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Several people when I was writing the book Mission Shaped Evangelism asked why I had chosen that title. I was well aware of a growing tendency to label everything as 'mission-shaped' and certainly didn't want to add to that trend. However, I did want to expressly link the book to the Mission-shaped Church report. This had highlighted the need to learn from foreign mission practice in creating fresh expressions of church and I felt we needed to do the same in our evangelism. This had not been the case for over 1,000 years of Christendom in which we could take for granted that those we communicated faith amongst shared a Christian background. By the end of the 20th century this was only the case for a minority of people. In the new situation traditional evangelism was increasingly like tourists who can't speak the language and so speak louder and slower in the hope of being understood.

The suburb of Rowley, in Christchurch, New Zealand, has always had its challenges, but that did not stop us taking our bus ministry there three years ago. In fact, it was because of the challenges that we went. Since then we have found that families who are struggling - whether financially or in other ways - seem to be much more open and responsive to us and our message.

Well, we may not be in New York, but encountering God can seem like going on a fast, adrenalin-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.

As an oldie I have increasingly been wowed by young people. I have often been annoyed with you media people for really not being fair. You write banner headline stories about young people who go wrong. You hardly ever write stories about the many, many young people who do fantastic things. I just say, what is amazing is not that some young people go off the rails, make wrong decisions; what is so amazing is that not more of them in fact do that.

I was struck by the roles played across the whole Threshold history by doctors. Since Paul White's books in the Jungle Doctor series, we have been used to the pivotal role of the overseas medical missionary. Up till now, I have also imagined that St Paul made tents because he needed to eat. I now wonder if I have misunderstood all this. Could it be that Paul made tents because it put him in the market place? He met people in a neutral space but also produced something of value to them.

One cannot deny that most of our congregations are largely made up of older people - that is, people over the age of 55. It is also true that large amounts of resources are invested in maintaining the status quo - time, money and dedicated pastoral care by professional ministers and lay people. The fact that our congregations are mostly made up of older people is often perceived by church leaders and mission strategists as a problem rather than a challenge.

Here are some reflections on my time based at Yorkshire ArtSpace in Sheffield. This was a half-time post supported by Sheffield diocese, which ran from January 2006 to March 2009. The aim of the post was to be a Christian presence and witness for the gospel as a fellow artist amongst the 67 creative people in this purpose-built studio collective. Here are just three of the headings from my reflections, with principles learned. I share them as they may be helpful to you.

Institutional ageism, whether we like it or not, exists within the church. For instance, look at the disproportionate resources that are poured into ministry and mission for the younger generation compared with the older. Within the climate of pioneering ministries and fresh expressions of church, how often is attention focused towards older people and their interests? In this sense, older people can be described as a mission blind spot.

At a time of life when parents are exhausted, I'm not surprised people are looking ways in which children can explore spirituality at their level, while providing a short, safe, guilt-free environment for parents where little ones aren't demanding to take dolly and pushchair up to the rail for communion, or running helter-skelter round a hall during a 30-minute preach in a 'supposed' all-age worship service.

Another issue of ecclesial identity is provoked because the lay-led church is unhelpfully dependent on outside provision of clergy to give them communion. At worst, this is a return to Mass Priests. At best, it is a ceaseless reminder that such a congregation is in permanent dependency on those outside its life and is thereby somehow second class.