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.

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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.

Fifteen minutes later a stillness has settled on the room and they sit engrossed, touching a plasma ball as they think about how they might connect with God, writing the names of significant people in their lives on leaves and adding them to a tree, playing with Mr Potato Head as they think about the labels that they use for other people.

This is Breathe, an installation that enables pupils to explore some of life's big questions. Its ingredients will be over familiar to anyone involved in alternative worship – iPods with words and music to listen to, stations with a focus that encourage questions and wondering, creative activities with an element of surprise that unlock their spirituality.

The difference, perhaps, is that this is not worship and it's taking place in a school, far from any church. And it's happening with young people who just don't normally do still and quiet. One teacher booked Breathe without knowing much about it and when it was set up hurriedly sent for the deputy head to come and help supervise. She expected her class to throw wooden bricks at each other instead of using them to measure out their carbon footprint; she imagined them starting a riot instead of engaging in spiritual reflection. We were all quietly amazed as they passed our expectations.

One boy who had been in trouble with the police and who was on the brink of exclusion wrote movingly afterwards about his mum's experience of faith and how perhaps there was something in it. Another time, at a conference for diocesan officers, we kept Breathe open late so a couple of staff members who worked in the venue and were intrigued by what they had seen could have a go. One wrote: 'Really very inspirational. Didn't ever really take time to think about things and in this relaxing environment really gives you the chance to.'

Resources like Breathe create a space – for questioning, reflection, wondering – and a sense of place – that this is what you do here. (Words coined by Bob Mayo in his work on the spirituality of young people.) It makes the most of the curriculum requirement to learn about and from religion, the potential for a thin place in the otherwise noisy school day; if young people have to do that, why not give them the best of what we have discovered that feeds our souls? The challenge for those of us who maybe take for granted the riches of creative spirituality is how we can create more opportunities like these for those outside the church to participate in.

Each month in Grace we invest time and energy in creating a space for people to encounter God. We've often asked ourselves how we can also do that in other contexts for people who will never come into our building. I'm not sure we've come up with many answers, but we've been inspired by groups like Beyond in Brighton and their beach hut advent calendar. Again, they have used the thin place that Christmas provides and invited people to consider what it's all about.

These stories remind us that God has set eternity in the hearts of people and perhaps all they need is a little nudge and a bit of space to connect with their creator.

Jenny Baker is a writer and a co-founder of the Sophia Network for women in youth work. She is a member of Grace, an alternative worship community in Ealing. She is the author of Heart, Soul, Strength, Mind (Monarch). More details about Breathe here.