A call to be involved with fresh expressions may
come through:
- Your interests and passions;
- Circumstances;
- Experiencing a tension between reality and the ideal;
- Scripture, prayer, a dream or vision;
- Other people.
How might a
call to fresh expressions come? (including two examples)...
There are lots of ways in which
someone might be a gift to fresh expressions
– for example,
by:
- Becoming a pioneer;
- Joining a church planting team;
- Networking;
- Enabling a fresh expression by giving permission, mobilising
support or providing training or mentoring;
- Supporting a fresh expression through prayer, financial giving and
encouragement;
- Leading a fresh expression to the next phase, once a pioneer has
finished his or her job;
- Researching fresh expressions.
How might you
be a gift to fresh expressions?
What qualities might be required
in someone leading a fresh expression? The Church of
England believes that individuals who are ordained to pioneer ministry
should display the following qualities (taken from
Ordained Pioneer Minister Guidelines, appendix 1).
Vision for planting
fresh expressions of church within contemporary culture- An authentic, integrated understanding of the particular ministry
envisaged
- Capacity to innovate and initiate
- Mature and well developed devotional life
- Well developed abilities to initiate change and enable others to
face it in a flexible, balanced and creative way
- Demonstrable maturity and robustness to face the demands of
pioneering mission and ministry
- Self-motivation
- Well-developed understanding of the interaction between gospel and
culture
- Clear vision of the place of their envisaged ministry within the
wider church's response to God's mission to the world
- The ability and desire to work in a team and collaboratively
- Commitment to reshaping the church for mission
These might be helpful criteria to use in testing the call of anyone
seeking to pioneer a fresh expression, whether a couple of people doing
so among their friends or someone being appointed to a full-time
post.
We would emphasise the important quality of being able to develop a
form of church that fits the specific context.
Helpful questions for someone to
ask as they prayerfully discern God's call might
include:
Do you have a passion
or interest you could share?- Are you fully committed to the principles behind fresh
expressions?
- Do you want to work with your friends or people in a different
cultural context?
- Can you see any opportunities for a fresh expression?
- From whom might you seek advice?
- Might you take time out for extended prayer and reflection?
How might
you discern God's call?
Someone might grow in
preparation to (help) lead a fresh expression by:
- Surfing Share and clicking on some of the links - to explore what
fresh expressions involve.
- Visiting a couple of fresh expressions – better still, joining
one!
- Paying careful attention to his or her spiritual and personal
growth.
Comment: all good advice. i can think of
many stories connected to these. I think it's valuable to support
someone else's fresh expression before launching out to do your own.
God seems to honour that self-giving service and you can learn a lot of
things that can be applied. When it's your turn, its important to be
open to the fact that God might lead this new expression [or what comes
after it] in a very different direction or give it a very different
shape than what the leader (you) predicted. Sometimes unlearning what
we think church should be is the door to allowing God to add the
'fresh' to the new expression of church. Andrew Jones
(tallskinnykiwi)
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