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As a fresh expression missioner, it is an amazing privilege to work alongside others as we explore fresh and vibrant ways of engaging in ministry, church and worship. Over the past three years, 13 new fresh expressions of church have been formed in the Warrington Circuit, each reaching a wide range of people, encouraging all to grow in discipleship and their awareness of God. Some of these people have previously seen the inherited church as irrelevant to them and others have been hurt by it. But the question remains: do they want to become a member of the Methodist Church? Or of any denominational church?

When I read the Great Commission, I hear the mission and purpose of the church. And that purpose is to spiritually form disciples. In other words, the church is not a club - it is a discipleship-forming community. The task of discipleship formation begins right here. We can no longer expect the culture, the schools or anyone else to do that task for us. It is the purpose of this community of church. How will we, with God's help, be effective in the process of spiritually forming disciples?

I do not think that the question can be answered in the length of a short blog. Nor am I suggesting a 'home or away' season ticket, a reward scheme for regular attendance (though that has a certain appeal) or a loyalty card for regular giving - give five weeks and have the sixth free - but perhaps a discussion about the relationship between membership and discipleship needs to take place.

I am not, of course, saying membership is not important and critical in encouraging full participation, stewardship and involvement within our local church communities. But I'm asking: how do we encourage attendees of fresh expressions to be involved in the decision-making processes of the church that affects them? And how do we encourage them to take ownership when, as things stand, they firstly need to become members? Let's start the conversation; it is an exciting place to be...

Rev Jackie Bellfield is a Methodist minister in the Warrington Circuit at Latchford and Bold Street Methodist Churches.

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.

Here at Cranmer Hall in Durham I have been given responsibility for designing and delivering a training pathway for Ordained Pioneer Ministry. This task has inevitably led to many discussions with pioneers, bishops, and DDOs about how pioneers relate to the institutions that are creating space for them.

As with any new venture, there are bound to be all sorts of complex teething (and ongoing) issues – especially since the rationale for Ordained Pioneer Ministry has involved the church recognising the need to ordain and utilise the gifts of those who may see the relationship between culture and church in fresh and potentially challenging ways.

Many pioneers have an entrepreneurial flare that is being harnessed for the sake of the gospel and used to gather and nurture new communities of faith. But if the whole church is going to grasp the mixed economy vision, Ordained Pioneer Ministers must be ambassadors who are present at the centre of the church, as well as entrepreneurs operating at the edges.

In order to be ambassadors for a ministry with a particular focus on creativity and fresh thinking, the lives of Ordained Pioneers must also be marked by highly visible levels of maturity and humility. If the concept and practice of Ordained Pioneer Ministry is to gain widespread and genuinely heartfelt support, then those engaged in such a ministry must demonstrate a genuine willingness to listen and learn as well to speak and teach. Innovations will be owned and shared within a wider church that feels it is in conversation with pioneer ministers.

There is no doubt that new times call for new ways of being church. The new country stands before us, but the whole church must make the journey into it. For those whose understanding of the times gives them a sense that perhaps they can see a little further ahead, there is always the temptation to rush on alone or with a few others in tow.

But what seems to be required at this point is patient endurance that is held in tension with prophetic creativity. If pioneers catch glimpses of the new country, then they must speak of it wisely. People can only hear so much in one go. Pioneers must tread gently but firmly and they must keep moving forward at a pace that honours the whole church.

Rev Michael Volland, Director of Mission and Pioneer Ministry at Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham.

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.

We don't meet for church on Sundays, but instead I manage the weekly Farmers' Market in Walthamstow High Street, at which the church runs a community stall, and therefore, are, in the real sense, a church without walls. We get together for reflection, prayer, Bible study and worship on Wednesday nights; our sense of liturgy and teaching is very conversationalist and hardly ever didactic; we share Holy Communion together each Wednesday night; and we eat together on a monthly basis.

An old friend of mine, John Smith of Christian mission and youth outreach association Concern Australia, uses the image of a tree to give some shape to thinking about how trad/inherited church and fresh expressions are part of the same organism. The growth in a tree happens right at the edge – the bark layer. You can kill a tree by ring-barking it; ie, cutting a ring of bark about a foot wide right around the tree and removing it, as the sap that is the lifeblood of the tree runs through the bark.

Now, while the bark is where the growth is, it can't exist without the wood of the tree that has formed the trunk throughout the whole life of the tree. The bark and the wood need each other to become a living tree. We, as a fresh expression of church, need the structure of the traditional church/CofE to support us while we grow some new wood at the edge of the tree. But if we are cut off from the tree, the tree might stand for a while longer but the life will be gone – you can see where the metaphor goes.

At St Luke's, we do participate in the life of the wider church by attending the Bishop's Council, Diocesan Synod, Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee, Deanery Synod, and Clergy Chapter, as well as being an integral part of the Parish of Walthamstow Team. The traditional structures have been positively instrumental and supportive of what we're trying to do, and have not tried to subsume us. In effect, we have been blessed by those structures.

It's a complicated business that we're involved in, and has all manner of implications including long-term sustainability issues. Let's hope we don't lose sight of the wood for the trees.

Revd Tony Cant, Team Vicar and Leader of St Luke's-in-the-High Street, Walthamstow. St Luke's blog and website.

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.

Below is a re-wording of the main findings, using 'church language' to see if it helps our exploration of inherited church and fresh expressions.

The five stages of decline that proceed in sequence

Stage 1: Churches become insular

Church members believe their church is 'entitled' to exist, losing sight of the true factors that originally established it.

When people are saying 'We're established because we do these specific things' instead of the insightful 'We're established because we understand why we do these things and under what conditions they would no longer work', decline will very likely follow.

Stage 2: Undisciplined growth

When a church grows beyond its ability to fill key leadership roles with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall.

Stage 3: Denial of risk and peril

Internal warning signs mount, yet membership and attendance remain strong enough to 'explain away' disturbing data or to suggest that the difficulties are 'temporary' or 'cyclic'.

Church leaders start to blame external factors such as culture rather than accept responsibility.

The vigorous, fact-based dialogue that characterises healthy churches disappears altogether.

Stage 4: Solution grasping

Church leaders respond by grasping for quick solutions - eg, introducing a new charismatic visionary leader, instigating a dramatic cultural revolution, or merging established churches.

Initial results may appear positive, but the results do not last.

Stage 5: Irrelevance or closure

Repeatedly grasping for quick solutions erodes financial strength and individual spirit to such an extent that all hope of building a great future is abandoned.

In some cases, the church leaders just sell out; in other cases the church atrophies into insignificance; and in the most extreme cases, the church simply closes.

Specific findings relevant to fresh expressions of church

It's not as simple as 'they failed because they didn't change'. Churches that change constantly but without any consistent rationale also collapse. There's nothing wrong with keeping specific practices, but only if you understand the 'why' behind those practices, and thereby see when to keep them and when to change them.

To disrespect the potential remaining in the inherited church - or worse, to neglect it while focusing on fresh expressions in the belief that the inherited church will continue almost automatically - leads to decline. Even if you face the impending demise of the inherited church, that's still no excuse to let it just run on autopilot. Exit definitively or renew obsessively, but do not ever neglect it.

Hope

With a map of decline in hand, churches heading downhill might be able to reverse course.

The signature of the truly great is not the absence of difficulty, but the ability to come back stronger than before from even cataclysmic catastrophes.

Will Sudworth, volunteer leader, Café Sundae, Altrincham.

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.

The Wesley Playhouse may look nothing like a traditional church - with its children's soft play area, climbing frames, ball pool and café in the middle of it - but those who come along to our Playhouse Praise once a month see this place as their church, and so it is.

A fresh expression of church should be one that understands a generation and culture that's very different to what we may know and recognise. The young families I come across don't know what to sing and they don't understand our words. Why should they?

On Mother's Day we're laying on a four-course meal for mums and their families. It's a chance for people to relax while we wait on them. It should always be about service.

We have already had several christenings here, but we have just taken bookings for two more.The families had initially asked at other local churches but had been told that it couldn't happen because the godparents hadn't been baptised. They were being pushed to get to a place where they didn't want to go.

I'm not saying that we're the cheap and cheerful option; I'm saying that we welcome people even if they don't call the ceremony a christening because they don't know the 'right' word. It is completely alien to them. Ours is a consecrated church building so we're happy to arrange christenings, explain what it's all about in their terminology, and develop relationship with them.

Why in traditional church do we ask people to make promises that we know are not going to be kept? Yes, I'm aware that people will have been through some sort of baptism course and are meant to appreciate the seriousness of what they're saying, but we have to get real – that is not what happens in many cases at all.

The church will feel that it has done what it is meant to do by making them go through the hoops; in turn the people will promise to turn to Christ and renounce evil, etc. The uncomfortable fact is that these lies are told in front of God in church and that's an accepted part of Christendom, but, more often than not, the words mean absolutely nothing. That's not because the people don't want the very best for their child, and they certainly wouldn't want to lie to God, but they can't really relate those words to everyday life.

In the past I've asked children in schools, 'What happens in church?' Their answer was, 'You go there to die', because they associated church with funerals. Now a lot of people go straight to the crematorium without having a church service, so the church is not even where you 'go to die' any more.

We've got to change our ways, care for the people, fund risky initiatives like ours, and give thanks for the chance to do it.

Caroline Holt, The Wesley Playhouse Outreach Manager, Howden Clough Methodist Church. There is more about The Wesley Playhouse on the following page on Share, and its own website is here.

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.