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e-xpressions January 2010

The Wesley Playhouse - insideWelcome

Welcome to the January edition of e-xpressions and a happy new year to you. New stories on our website this month include:

January's podcast has more from Wesley's Playhouse, the surprising story of ThE DEN in Kenilworth and a selection of hopes and prayers for the new year from fresh expressions, pioneers and others - more of which can be heard in this month's podcast extra.

Graham CraySustaining a fresh expressions of Church

It is often easier to get something started than to keep it going long term. When you are still setting out chairs and tables, preparing a power point, or putting up notices, a year later; the first flush of enthusiasm and excitement can fade.

If, as I believe, we are sharing in an initiative of the Holy Spirit, we will be sustained. He will give the growth (1 Corinthians 3.6-9). But it still matters how we plant and water the gospel message.

If you are involved in leading a fresh expression of church, make sure that you maintain your own spiritual life with God. You won't be able to take people further than you have gone yourself. If your relationship with God becomes stale or routine why should anyone else be attracted by it? Don't live off a reserve tank with God because you are so busy leading a fresh expression. Adrenalin can't sustain you in the long term.

Provide 'dip in' opportunities where not yet Christians can 'try' prayer, or explore Jesus for themselves; or where de-churched friends can put their toe back into the pool. One fresh expression in Norfolk provides a café environment through the morning , with a menu of twenty minute events in the next room – (prayer stations, a guided meditation, a Bible study etc.) Allow people gradual steps to seek Christ for themselves. An Alpha, Emmaus or Start course could be provided as a next step.

Connect the content of your fresh expression to people's daily lives, perhaps having a spot, each time, where someone shares about their job or daily responsibilities, and how faith or prayer have made a difference. Research into people giving up on church shows that many people found the Sunday gathering irrelevant to what they face in the rest of the week. One of the aims of any fresh expression is the development of whole life discipleship. So connect the faith to daily life as soon as you can.

Finally, don't overstretch yourselves by being over elaborate. If you take too much time making the environment where you meet 'just perfect', you will wear yourselves out. There is such a thing as 'good enough' hospitality. Don't invest so much time in the gathering part of your fresh expression that you have no time to attend to further networking and discipleship. Rather, invest in particular individuals or families, helping them to faith and drawing them into sharing some responsibility within the community you are forming. If in doubt, invest in people.

There is further helpful material available on the Share pages Share How can we sustain our fresh expression?.

Establishing the mixed economy church, and growing a fresh expression to maturity is a long haul, not quick fix.

+Graham

Share - SustainabilityShare

How do we make our fresh expressions of church sustainable? The Share website contains a section on sustainability, called 'Share How can we sustain our fresh expression?'. It is a work in progress that will continue to be updated as more wisdom comes to light, but it currently contains two pages of tips, advice and issues to ponder.

Is there anything that you would like added to this section as you grapple with the issue? Please read and leave a comment.

Sustainability is a theme that often pops up in the weekly Share guest blog. David Muir, for instance, has written two posts about it in recent weeks. To read and comment on his thoughts, and to check out the other guest blogs in the archives, go to the Share Share Blog section.

St Peter's in the Pub, Lincoln

Revd Nick Alexander, of St Peter in Eastgate Church, Lincoln, attended a mission shaped ministry course in the city two years ago. What did msm teach him?

We had been looking at how best to serve and reach a new community in the Carlton Estate and Bunker's Hill areas of Lincoln. As a result, we organised events, carried out a community survey and started a café church service.

With the help of a consultant recommended by the msm team, our PCC matched the survey's findings with what we had to offer at St Peter in Eastgate. This led to the launch of a parent and toddler group at the estate's Lincolnshire Poacher pub, and this has proved to be very popular. We later ran an Alpha Course on the back of our first Craft Creations evening, also at the Poacher.

In October 2008, we started a new monthly church service in the pub and we now regularly welcome over 50 adults and about 15 children. We believe there is great potential for the future here and very much hope that St Peter's in the Pub will become a church community in its own right before too long.

The things that I learned through msm very definitely shaped the way that we approached things from the start.

To find out more please visit the mission shaped ministry pages.

Training, jobs and events

Fresh Expressions events in the next month include the start of msm in North and West Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, West Midlands and Colchester on 23rd January and in Walthamstow and Glasgow on 30th January.

Our next vision days are in Southampton (27th February) and Bury St Edmunds (6th March). If you'd like to see a vision day closer to you, why not consider helping to organise one - email us at vision@freshexpressions.org.uk.

If you're interested in exploring paid work and ministry in fresh expressions of church, check out our jobs page - and if you've got a job to advertise related to fresh expressions or pioneer ministry, email us at resources@freshexpressions.org.uk.

You might also be interested in Fresh expressions: the what, the why and the how, a day of exploration with Stuart Murray-Williams in York on 23rd January 2010, organised by the local Methodist District.

Finally, if you're interested in café church then the cafechurch network are offering Help, I'm running a cafechurch on 23rd January (Central London) and How to run a cafechurch on 30th January (Westcliff-on-Sea).

Changing the LandscapeChanging the landscape

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to be the keynote speaker at a national event in Lincoln which will focus on the long-term development of fresh expressions of church. Dr Williams will be joined by Dr Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church in Britain.

The Archbishop will be looking at growth to spiritual maturity as part of a day that will focus on the long term development of fresh expressions of church from theological, spirituality, strategic, accountability, support, financial and other perspectives.

The day also aims to examine the theme of local shared ecumenical support and ownership, and how this is developed through FEASTs (Fresh Expressions Area Strategy Teams). A resources area will be available. The conference will be of particular value to both fresh expressions practitioners and strategists/senior staff.

5th March 2010
11am-4pm (refreshments and registration from 10.30am)
The Epic Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA
£25 per person

You can read more information or book places.

And finally

If you've got a story to tell - however big or small - why not make it your new year's resolution to tell it to us - Submit a story on our website or email us at stories@freshexpressions.org.uk.

See you next month,

The Fresh Expressions team.