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During the week, the Canterbury Kids Coach moves around the suburb contacting new families, building relationships and breaking down racial barriers. The families were encouraged to come to X-Site on Fridays, but many saw it as a 'kids' thing' and I realised I needed to spend more time getting to know the parents and visiting them in their homes and encouraging them to see that they too could be part of this community of faith.

As soon as two or three parents started to come, others followed. The process of moving from providing a social benefit to becoming a faith community has been bathed in prayer and involves watching for opportunities to show God's love in whatever way we can. Both are necessary and both work hand in hand.

X-Site is an exciting outreach in the centre of this community. It just buzzes with excitement every Friday afternoon, but it has only been in the past four months that parents have started coming regularly. It is so good to see them meeting together and begin to build relationships with each other in an atmosphere that encourages faith. For the families that come, this is church. Together we are learning to serve each other, pray together and grow in faith.

One of our biggest challenges is the racial disharmony that is so active in this area, even among the children. We are beginning to see some of these walls come down, but we still have a long way to go. We do have a responsibility to address social injustice and the best way to do it is at the coalface. I think that one of the reasons we have been drawn in to the community is because we accept people the way they are. We honour them and help them to see ways they can help others in their area. 

Do we still subconsciously prefer to just reach out to the people like us? I grew up in the same background of those I am working with, so I guess the answer would be yes, but some of our team leaders come from very different backgrounds. At the beginning they found it very hard, but as they have got to know the families and opened their hearts to them, the difficulties evaporated.

Once a month I attend a Community Network Group that meets to look at the social issues that challenge this suburb. School principals, health professionals, social workers, police, government department and council representatives all look at how we can make a difference. Being involved in this group has been a vital link and a way of being able to address many of the problems faced in this area.

Captain Louise Weller, Church Army, New Zealand.

If you would like to comment on this blog entry, go to 'Comments' at this bottom of this page.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Karen Carter. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, Church Army, Fresh Expressions or any of its partners.

When I visited Innsworth in Gloucestershire for the first time to see whether it might be the right place for me, my incumbent drove me around the estate describing it as needing to be loved, at which point everything in me said, 'please send me'.

I have lots of new ideas and get very excited at seeing what happens to them when they are batted around by others. It's certainly not something you do on your own.

But are not these the qualities of all ordained ministers? Am I not simply doing what any self-respecting curate does? Does not every ordained minister wake up in the morning with that sense of excitement wondering how the Gospel can be re-imagined for a new day and share their vision with others?

I actually spend a great deal of my time doing the most old-fashioned thing in the book, namely good pastoral care and a fair proportion of knocking on doors to ensure that people of any religious affiliation or none know that the church is there for them.

When I first arrived here, I was deeply moved by the number of times people would tell me their life stories on the doorstep. It seemed that nobody had ever listened to them before. I am well known in the community now. As a cyclist, every time I go out on my bike I am greeted by all and sundry and occasionally screech to a halt as I see someone who I know could do with more than a wave.

People know to contact me if they want to get married, if they want their children baptised, if they want their new house blessed. Much of these first two years has been about community cohesion. Yes, worship does happen in the Community Hall twice a month, always with a creative twist, I do run lunch club for the elderly – with volunteer helpers I hasten to add – and yes, my pioneer title has given me licence to occasionally do something wacky to take the Gospel story into the community.

But it is those relationships that have been established which have made a difference, and yes, people do talk to me about prayer and forgiveness and God. As I read other stories about fresh expressions it is easy to think, 'Oh that's exciting, why haven't I done that or why does it not work that way here?' And then I reflect that every fresh expression or pioneering enterprise is the result of a conversation between context and theology and that there has to be integrity in that conversation. And alongside the conversation there is the listening and the discernment.

God is always there before us and it's great to come panting on behind and join in. I am confident that the rumour of God is now heard and felt in this place and I wonder what tomorrow might bring!

Debbie Forman is Pioneer Minister for Innsworth and Assistant Curate at St John the Evangelist, Churchdown and Innsworth.

If you would like to comment on this blog entry, go to 'Comments' at this bottom of this page.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Karen Carter. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, Church Army, Fresh Expressions or any of its partners.

Summer nights' sacred space is an initiative to get out and meet people where they are - and in our locality of Scarborough and Filey, that means the beach. Revd Sam Foster, fresh expressions pioneer minister for the CofE's Scarborough Deanery, piloted this initiative last year and we're now in full swing for the 2010 summer season.

People have been invited to come and light a candle to celebrate something or remember someone, some have prayed, many have cried and everyone has had a story to share. We've been so privileged to be the body of Christ together for people who need to be listened to, affirmed, blessed and unburdened. This expression of Christ's love has attracted all ages from the tiniest tot to the most seasoned earth travellers, from the immaculately dressed taking a stroll after a family meal to the bare-footed beach dwellers.

Some have designed images to portray their love and signified their beloved with names and prayers. Most evenings we have welcomed more than 200 people, both individuals and those who come in groups of all sizes and types.

Relationships are slowly developing with regulars and others who are drawn to the shore, like the young man who sand sculpts. We're looking forward to his artistic talent being included in our work soon. Others came in 2009 and remembered us; some came back to thank God for answering their prayer.

We often hear comments about how people who are 'not religious' (their words) have experienced a spiritual encounter of peace and harmony after their time at sacred space.

I have been struck as to how the area seems to have an invisible 'dome' surrounding it. On returning from a paddle most evenings, I've often been moved by the awareness that as I approach the area all other sound and distractions seem to disappear and I walk respectfully past people on their knees or holding hands together around their chosen lantern.

We hope to be able to invite the beach community to explore faith through film or some sort of course. It will be good to see what kind of community may grow, a community drawn together through the long days of summer...

Shena Woolridge is fresh expressions evangelist for spirituality and the arts in Scarborough Deanery.

If you would like to comment on this blog entry, go to 'Comments' at this bottom of this page.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Karen Carter. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, Church Army, Fresh Expressions or any of its partners.

Soon after the call to his dedicated followers, Vallely jumps up and runs out of his house, propelling himself straight into a boardslide down the handrail next to his door. Vallely continues to career down the street, getting ready to skate some of the most famous spots in New York. We follow him in close-up as he encounters banks, blocks, curbs, rails, steps and even a graveyard.

As he meets each obstacle, Vallely throws out his usual selection of skater specialities - big ollies, fast flat ground tricks and huge bonelesses - in his unmistakable big and bold style.

Well, we may not be in New York, but encountering God can seem like going on a fast, adrenaline-pumped skate journey wherever you are - whether that's the Big Apple, or in my case north Bradford, where young people from Sorted meet three nights a week.

Sorted's journey began six years ago as I got to know young skateboarders in the area. Good skate sessions led to conversations about the good news of the Gospel and God started to work in the relationships that were forming.

Loose connections with both skaters and non-skaters then led us to form small groups that would meet to chat about life or Christianity. These in turn resulted in many young people engaging with God. The small groups later merged into three larger groups, each with a different focus.

Just as a skateboarder senses the moment for a trick as he encounters a street obstacle, so young people often sense the Spirit as they encounter God during Monday's youth congregation when they pray for each other.

After a skate session, skaters like nothing more than to sit back and chat about what just happened. Similarly at Sorted, we like to chat about God encounters - trying to make sense of what they mean in our everyday lives. We do our chatting in small groups with the help of the Bible on Tuesdays.

Skateboarders like to invite skaters from nearby towns and cities to share in huge skate sessions so that the atmosphere is heightened and the tricks flow more freely. Sorted's Friday session brings together many other young people as well as those around earlier in the week, gathering more into the life of the community and often into the life of God.

Captain Andy Milne is a Church Army evangelist.

If you would like to comment on this blog entry, go to 'Comments' at this bottom of this page.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Karen Carter. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, Church Army, Fresh Expressions or any of its partners.

I still remember with great clarity my times of worship with the Moot and St Jude's communities. It was worship in a way I had never known; so different from the formality, stuffiness and the 'clubishness' that we often call traditional church. Instead I found warm and caring communities trying to reach people in new and different ways – but then I realised that it was exactly what Jesus had done and what he continues to encourage us to do as we journey with him.

When I got back home, my head spinning with enthusiasm, I knew that I would have to make some changes in my life so that my wife Susan and I could take a new direction. We decided to sell the family business to free up our time and thankfully our daughter and son-in-law decided to take it on. 

Soon after the transfer was made, both Sue and I headed to the UK to gain more experience and meet new people including Bob Franklyn, and Steve Collins at Grace, Ealing, to discuss the exciting prospects of Fresh Expressions in Canada. On our return we got together with Nick Brotherwood, Team Leader for Fresh Expressions Canada, to discuss hosting a Vision Day in the Diocese of Niagara. Also during this time we started to build a small library relating to fresh expressions, emerging church and a variety of related topics.

Prior to our Vision Day I approached our bishop about doing a short video to help promote the event. He agreed and that was the beginning of another step in the journey – telling people's stories on screen. To date we have completed four videos outlining stories of fresh expressions of church - stories of places that have invited people to meet Jesus where they are, not where we are.

Church on Tap, Skater Church and Cameron House are now featured on a number of websites. We have also created a Canadian video of a Messy Church in our diocese and made a number of films about initiatives that - although not fresh expressions by definition - portray a variety of innovative worship styles and community partnerships that could well become fresh expressions of church over time.

Everything that we video is more or less impromptu. By that, I mean there is no script and no clear thought as to what the end result will be - only a general sense of the story we want to tell.  Strange as it may seem, I like it that way. Sue and I turn up with our equipment and start to film and interview; always hoping in the end that we get the footage we need to tell the story!  This may sound quite amateurish, and in fact it is, but that is the exciting challenge I look forward to each time we get involved in a new project.

Before all this started I wondered if I would be bored when I finally retired. Now I know that the joys of volunteering to share the Gospel story in new and different ways has become the most rewarding time of my life.

Andy Kalbfleisch is a volunteer film-maker for Fresh Expressions Canada. His YouTube channel is here. Sue Kalbfleisch is Vision Day Co-ordinator and Messy Church Regional Co-ordinator.

If you would like to comment on this blog entry, go to 'Comments' at this bottom of this page.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Karen Carter. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, Church Army, Fresh Expressions or any of its partners.