Pioneering with Fresh Expressions: Embracing New Opportunities in Church Ministry

1. http://davemale.typepad.com/churchunplugged/ @CofEPioneering www.cofepioneer.org

2. Fresh Expressions, Pioneer Ministry & Readers Ely, October 2016

3. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

4. My story

5. ‘Pioneering is in our DNA’

6. ‘Pioneering is in our DNA’ • 1866. “Every days convinces me more & more • that some organisation is necessary to reach the great • mass of our people.” Bishop of London • 1917. Bishops messengers • Make connection of church and work. • “ If we are only to minister in church we are selling • ourselves short.” 2004 Strategic discussion • ‘Readers continue to devote themselves to the task of • mission, evangelism & growing disciples. • ‘See, respond to & articulate the gospel outside the • confines of the church building.’ • Selection & Formation Guidelines for Readers , May 2014.

7. Published in 2004. Over 30,000 copies sold. Huge influence in UK. Ecumenical, across the denominations, FX organisation.

8. This is not new but fresh

9. The Mixed Economy

10. both-and continue to grow and develop the church as it is establish fresh expressions of church

11. Definitions A fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church. ‘the birth and growth of Christian communities that serve people mainly outside the church, belong to their culture, make discipleship a priority and form a new church among the people they serve.’ M. Moynagh, Church for Every Context, introduction p x.

12. Pioneers are people called by God who are the first to see and creatively respond to the Holy Spirit’s initiatives with those outside the church; gathering others around them as they seek to establish new contextual Christian community. Church of England’s working definition, approved by Ministry Council Feb 2016

13. A missional re-engagement with society

14. “ this majority (66%) presents a major challenge to churches. Most of them are unreceptive and closed to attending church; churchgoing is simply not on their agenda.” Churchgoing in the UK. A research report from Tearfund. April 2007

15. ‘The reality is that mainstream culture no longer brings people to the church door. We can no longer assume that we can automatically reproduce ourselves, because the pool of people who regard church as relevant or important is decreasing with every generation’ Mission shaped church report p11

16. Playing Away

17. Church Growth Research Project Report on Strand 3b An analysis of fresh expressions of Church and church plants begun in the period 1992‐2012 Initially 10 Dioceses surveyed. Liverpool, Canterbury, Leicester, Derby, Norwich,Chelmsford, Ripon, Blackburn, Bristol, Portsmouth. https://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/research

18. Headlines Around +2000 fxc in Church of England (1109 in 21 dioceses) On average 10% of church attendance 15% of church communities. In 7 out of 10 dioceses it reversed the decline in average weekly church attendance 20 different models of FX & across socio-economic groups. 75% people outside church, 40% unchurched, 35% dechurched

19. 20 types of fxc- most common are Messy Churches, Café Churches and child focused church. The average size is 44 and starting team size is 3-12. 83% parish, 11% deanery and 6% Diocese.

20. Leadership of 1109 fxc in 21 dioceses Licenced Lay 188 Lay (no formal authorisation) 574 Ordained814 Initial starting Team 14,101

21. What we are learning

22. 1 There is no return address

23. ‘ The defining aspect of this change of epoch is that things are no longer in their place…… we cannot simply wait for what we are experiencing to pass under the illusion that things will return to being how they were before.’ Pope Francis.

24. In working with young people . . . do not try to call them back to where they were, and do not try to call them to where you are, as beautiful as that place might seem to you. You must have the courage to go with them to a place that neither you nor they have ever been before. Christianity Rediscovered: An Epistle from the Masai (1978)

25. Judea Samaria Ends of the Earth Half the picture-concentric Jerusalem

26. The ends of the earth Samaria The eccentric effects… Judea The centre and the Acts story shift Samaria is not a return ticket story moves from a focus on Peter to Paul the Church goes west church is done differently among Gentiles

27. 2 Public worship services probably are not the best starting point ‘ we think we can reach them through church meetings’

28. Prayer Love Relate Create Prayer

30. 3 Who is church for?

31. “ the church is missionary by it’s very nature……. the church does not have a mission but the mission has a church.” Prophetic Dialogue. Bevans and Scroeder "The church is not the sender but the one sent. Its mission (its "being sent") is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building up itself for the sake of its mission.“ David Bosch, Transforming Mission. “The church is Gods gift to the world” Darrell Guder .

32. The ship is safest when its in the port. But that’s not what ships were made for.

33. 4 We are making disciples of Jesus rather than doing ‘discipleship’ or simply increasing attendance

34. A Theology of disciples Disciple used 261 times in NT, 28 times in Acts One who engages in learning through instruction from another- pupil/apprentice. Not usually singular. Not used in rest of NT. Why? What is Paul’s language for discipleship?

35. The goal is to become Christ like We can be like him now 1 Thess 1 v 6-8 Will be like him 1 John 3v1-3 We are being made like him 2 Cor 3v17-18, Gal 4v19 We also do this for the sake of others. Not necessarily do everything he did but learning to live in the manner that he did in all we do.

36. How we are formed to be like Christ • Gods Word • Gods Spirit • the circumstances of life • other people Moving from information to formation Lucy Peppiat, The Disciple ,Cascade Books

37. What is the role of preaching ? “ but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him, whoever says ‘I abide in him’ ought to walk just as he walked.” 1 John 2 v5-6

38. “ If not part of a mutually discipling community the culture will disciple you.” Graham Cray

39. What kind of people are we called to be? What kind of community is capable of raising people like that?

40. Disciples as dancers • instruction • imitation • participation

41. 5 Church is multi level

42. “The problem is we have too many churches. The solution is we need a whole lot more.”

43. “And so from the start , where Jesus is, there is the church, the church is the assembly of those who are finding their relationships, their lives transformed by the presence of Jesus.” “every expression of the church is, in it’s own way, another worked example of what the encounter with Christ looks like in the life of a particular community.”

44. Church as four sets of relationships. up of out in Moynagh, Church for Every Context p 106.

45. ‘not leaving the tradition but driving to it’s heart’ Gerald Arbuckle, Refounding the Church

46. This is about • Context • Mission • Disciple making • Church!

47. 6 This might change US

48. Dying to live “ I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12; 23-6

50. YOU CAN’T PREDICT THE OUTCOME Control to chaos Answers to questions Certainty to risk