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Fresh expressions are made for networks - perhaps friends, work colleagues or people with whom you share an interest.

Neil Cole, executive director of Church Multiplication Associates in the United States, has described how friendships have helped to start more than 800 small churches in less than six years.

Converts are not invited to 'my church'. Rather, converts chat about their changed lives, friends get interested, they invite them to their homes and a new church is born. (Neil Cole, Organic Church. Growing faith where life happens, Jossey-Bass, 2005, pp. 186-192.)

Some Christians in Britain are experimenting with church in the workplace (in the police force, for example), though most of these groups remain fragile.

Say you wanted to start a fresh expression among your friends, or at work or among a network of contacts. The aim would be to create a Jesus-centred community that would draw people into the heart of God's love. How might you start?

First you would get together with someone else, preferably another Christian, and test your ideas.

This may seem obvious. But one person tentatively tried a fresh expression in the workplace, planning it on his own. His networks proved too small to produce a group that would be viable in the long term. Leading the group on his own for a long period felt quite daunting. A wider range of gifts and insights might have been helpful, too.

God believes strongly in teams - 'It is not good that the man should be alone' (Genesis 2.18). So getting together with at least one other person is important.

'Getting together' may involve clarifying what you want to explore. Is the aim:

• to meet with other Christians for mutual support?

• to introduce people to Christianity in the hope that they would join a local church?

• to start a new expression of church among friends, colleagues or acquaintances who don't currently attend church? In a work context, would this be among colleagues or clients (such as patients in a GP practice)?

It may help to use some of the material in the first section of the Guide, such as:

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

Knowing each other better is an important part of 'getting together'. Discussing this material might help with that. It might enable the two or three of you to discover whether you really do have a fresh expression of church in mind. Would anything make it hard for you to work as a team?

Eventually, after prayer and discussion, what you are called to explore should become clear. 'We feel that God is calling us to explore whether a fresh expression might be possible among our friends and contacts, and if so to think through how we might start one.'

Getting together → a shared call

This is discussed further in Getting together.

Next you might explore the possibilities. You and the others who have joined you will obviously chat with your friends or work colleagues, for example. You might see if someone else has done something similar - no need to reinvent the wheel. You'll try out your ideas on Christians you respect (who might support you in prayer). You'll spend time in prayer and Bible study.

You will engage in '360 degrees listening':

• to the people you feel called to serve. What do they want? What's likely to work for them? What language would they find helpful? (For instance, might you talk about 'forming a group that would go on a spiritual journey together'?)

  In a work context, are there ethical boundaries that would govern what you can do and how you go about it? What are the constraints (such as people's expectations) in other contexts?

• to the wider church. Might you visit a group doing something similar to spark your imagination?

• to Christians you know and whose views you respect.

• to God directly in prayer and Bible study.

360 degrees listening

Identifying whom you are called to serve is particularly important. It helps if the people have something in common - whether age, a shared interest or a similar culture. Some fresh expressions are unfruitful because the people they seek to reach are so varied that creating community becomes almost impossible.

As you explore the possibilities, one or two of your friends or contacts may become quite enthusiastic about your ideas. Might you increasingly involve them in your discussions? You might want to read How can we work with non-churchgoers to create church?

Sharing the leadership at an early stage, even with non-churchgoers, will help to avoid the group becoming spiritually dependent on you and can be the first step towards passing on the leadership in future. Jesus entrusted his disciples with the church even though some doubted him (Matthew 28.16-20).

Hopefully, a vision will gradually emerge: 'Every fortnight we're going to take this room in the pub. We're going to eat, drink and have fun together. To start our spiritual journey, we'll spend part of the evening looking at some of the stories Jesus told. (He is universally respected as a great spiritual teacher.) We'll discuss whether we agree with what he said.'

'Exploring the possibilities' can be done very simply and need not take a huge amount of time. But it is important to do it thoroughly to avoid starting off on the wrong foot. Be ready to respond to what you hear. '360 degrees listening' could take you in a very different direction to what you imagined. God is full of surprises.

Exploring the possibilities → a shared vision

This is discussed further in Exploring the possibilities.

A vital task will be to think ahead.  Doing so will enable you to check that the emerging vision really is from God and to lay in some firm foundations. Central to 'Thinking ahead' is to imagine how the venture might evolve into an expression of church.

You might look at How do fresh expressions develop? and then perhaps draw the fresh expressions journey.

The fresh expressions journey

This diagram is described more fully in The fresh expressions journey - a fuller version.

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

• How might you build community in your context? For example, in a workplace where networks are fragmented and people travel a lot, you may have to think in terms of tiny or fluid communities.

  A couple of people might meet during Wednesday lunch and three people early Monday morning. All five might get together once every six weeks.

  Or a larger group might agree to gather at the same place, same time every week. Those who could come would be there. Others might get a 'news flash' about the meeting by email. Members of the group might use a bulletin board to exchange prayer requests and news. 

• Which of the three 'evangelistic pathways' to discipleship (discussed in How do fresh expressions develop?) are you aiming for:

  Build in explicit spirituality from an early stage?

  Build in an explicitly Christian element from an early stage?

  Hope to form a separate Christian explorers group later on?

• Should you combine more than one 'evangelistic pathway'?
• As individuals begin to open their hearts to God, how would you support them in the next steps of their journey? How would you help them become disciples of Jesus?

• What might 'church' eventually look like in your workplace or among your friends and contacts? Would it be a form of cell church? What would it do and when might it meet? Would it celebrate communion and do baptisms?

• How would it be connected to the wider church - by joining an online Christian community, for example, or attending a celebration organised by local churches, or going to a festival such as Greenbelt, Keswick, New Wine or the Walsingham Pilgrimage?

The aim is to imagine how your ideas could become church. You don't need answers to all these questions! But discussing them might help you to imagine how the venture could evolve into church.

If you can't see this evolution happening - for example, you can't imagine moving from your first steps into discipleship, let alone 'church' - it might be wise to pause and take stock. Is there anyone you can turn to for advice?

Or do you want to think again? Might you conclude, 'We're aiming not for a fresh expression of church, but a fresh expression of mission. We don't envisage church springing up. Rather, we're planning a few stepping stones that will encourage people into faith and to start attending church somewhere else'?

Not every form of mission has to become a church in its own right.

'Thinking ahead' is unlikely to produce 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 initiative to become an expression of church. If 'vision' is about what you are going to do, 'values' describe how you intend to do it. They create the ethos of the venture. What ethos will draw people into God's love?

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

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

You might ask: 'What do we prayerfully hope will have happened in one year, three years and in perhaps five years' time? What values would we have to embrace so that our vision develops in the way we hope?'

Perhaps you agree the following values (given as examples only):

• 'Unconditional love will be our priority. We'll continue to love people whether or not they journey towards God. We'll respect individuals' right to disagree.'

• 'Patience will be highly valued. We'll let the Holy Spirit determine the pace of the journey. No one will be pushed to travel faster towards God than they can manage.'

• 'Simplicity will be our watchword. Our planning, meetings, our talk about Jesus, everything will be kept as simple as possible. In our busy and complicated world, simplicity will make it easier for individuals to stay involved.'

• 'We'll share leadership as quickly as possible. In doing this, we shall follow the examples of Jesus and St Paul.' (See God grows church through reproduction.) Giving emerging disciples responsibility will encourage them to grow in the faith.

  'We shall invite new believers to decide what form the emerging church should take, as they are led by the Spirit and guided by Scripture.'

  'We shall continue to have a coaching or mentoring role, or ask other Christians to perform that task.'

• 'We'll value strong links with the wider church. We'll do this because all believers are baptised into the one body of Christ, but also because being connected to the wider church is important for discipleship.' (See God values unity across diversity.)

How values are put into practice could change in the light of experience, and in time the values themselves may need to be revised. (The same applies to the vision.) But come what may, your agreed values will be central to your fresh expression as it develops among your friends, colleagues or contacts.

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 are essential and can be easily overlooked. Who will support you in prayer and how will you keep in touch with them?

• Permission givers. Do you need permission from anyone? Who do you have to ask to use the premises, for example? If you are planning a fresh expression in the workplace, will it be appropriate for you to meet on site?

• People you are called to serve. As you continue to test your ideas on people who might be interested, are you getting a warm response? Who might volunteer to help – from booking the room, to bringing the coffee, to leading the discussion?

  Will it be appropriate to publicise what you are doing? How might you go about it? How will you describe yourselves? The words and images you use will shape other people's perception of you. How can you get this right?

• The 'public'. How might you enjoy 'the goodwill of all the people' (Acts 2.47)? In a workplace context, for example, are there ethical boundaries you must avoid crossing? If you plan to meet with friends in a room in a pub, what will you have to do to earn the respect of the regulars?

Organising support → a shared venture

This is discussed further in Organising support.

The final task will be nurturing the small team that leads the venture. This may include the one or two people who have been thinking, planning and praying with you, plus anyone else who offers to provide substantial practical help. You might ask questions like:

• Who's going to be involved in leading the spiritual life of the group? Do they need a spiritual mentor or some other form of support?

• What outside support will the team need? For example:

  If this is to become a fresh expression of church, should one or two of you attend 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?

  Should the team have a coach or a wise friend whom it could consult from time to time?

  Should the team have a coach or a wise friend whom it could consult from time to time?

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

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

• Who will the team be accountable to?  If the venture is not connected to a local church, this could be an especially important question. Leaders should always be accountable - even Jesus made himself accountable to his Father. Whether or not you think of yourselves as leaders, you will be exercising a leadership role in relation to the group you hope will form.

  Is there a wise Christian with whom periodically you could discuss what you are doing, and who might warn or advise you if necessary? Might this person double up as a coach or mentor?

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.

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