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I am happy to say that, just days before Advent is over, Section 2 is now uploaded, all 30 pages of it. But that doesn't mean that preparation and looking ahead is now over. An important part of Section 2 looks at Thinking ahead, something it is always good to do. Yes, it is a major achievement to start a fresh expression, but have you thought ahead to where it might be going? Do you have a plan, with values, actions and goals? As Mike Moynagh writes:

'Why not pause and ask yourselves, "What do we hope this venture will look like in six months, a year, two years or five years' time, or perhaps longer?" "What are our hopes and dreams for this vision as it unfolds?" Dreaming dreams for your vision could be one of the most exciting parts of preparing for a fresh expression.'

Click here for more on Thinking ahead, and please leave comments on this and related pages if you agree or disagree with anything, or want to tell others your own experience of looking forward for your fresh expression.

My own thinking ahead involves developing learning networks on Share (more on this in the New Year). If you want to read my current thoughts, as well as further short articles by my colleagues in The Sheffield Centre, have a look at the very first issue of The Sheffield Centre's twice-yearly Research Bulletin.

If it is still Advent when you are reading this, I hope you have a very happy and blessed Christmas. If Christmas is over, and the leftover turkey has long disappeared, may your thinking ahead to 2008 bring you all that you wish and hope for.

Andrew Wooding

It's a vital question, whether you are aiming to grow an existing church or develop a fresh expression. Before you can create or develop something you have to have some idea what it is. Imagine building a car without realising that it needs an engine, trying to put up a house without foundations or baking bread without yeast. All of us in some way are involved in building the church as part of our discipleship. Yet many Christians would be more familiar with the essential elements in a victoria sponge than they are with the really essential elements in a church. 

You will need to make sure everyone has a copy of the list in the box below and a pen. Ask the group to break into pairs and go through the different attributes. If you have plenty of time, invite people to:

1. Circle the elements which you would you say are essential to form a church
2. Underline the elements which are desirable and helpful
3. Delete the elements which are unhelpful
4. Leave unmarked the elements which are neutral or depend on context
5. Feel free to add other essential elements

When you have been through the lists, compare your answers.

If you are short of time then just concentrate on the first task: see if you can reach a short list you can agree on in terms of the essential elements in forming a church.

As I've played this game with different groups over the last six months, I have come to believe that just three elements are part of the essence of what it means to be the church. They come up in every set of responses. My answers are in the box at the bottom of the page. Resist the temptation to read them until you've at least had a go at the game yourself. I may be wrong! I also believe that three other elements are essential to maintain and build a healthy community. Everything else is either desirable, merely convenient or helpful or not according to context.

You may or may not agree with my answers (and please let me know). However, what often emerges from the exercise is surprising agreement about these elements and a realisation that it is often the non-essential elements which take up so much time and energy.

The second part of the game is to begin to explore more deeply how we decide what is right and wrong about the life of the church. A good way to begin is to invite people to suggest their own key verses for thinking about the life of the Christian community. Where do they go in Scripture and in the Christian tradition for thinking about what it means to be the people of God?

There is no right answer here. In fact, the more places we look, the more our understanding grows. The more we look, the more we discover that our understanding of the church can't be contained by just one proof text or just one summary of Christian teaching (such as the marks of the church in the creed). But here, to finish, is one key passage which I continue to find helpful.

In Mark 3.14 we read of Jesus' call of the twelve disciples. This is a passage which speaks hints of new Israel: it is deliberately about the forming of a new community. Mark has distilled the essential elements of what it means to be the community of disciples – the beginnings of the church. What are the essential elements?

'And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out...'

The essence of being church according to Mark is people being called by Jesus to live in the rhythm of being with Christ and being sent. If you read on in the verse you discover what we are sent to do: to proclaim the good news and to overcome evil in the world.

This is the kind of community we are called to become and to build.

My own answers to the game:

Three essential elements in being the church: people, the risen Christ and mission to God's world.

Three essential elements to sustain the church: the Scriptures; the sacraments and connection and oversight.

Are fresh expressions proper church?

It's lovely to read remarks like this. Don't stop – keep them coming. All these warm wishes are good for the soul!

But as I've said to a number of people, if all we've produced is a nice-looking website with a few pretty pictures, then we've failed. The purpose of Share is to connect people so that they can share with each other – lessons learned, and mistakes made – both highs and lows in their work for God.

With this in mind, I have created two new pages – which you should see on the right-hand side of your screen: COMMENT – Things that went well and COMMENT – Things to learn from.

It would be great if you could use these pages to share one or two lessons from your experience. Just click the yellow 'Comment' link on the page, and type your gems of wisdom – even if it's just one sentence. Remember - that nugget of knowledge you take for granted might be exactly what someone needs to read right now.

Check these pages regularly – someone might have replied to your comment, or left useful comments of their own.

And if you enjoyed leaving a comment, please let us know what you think of the rest of the site. Each page has a 'Comment' link near the bottom. We want to know what we've got right, what we've got wrong, what we've missed out, or anything else you want to share with other Share readers.

Keep those comments coming!

In January 2006, a church in north London created a Sunday morning schedule which allows people to stay for as long or as short a time as they like. Services start at eight o'clock in the morning and conclude at one o'clock, in half-hour blocks. While some people stay for five minutes, others stay for the whole five hours, experiencing the differing approaches to worship throughout the morning. These half-hour blocks have also been designed with discipleship in mind, as well as building a sense of community.

Sunday begins with a more formal style of worship and moves to a more contemporary style, with time in between for conversation and prayer. Eating together is central to each section, following the practice of the early church where eating together was commonplace.

A sceptic might ask: 'Surely three services on a Sunday morning provides enough challenge and diversity; why change it to ten half-hour sessions?'

Vicar, Rob Harrison, answers: 'The Come & Go programme is designed so that you will get a fairly well-balanced spiritual diet if you stay for about one and a half hours. On one level it gives the previously separate congregations more of a sense of belonging to one another. The overlapping of worshippers among the different sections adds to this sense of continuity.'

Explaining why he chose to focus on Come & Go for the latest Encounters on the Edge, George Lings comments that 'it is a good example of spotting changes in background culture and shaping church around the needs of those who find its patterns don't fit. Deeper than that, what happens when existing churches are serious about discipleship, creating community and enabling lay ministry to the point that clergy cannot provide all that is needed?

'Come & Go is far more than a search for relevance and is turning this church inside out. We wanted to find out how it worked.'

Encounters on the Edge 35, Changing Sunday ('Come and go': beyond attractional church), is now available and is priced £4.00. To order copies, contact the Sheffield Centre on 0114 272 7451, or email ask@sheffieldcentre.org.uk