Fresh Expressions1 Pioneer Ministry +Graham Cray.

Fresh Expressions 1

Pioneer Ministry

+Graham Cray

new context - new gift mix

• The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry … Eph. 4:11-12

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New leaders

• 40% of those involved in leading fresh expressions of church in the Church of England and Methodist Church are lay people who have not offered for leadership before.

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critical factors

• new imagination about the church• new climate of permission• new resources• ordinary Christians catching the

vision:“you don’t have to be a vicar, you

don’t have to be a ministerCaroline Holt, The Wesley Playhouse

Edinburgh

St George’s Deal

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8 ‘til late

Stepping Stones

Greenerway

CoNnect

Trans4m

GreenerwayBridging the

Gap

“NO LIMITS”

Lighthouse

8 til late8 til late

Emerge

Centrepoint

BalconyNelson

Alan Roxburgh & Scott Doren

• ‘Our rock-bottom conviction is that the Spirit of God is among the people of God. ….

• The Spirit is actually at work in our ordinary common lives.

• This means that God’s future – putting into action God’s dreams for the whole world – is among God’s people.

Alan Roxburgh & Scott Doren

• Very practically , a missional church is formed by the Spirit at work in the ordinary people of a local context.

• A practical implication is that this imagination changes the focus of leadership.

• Rather than having plans, programs, strategies and goal, they ask how they can call forth what the Spirit is doing among the people.’

LEADERSHIP

• ‘Leadership is about cultivating an environment that innovates and releases the missional imagination present in a community of God’s people.’

THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT

• ‘An environment in which the Spirit given presence of God’s future may emerge among the people of God.’ Al Roxburgh

What are we looking for?

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Capacities to develop

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• Selection criteria for Ordained Pioneer Ministry in the Church of England

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• Candidates should have a realistic and informed vocation to plant fresh expressions of church within contemporary culture

• Evidence for this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Show how they have responded to God’s call to be pioneering

• Understand contemporary cultures and the practice of planting fresh expressions of church within them

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• Develop a vision for fresh expressions of church in a local context

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• Candidates should have a clear vision of the place of their envisaged ministry within the wider church's response to God's mission to the world

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Understand the relationship between the Church and the kingdom of God

• Understand and be committed to the Church of England as a ‘mixed economy’ church

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• Be committed to the reshaping of the Church for mission

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• Candidates should have an authentic and integrated understanding of the particular ministry envisaged

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Understand contextually appropriate ministry

• Shape contextually-appropriate church

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• Candidates should have a mature and well developed devotional life

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Demonstrate an established discipline of personal prayer and study which can sustain an isolated ministry

• Demonstrate a commitment to and an enthusiasm for Christian fellowship and corporate worship

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• Develop the art of discernment

• Have the patience to wait for God’s timing

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• Candidates should have demonstrable maturity and robustness to face the demands of pioneering mission and ministry

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Lay aside personal preference for the sake of the community being served 26

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• Cope effectively with ambiguity and disorientation.

• Cope effectively with change and stress

• Avoid personal overload.• Have a consistency of character in

varied circumstances

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• Live sacrificially and endure hardship

• Persevere for the long-term rather than take short cuts for quick results 28

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• Candidates should have demonstrable self-motivation

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Be a self-starter with a willingness to build from nothing

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• Take risks• Negotiate

disappointment

• Learn from mistakes

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• Candidates have the potential to develop healthy professional and pastoral relationships

• Evidence for this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Form, develop and maintain healthy professional and pastoral relationships

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• Exercise hospitality

• Listen to others

• Form community

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• Maintain boundaries and confidentiality

• Manage conflict assertively, constructively and tactfully

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• Candidates should have a demonstrable track record of innovation and initiative

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Identify key opportunities for mission

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• Minister in creative and non-standard ways and develop an innovative approach to problem solving and thinking

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• Start a new project around perceived opportunities

• Reflect on situations, learn from them and make appropriate changes for the future

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• Candidates should have well developed abilities to initiate change and to enable others to face it in a flexible, balanced and creative way

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Adapt oneself to the uniqueness of a particular context

• Motivate others• Negotiate and

resolve conflict

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• Shift priorities and emphasis during various stages of development of a fresh expression

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• Candidates should have a demonstrable ability to work collaboratively and in a team

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Develop vision with others• Discern the spiritual gifts in

others.

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• Release and equip others for ministry

• Identify and invest in future leaders

• Match the gifts of people with ministry needs and opportunities

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• Help people to share responsibility for the growth and success of the fresh expression

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• Candidates should be able to communicate their faith effectively

• Evidence for this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Communicate the good news to those outside the Church naturally and effectively in ways that are balanced, appropriate, accessible and sensitive to the situation

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• Candidates should have a well-developed understanding of the interaction between gospel and culture

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Understand of the tension between relevance and syncretism

• Relate the Gospel to different contexts.

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• Develop discipleship within a fresh expression

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• Candidates should have the capacity to evangelize beyond the culture of the Church

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

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• Communicate with and relate easily to people outside the church.

• Understand the worldviews and mindsets of people outside the church

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• Candidates should have a lively and engaging mind

• Evidence of this may be drawn from a candidate’s capacity to:

• Engage and stimulate others• Make creative connections

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• Recognise opportunities in challenging situations

• Be a reflective practitioner 

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Leadership Skills for Fresh

Expressions

• +Graham Cray

Demonstrable qualities

• Maturity and robustness• Self motivation• Innovation and initiative• Work collaboratively

The priority of discernment

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The Director

• ‘The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things that he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focussing upon Jesus Christ.’

John V Taylor

The God of Surprises

• 'The narrative of Acts suggests that a community truly led by the Spirit will be led in new and surprising directions.' Luke Timothy Johnson

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God is ahead

• 'God is already ahead of all evangelism, carrying on his mission to the world. …. More often than not respectful discernment will demand drastic changes of heart and mind, as for Peter with his own traditions.' David Ford + Daniel Hardy

Birthed out of discernment

• A fresh expression of church comes into being through following the missionary Spirit who is always ahead of the church.

• It is birthed out of discernment of the work of that missionary Spirit, wherever that may lead us.

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Birthed out of discernment

• The emphasis on discernment recognises that the planting pioneer or team will not know the shape, model or cultural form of the fresh expression of church when they start out on the process of planting.

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Pioneer Ministry

+Graham Cray