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Perhaps a couple of people have a bright idea – 'Carers and mums round here keep asking for a place to meet. Let's open a community café.'

Maybe their minister suggests they both meet with one or two others to explore the possibilities. How might they go about it?

First they would get together and discuss what they are being called to explore. 'Do we feel called simply to open a community café? Or should we be hoping that it will become a fresh expression of church?'

'Hang on!' perhaps one person exclaims. 'Aren't we jumping the gun here? Shouldn't we ask people whether a community café is what they want?'

They decide that their aim is to work with young mothers and carers to create a place to meet and to do this in a way that has the potential to become a fresh expression of church - a Jesus-shaped community that draws people into God's love.

They spend time discussing what they mean by 'fresh expressions'. 'Are we on the same page about this?' Material in the first section of the Guide might be useful, such as:

• What is a fresh expression of church?
• What Christian principles lie behind fresh expressions?
• How do fresh expressions develop?

The discussion helps them discover where each person is coming from.

Eventually, after prayer and discussion, they become clear about their task - what they as a small group are called to do. Getting together involves discovering the task God has called you to undertake.

Getting together → a shared call

This is discussed further in Getting together.

Next they might explore the possibilities. Obviously, they chat with the carers and young mums. They ask if other churches have done something similar. (You can learn a lot from the wider church.)

As possibilities emerge, they discuss them with their church leadership and with others in the congregation - 'Is this the sort of thing the church would back?' And they surround the whole process with prayer and Bible study.

They engage in '360 degrees listening':

• to the people they feel called to serve. What do they want? Listening may include consulting the head teacher, a local midwife and others who know the people well;
• to the wider church;
• to people in their own church and other Christians whose views they respect;
• to God directly in prayer and Bible study.

360 degrees listening

As they explore the possibilities, maybe some of the carers and mothers get increasingly involved. If the original thought was, 'Let's do something for mums and carers', now the conversation is about 'What are we going to do together?'

How can we work with non-churchgoers to create church? may be helpful to read.

Gradually a vision begins to emerge: 'It's going to be a community café on Monday mornings and lunchtimes. It will be held in the church hall...'

In this case, exploring has confirmed the small group's original idea. But it might not have done. '360 degrees listening' might have taken the group in a different direction.

Exploring the possibilities → a shared vision

This is discussed further in Exploring the possibilities.

A vital stage is to think ahead. By now the group may be getting excited. People are volunteering to help. They can't wait to get started.

This is the moment to say, 'Wait a bit! Let's dig firm foundations. We've got a vision, but is it really from God? Can we imagine how this community café might evolve into a fresh expression of church?'

The group might look at How do fresh expressions develop? Perhaps they draw the fresh expressions journey on a flip chart:

A fresh expressions journey

The aim is to imagine how the group's ideas might evolve into church. If the group can't see this happening, it might want to think again. Or it might say, 'We're thinking not about a fresh expression of church, but a fresh expression of mission. We'll pray that the community café is a stepping stone to church on Sunday.'

A venture that promotes kingdom values would be extremely worthwhile, even if it didn't become church. Not every form of mission has to become a church in its own right.

Using the fresh expressions journey, the group might discuss questions like:

• How are we going to build a real sense of community?

• Which of the three 'evangelistic pathways' to discipleship (discussed in How do fresh expressions develop?) should we aim for:
  1. Build in explicit spirituality from an early stage?
  2. Include an explicitly Christian element from the start?
  3. Hope to form a separate Christian explorers group later on?

• What might church eventually look like in this context?

• If the café evolves into a congregation in its own right, what sort of relationship would it have with the parent church? How would communion be celebrated? Where would baptisms be held? 

Some of these questions might prompt a discussion with the church leadership. The leadership might agree that the issues are important, but that it would be best to return to them when the emerging nature of the fresh expression is clearer.

The group's discussions don't lead to a rigid plan. Fresh expressions tend not to follow a fixed path. They often emerge in surprising ways.

The discussions could result in a set of values, however. These will be values that help to create the potential for the community café to become an expression of church. If 'vision' is about what you will do, 'values' are about how you will do it. They create the project's ethos. What ethos would draw people toward God's love?

It may be worth remembering that whatever happens, the café will have values. It will reflect the values ('What do we value?') of the people who play a leading role. These values will shape the direction in which the café evolves. They will either be implicit (no one thinks about them) or they can be encouraged deliberately.

Being deliberate will enable the group to identify values that will lead the café towards the kingdom of God and help it to become an expression of church. That is why thinking ahead is so important.

The group might ask: 'What do we want the café to look like in one year, three years and in five years' time? What values – what DNA - would we have to embed in the café so that it evolves in the way we hope?'

Perhaps the group agrees the following values (given as examples only):

• Getting to know each other – a starting point for community. This might be achieved through bring-and-share lunches, carers and mums helping with the washing up and, in due course, a support group later in the week (with each half of the group looking after the babies on alternate weeks).

• Being yourself – vital if this is to be an accepting community and if individuals are to feel safe enough to open themselves to God. Maybe the small planning group discusses what they need to do to help people be themselves.

• Being open to God every week – to help create a spiritual dynamic within the café. Perhaps the core team agrees to stay behind for prayer after the café closes, with an invitation for anyone to join them or to give them prayer requests. The hope is that as prayers are answered, interest in the prayer time will grow and others will join in.

How these values are put into practice could well change as the venture evolves, and the values may need to be revised in the light of experience. (The same applies to the vision.) But to start with, these values would be at the heart of everything the café did.

Thinking ahead → shared values

This is discussed further in Thinking ahead.

Organising support for the venture will be an obvious task. This might include:

• Prayer partners. Who from outside the group will support the venture in prayer? This is vital and easily forgotten. How will you keep in touch with them so that they know what is going on?
• Permission givers. Have you got the backing of your church leadership?

  You will want to think especially about accountability. Being accountable is part of Christian maturity. Even Jesus made himself accountable - to his Father.

  How will the emerging fresh expression be held to account? How will the church leadership also be held to account for delivering what it's promised? What would make these arrangements effective and easy to put into practice?

• People in the group. As you continue to test out your ideas, are members of the group giving you a warm response? Can you envisage volunteers for the key tasks – from bringing the candles perhaps, to leading the prayers, to doing a short talk?

• The public. What will you have to do to enjoy 'the goodwill of all the people' (Acts 2.47)? For example, how will the venture satisfy legal requirements, such as employment law, health and safety, child protection (if relevant) and third party insurance? Have you thought about charity status so that you can claim back the tax on donations?

  Have you sought the support, where appropriate, of other churches, voluntary groups and government agencies? Might this include exploring forms of active co-operation? Who will need to be kept informed as the venture develops?

Organising support → a shared venture

This is discussed further in Organising support.

The final task will be nurturing the team, which will include the key people who are helping with the project. The group planning the community café might ask questions like:

• Who's going to be involved in leading the café? How will they be recognised by the church? Might they be commissioned during one of the services?

• What training will they need?

  In practical things like health and safety, and child protection?

  If this is to become a fresh expression of church, should some of the team be going on the Fresh Expressions short course (mission shaped intro) or the part-time one year course (mission shaped ministry)?

  Would the team benefit from some training in personal evangelism?

• What additional outside support will the team require? For example:

  Should the core team have a mentor or coach to provide regular input? Or will it be the team leader who has a mentor/coach?

  Will someone in the core team join a learning network and bring lessons back to the team?

  Will someone else keep in touch with practical advice from the Guide?

Nurturing the team → shared leadership

This is discussed further in Nurturing the team.

In summary:

• Getting together → a shared call
• Exploring the possibilities → a shared vision
• Thinking ahead → shared values
• Organising support → a shared venture
• Nurturing the team → shared leadership

Sometimes these stages will flow logically from one to the next. More often, perhaps, they will overlap or be taken out of sequence. GETON is not a rigid, step-by-step framework. It is more of a checklist to avoid forgetting things and to spark ideas.

New Creations and St Micks, Yarmouth Cove, Australia provide good examples of some of the elements of GETON.

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