valley

This story illustrates the principles of How can we get support? in the Guide.

The Tas Valley Cell Church is a rural cell church networking across a multi-parish benefice in Norfolk. Seven cell churches have grown up in six parishes since 2003, with many of their members recently coming into faith.

The cells, says rector Sally Gaze (in mission-shaped and rural: growing churches in the countryside, CHP, 2006),

worshipped and loved, they related to the wider church and respected the authority of its leaders, and participated in the sacraments… they engaged in mission.

Putting the cells together, the cell church was also as strongly attended as some Sunday services with around 8-10 members in each cell (making 40-50 members) compared with 6-45 in each parish church. In a mixed economy benefice, the question arose: how can a growing number of cell churches find their legal standing alongside the traditional churches?

We felt it was time to help the cell church grow up and take responsibility,

says Sally, who also wanted to give the cells a secure place within the benefice.

We felt that cell church members should give to the cell church. It also makes a statement that giving to church is not just about keeping buildings going – our cell church doesn't have a building.

So the benefice discussed with the diocese ways in which cell members could give to their church that would enable it to claim back tax as in traditional offertories. In 2005 a cell bank account was set up, an important step in acknowledging the Tas Valley cells as part of the Church of England as a whole.

The bank account, says Sally,

encourages us to sort out giving, to encourage Gift Aid and teach stewardship. The cells pay a couple of thousand towards the benefice share. This is less than their numerical strength would suggest because a number of people are brand new Christians who will take a time to sort out financial stewardship, and others are members of both cell and parish congregation.

We didn't want to reduce the income of parish congregations so where people are members of both cell and parish church, they either stick with their parish giving or give on top of that to the cell church. The proportion of benefice share that the cell church and all the PCCs pay is kept under annual review.

The cell church has a cell leaders' meeting rather than a PCC and is still

a peculiarity on the edge of the diocese. But in the benefice itself it is treated as an equal member of the team of churches and represented on our equivalent of a team council.

How can we get support?: Discovery Days

This story illustrates the principles of How can we get support? in the Guide.

Discovery Days is a community-building venture on a new estate in Witney, Oxfordshire. It aims to help people discover their neighbours, discover what real community is and later discover God.

Getting together

Getting together with people in the local community was the first task of pioneer minister, Penny Joyce. Initially she met regularly with Christians living on the new estate to pray for the area and her work. They became a core team.

She discovered these new core team members through the parish church (situated outside the estate), by word of mouth and by 'God incidences'.

The ten team members met twice a month in Penny's home to eat together, pray and study the Bible. Penny describes them as 'wonderfully supportive'.

We used a big map of the estate and prayed for roads, for local Christians and for developing good relationships,

Penny says.

Penny's first year was spent focusing purely on the new community in the gradually growing estate, which was still under development. It grew from 260 houses to 1,160 houses in four years, meaning that a foundation of prayer was being built at the same time as the new homes.

We felt we were covering the ground with prayer, then relationship growth happened through networking,

says Penny.

Exploring the possibilities

Exploring the possibilities took place by offering service to the community. She set up activities for toddlers, single people, people who wanted to discuss a book and the elderly, and gradually became known as someone who 'facilitates activities in the community'. Penny became known as someone who was accessible. As residents grew familiar with Penny's presence, they got to know that she was a priest and that Discovery Days – the umbrella term for these different activities – was funded by the church.

This began to happen after about 18 months by osmosis,

says Penny. She wore a clerical collar to any overtly Christian event such as a baptism, funeral, when preaching or when visiting the sick. Otherwise, she 'visited and then listened and responded to what I was asked,' she explains.

Through the activities, visiting and just being on the estate, Penny got to know the residents and discovered opportunities to serve them. The parish church supported many of Penny's events, in particular a Sunday afternoon seeker event, JIGSAW.

Thinking ahead

Thinking ahead was reflected in Penny's vision for her work. In her bid for funding from Cutting Edge (see below), Penny prepared a paper looking at how people could be brought to discover God by establishing a Christian presence within their community – in other words, by going to the people rather than expecting people to come to church.

She outlined a process whereby people first discovered community, then developed relationships with their neighbours, and through them got to know God. Penny was inspired by the idea that she would be building a 'Christian community' which existed through the life of groups rather than in a church building.

With fresh expressions you're not absolutely sure at the beginning what the end form might take,

Penny believes.

You know in which direction you are going and where God is in it all, though in a sense you're working it out as you go along.

For Penny that meant keeping in mind the value of 'making Christian things accessible' and that the journey of faith proceeds in stages. People don't leap to be a follower of Christ in one step. They need stepping stones. Building small steps for individuals, whose faith would be nurtured in small groups, was how Penny imagined a fresh expression of church might emerge on the estate.

Organising support

Organising support involved building links within the community, which was also part of the 'exploring' process. By helping informally at the local school, she built relationships with the staff and this led to a community room being made available to Penny.

She also introduced herself to all the local churches which, Penny says, 'were very supportive' and took services at the parish church. As clerk of the deanery chapter she was able to forge links outside the community, leading to another church acting as sponsor. Penny also attended interdenominational clergy lunches and joined in with local clergy networks.

Penny's post was an archdeaconry appointment funded by the Oxford Diocese's Cutting Edge initiative. The initiative provides an accompanier to Penny's work. Penny also has her own spiritual director.

For personal prayer support she has a group of supporters she calls her 'warriors', to whom she sends a round robin email. These are personal acquaintances whom she has asked to help in this particular way, because of their interest in this type of work. The parish vicar is involved in prayer for the project, and she says, 'has been very supportive and generous'.

As well as getting involved with the local school, the wider community in Witney and the churches, Penny started a monthly newsletter. The first one introduced her to the residents of the estate. The newsletter let people know that she was a community worker and invited them to an open meeting, out of which was formed a Residents' Association.

For personal prayer support she has a group of supporters she calls her 'warriors'

It also also gave her access to other groups and organizations in the area and on the estate. When some of these asked to advertise their events in the newsletter, Penny created space for adverts from voluntary and charitable groups.

Penny visited the estate agents at the sales houses on the estate, establishing good relationships with them and ensuring that the starter pack provided with each property included notices on Discovery Days projects. She became a police chaplain and joined the Neighbourhood Action Group. She made links with Social Services.

At the end of the first year, Penny set up a Discovery Days website. She has devised a 'corporate logo' which is used on all Discovery Days material, to give a unity to the network of groups and events. When an event is specifically Christian, such as a crib service, it is always made clear in advance. A strapline, 'Discover your neighbour, discover your community and discover God,' makes clear what Discovery Days is about.

In the first 18 months Penny found that the pastoral care side of her work was 'quite a heavy load', since most of her core team were working in the daytime. Now the team has grown and includes people who are free to get involved in this way. 'Having people on the team with time is vital,' she says.

Nurturing the team

Nurturing the team has involved being flexible as the original core team grew. Five Christian groups now meet on the estate, as well as the JIGSAW seeker event and a service Penny leads in the new care home. The five groups are made up of around 55 people. Finding new leaders for this growing community has been 'a challenge,' says Penny.

When the original core team of Christians who met to pray for the estate grew from 10 to 18, the size of the team was capped and a new group was set up. The original group became Discovery 1, the group which was the bedrock of initial prayer and planning in the early days. The new group, Discovery 2, was a group for seekers. Christians who moved on to the estate formed a new group, Discovery 3. Still more new seekers, discovered through relationship building and general conversations, made up a Discovery 4 group. Discovery 5 is a daytime group for seekers, begun as people showed an interest in things 'of faith'.

Baptisms contacts have also acted as a catalyst for interest in joining small groups. Discovery Days has seen four confirmations in the last year,

a real indication of personal journeying and growth,

says Penny.

All Discovery groups have the opportunity to meet socially for a pastorate meal and to discuss topical issues on a monthly basis. Penny meets quarterly with leaders to pray together and choose materials for study. She also tries to visit each group monthly and keeps in touch in between visits.

I'm very reliant on the group leaders for pastoral care of their groups and also to keep me in touch with community needs,

she says. Groups are led by at least two leaders.

Each new leader co-leads a new group with Penny initially, as a way of training new leaders. Being part of a group from its start helps her to identify potential leaders for any future group. She looks for people who are growing in Christian maturity and relate well to other people.

'I'm very reliant on the group leaders for pastoral care of their groups and also to keep me in touch with community needs'

God has led in the right people, with different skills and wisdom, who are feeling that God has brought them to this estate for a purpose,

Penny believes.

Now after four years we are on the cusp of talking about 'What next?'

she adds, suggesting that it may soon be time to look at a central celebration of some form. The end of November 2007 saw all the Discovery Days groups meeting together for a day of prayer and consultation.

Eagles Wings

Eagles Wings is a church plant and community service ministry on a housing estate in Northamptonshire. It was founded by two neighbouring churches.

Two Northamptonshire Church of England churches were running a community ministry on a nearby council estate. A children's club and a family activity were each held monthly, while a team of 17 met every Tuesday evening to pray, worship and plan. Every member of the team lived outside the estate, but there was a growing desire to develop the monthly activities into church.

In 2005 the Diocese of Peterborough invited Richard Priestley and Mandy Priestley, of Church Army, to live on the estate. The Priestleys inherited a team, which they had to get to know.

Our first task was to live and to listen, to try to understand the team and to share a vision for how the church might look,

says Richard.

The vision was to create a community church, where a shared life might become evident.

Richard and Mandy along with the team spent the first year on the estate learning how to model Christian community. Richard and Mandy operated an open door policy to their home, encouraging the team members to eat with one another and setting the example by inviting members to eat with them regularly.

We opened ourselves up to them,

says Richard.

We tried to make the regular gatherings more social. We encouraged prayer for one another as a group, not just for the events and mission. We were modelling a fresh expression of church.

Eagles Wings: 'A place of refuge, a place providing spiritual food, help for practical problems and a listening ear'

The team began to share a vision for a church that would be

a place of refuge, a place providing spiritual food, help for practical problems and a listening ear.

One of the team's families moved house to live on the estate, while a few estate residents began to join in with the team's Tuesday night meetings.

Two types of members were forming in the now growing team: those living on the estate and those living outside, a development which caused Richard to experiment with dividing the team into two along these lines.

This caused some tension, but it helped us all to understand the needs of the estate,

Richard reflects.

We talked and listened through the problems and produced a different approach.

Two groups were formed but with mixed membership.

The process was helpful for community building and awareness of incarnational ministry, a focus of the mission itself,

Richard adds.

Some members left the team, partly as a result of this time of change, which proved a turning point in members' realisation of their commitment to Eagles Wings. While some wanted to continue, others realised that their time of involvement with the new community was over.

They left with a blessing,

Richard says.

We gave permission for the tired members to stop, and we ended one of the events as it was not working in the way it was intended.

Eagles Wings is now heavily involved on the estate. It runs youth work and children's activities and partners with other groups such as a Neighbourhood Learning project, which runs cookery courses for low income families, among other things.

Mandy and members of Eagles Wings run a breakfast club at the primary school, which makes contact with parents on the estate, and there is a partnership with a bicycle recycling project. A weekly Sunday tea reflects its vision for sharing and socialising with the local community. Held in a parish hall with around 55 participants, it has taken on 'an identity and a life'. Members have a chance to lead and contribute to the input.

A time of reflection is followed by tea. For a short period of time they tried once a month to have a reflection extending to half an hour of worship as 'a bridging event' for those who are drawing nearer to full participation in church life. This experiment did not work and was not continued. Other ways to bring people to worship are being sought. Small groups take place on alternate Tuesdays, with a central meeting for teaching and worship on the other Tuesdays.

Our vision is for a growing church, but our method is organic,

Richard says.

We want to be a community of faith that by its nature draws people to God, nurtures disciples and sends to mission.

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.