Visualise a painting by Pablo Picasso showing a subject viewed simultaneously from multiple perspectives.

Leaders in fresh expressions need to be 'Picassos' - able to perceive multiple perspectives on the issue at hand, and draw them together into a picture that makes sense. This doesn't mean leaders will be abandoning their own standpoint, aiming for some muddy middle ground. Leaders need to have their roots down into their own perspective, and their own spiritual tradition. They need to be secure in their own Christian roots. Yet, at the same time, they need to perceive the validity of the viewpoint of the other, who, in all probability, is a newcomer to all things Christian, or is perhaps a returner coming with baggage from previous, perhaps unhealed, church experience.

A good leader will be curious to find out how other people perceive what is going on in the fresh expression. If the leader connects with the way other people perceive and make sense of the world, communication becomes authentic, and two-way.

The psychologist Peter Suedfeld calls this capacity for perceiving multiple perspectives, and integrating them into an overarching framework, Integrative Complexity (IC for short). When people raise their level of IC, new beginnings become possible. Research shows that peaceful solutions to conflicts ensue. New understandings arise.

In the early church, theologians wrestling with the human and divine natures of Christ needed high IC to be able to make sense of their experience of the risen Jesus while maintaining their commitment to Jewish monotheism. Leaders in fresh expressions also have to be able to weave together diverse, even opposing viewpoints, but without succumbing to a lazy compromise that loses the riches of the Christian revelation. 

Our globalised situation is one of conflicting perspectives, and people are suspicious of anyone claiming a monopoly on the truth. Leaders have the very challenging task of weaving together the Christian narrative into the real life narratives of people. To do this in a way that is not prefabricated, but involves a genuine conversation, is the art of listening. Hard to do. It's easier to have all the right answers. But it's better to pose the right questions, and then provide the scaffolding and the resources for the journey.

Dr Sara Savage, Social psychologist, University of Cambridge. For more about IC, read Conflict in Relationships by Savage and Boyd-MacMillan (2010), Lion/Hudson.

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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.

 

I have been musing about sustainability in fresh expressions. Perhaps there are two levels of sustainability.

The first is when people who have no church background begin to serve the purposes of God in the same way that the 'starter group' first served them. The weakness of some fresh expressions is that the 'serving centre' reflects the culture of mainstream church, well schooled in Christian teaching and practice. So from the start we need to think about how an unchurched person can become a full part of its community life, and begin to serve others as they were once served. It is as if the process has come full circle – like a rope going around something and creating a kind of knot. It secures the day to day life of the fresh expression. If the initial team collapsed, the fresh expression would hold, at least for a time. Before this point the whole rope would simply unravel and all the initial energy would be lost. So from the beginning we need to think about how to get to that first point of sustainability.

Then I wonder if there is a second 'loop' of the rope – when the unchurched person initially served is enabled into leadership. This is like putting a double knot on the rope and securing it properly. So from early on in a fresh expression we need to be looking at people who are being drawn into faith, and asking how these people are going to share in its leadership. If the way we model leadership requires being comfortable with (even keen on) the ways of mainstream church, this fresh expression is never going to become entirely secure. It will always depend on importing leaders with the right credentials. 

Both these tests of sustainability help to focus my mind. In offering to serve others in the name of Christ, can I see how new people can start to help others in the same way they have been served, albeit relying on the grace of God as they do so? Is it too 'expert' a form of service for this to happen very soon? Does it require too much theological understanding, or pastoral expertise, or public speaking skills, or group facilitation skills, or whatever? If so, it is going to be absolutely ages before this fresh expression even achieves the basic level of sustainability. During that time it could fail.

And then, how could ordinary people enter into leadership fairly quickly? Is the leadership task massively complex? Does it require awesome organisational skills? Is it a 'burnout' model that no one in their right mind would take on? Is it deeply fulfilling to do, albeit also a lot of hard work? Is it a shared and meaningful experience, rather than a long and lonely road?

In other words, how can my new fresh expression be something that new members get involved in fairly quickly and the more able ones move into leadership fairly easily?

Does any of that make sense?

David Muir is an Ordained Pioneer Minister in the Okehampton Deanery of Exeter Diocese. With a long background in adult Christian education, he is now supporting 24 largely rural parishes to create fresh expressions of church that will resonate with the increasingly diverse population of Devon. He is also course leader of The Pioneer Disciple, an Anglican/Methodist Devon adaptation of the mission shaped ministry course (see www.exeter.anglican.org/pioneer), and he writes a regular column on how to do church in a 'pioneer' way (see www.exeter.anglican.org/pioneerprimer).

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Beth Keith.

 

I'm currently part of the leadership team in the Anglican Church of Second Life where I go by the name Helene Milena. Running church online seems to make things move even faster than in other forms of fresh expression from what I can tell, presumably because of the sheer pace of change on the internet. Online church is also something that seems to be classed as even more unusual than many other fresh expressions, although I would dispute that. From my point of view, church via a skate-park or in a surfing community seems equally unusual and way outside my experience. I'm sure it all depends on what you are used to.

I've been asked to write a paper for the DDO of Wakefield Diocese who wants to know more about the challenges and opportunities which this ministry in Second Life presents. The matter of leadership succession was one question that came to mind and I have found no information to answer my questions. It seems sensible to ask practitioners to help me out here so that I can learn from what has actually happened.

Fresh Expressions of church seem to start from the vision and enthusiasm of one person or a group of people. It takes vision and drive and persistence to start anything new. But what happens when the original leader(s) feel called to move on? Who takes on the leadership? Each group will have developed in its own particular way. Does a new leader have to have come up through that particular fresh expression in order to understand what makes it tick and so take it forward well? Is it better to have someone one new come in to bring fresh vision?

I know Dave Male moved from The NET. How did that work out? i-church also has experienced a change of leader twice in my time of being a member. It's obvious that nothing can continue with the same leadership for ever. Change happens in both traditional and new groups and is sure to bring out insecurities in the process. What are the opportunities and challenges of leadership succession in a fresh expression?

Note: If you can help Ailsa with her question, please leave a comment below.