Pioneer Ministry and Fresh Expressions of Church

Just over half are lay-led, two out of three of these being women. Two-thirds of the ordained leaders are men, who are more likely to be full-time and paid than the women, who are more likely to be part-time and voluntary. Of the lay leaders, there is a growing proportion almost 80 per cent of what the researchers call "lay lay leaders" - by which they mean "people without formal licensing, and quite possibly without designated training to lead a fresh expression of church, who nevertheless are doing so, usually in their spare time". Interestingly, exactly the same phenomenon is seen in the statistics of the Methodist Church, which has 46, attending fresh expressions.

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The Fresh Expressions team is also aware of examples where a fresh expression which was founded, or led by, a priest or Church Army evangelist is now under able lay leadership. Anyone exploring ordination in the Church of England, and who is seen as having a capacity for "oversight", is expected to have an ability to "pioneer".

This is demonstrated by the many clergy who are also involved in starting and leading an impressive variety of models of fresh expression. The sheer number of "lay lay leaders" helps dispel a myth. Some parishes fear that planting a fresh expression of church will be one further demand on the same overworked volunteers.

Pioneering and Fresh Expressions

But the research reveals many new leaders who had not been energised by calls to staff existing programmes, but by these new missionary possibilities. At St George's parish in Deal, a process of prayer and discernment led to the establishment of a range of missional communities. There had been a hidden resource for leadership in mission, which was now being revealed. The evidence suggests that this could be true for many more parishes. The Church Army research team excluded nearly half the examples considered, because they did not meet strict criteria.

Some projects were primarily for existing churchpeople, while others were intended as a bridge to existing church rather than the planting of the new. The sheer scale of the other projects considered makes it likely that many more "lay lay" leaders are involved in them as well. THE key to planting a fresh expression of church is close attention to culture and local context.

It is the need to go and start the new, not just build bridges to the old, which has shown the need for a different "gift mix" for contemporary, missional leadership.

The inherited understanding of church, and church leadership, in the UK has never been static, but is substantially shaped by centuries of Christendom. Mission and ministry within an essentially Christian environment required pastor teachers much more than entrepreneurial missionaries. The current context requires apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic gifts, and reshapes expectations of the teaching and pastoral ones. The Church has recognised this to a substantial degree, as seen in the way that the contemporary ministry context is described in the literature prepared for those exploring ordination, and in the selection criteria for Ordained Pioneer Ministers, and Church Army Evangelists.

The gift is different because the ministry is different. From one perspective, the responsibility being taken by "lay lay leaders" is relatively small. Most fresh expressions are planted by a team ranging in size from three to 30, and the average fresh expression has a "congregation" of 43 people. The Church Army's quantitative research cannot provide full-blown, qualitative evidence of the depth of these new congregations, or the effectiveness of their leadership. But the indications are positive. Thus, there is a whole body of new experience across the Church which needs to be harvested for the sake of those who will take up this challenge in the future.

Also, we need to take great care when attempting to offer training. An over-intellectualised training, delivered by those with no experience of this ministry, will do more harm than good. The research says that those who had training or prior relevant experience are more likely to see ongoing growth.

Fresh Expressions & Pioneer Ministry | The Diocese of Leeds, Church of England

To help with that, the Fresh Expressions website is a primary source of resources and guidance for good practice, while the report Fresh Expressions in the Mission of the Church recommended the "mission-shaped ministry" course as the best form of initial training. The research also says that accompaniment, or consultancy, is the best form of support, but suspects that it is in short supply.

Lay leaders of fresh expressions need some form of recognition and accountability. One example is the diocese of Leicester's process of licensing lay pioneers in partnership with the Northampton Methodist District. Pioneers also need appropriate, continuing support. Ordained pioneer ministers OPMs represent a small proportion of the leaders identified in the research, and this is a resource which the Church of England has not yet learned to deploy to its best advantage.

In addition to a more pioneering clergy, and many more "lay lay leaders", the Church of England needs those whose whole vocation is focused around the planting of the new, and the creation of new communities where none exist. Listening to God and the people you want to serve to better understand the context in which the new church is to grow.

Be clear you are forming a community of people who want to follow Christ and build in suitable opportunities for this. Worship patterns are created and experimented on which reflect the needs of the new emerging fresh expression of church. Read their story here. Fun-Key Church in Richmond is a congregation established with the needs of young families in mind. Visit its website here. Across in the Wood is emerging in Grinton, Swaledale.

The Church discovered that locals connected well with looking after the environment around the church building. Watch this video to find out more.

Sorted youth fresh expression of church, Bradford. You can read their story here. People engaged in this work are called pioneers.

We have a mixture of ordained and lay pioneers in the diocese and more work is being done to encourage this ministry. For national information please click here. For information about ordained pioneer ministry in the diocese go to the vocations page. Here are some in our diocese to encourage you.

OTHER STORIES

They all share a longing to reach people beyond church and are happy to try out new ways of doing this. Rob Taylor is chaplain to Bradford Academy. Previous jobs include 10 years in industry with a military electronics company and Youth Base, a local relational youth work project. He has a constantly changing case load of young people and staff and raises the awareness and profile of God, faith and spirituality in school. We look at different themes but our main focus is on Jesus as we want more and more people to have a personal relationship with him. We start the evening with prayer then move into up beat worship, we have a talk and prayer time then some reflective worship.

Afterwards we have a meal and some great fellowship sharing our experiences of our faith.