Church leaders, young people and communities in conflict-affected areas of South Sudan are committing to challenge fake news, hate speech and online incitement as part of a grassroots peacebuilding initiative, recognising that inflammatory digital content can contribute to real-world violence.

Church leaders, young people and communities in conflict-affected areas of South Sudan are committing to challenge fake news, hate speech and online incitement as part of a grassroots peacebuilding initiative, recognising that inflammatory digital content can contribute to real-world violence.

The Digital Pledge for Peace is a joint initiative, which was first signed in July 2025 by women representing both the Abyei and Twic communities, and is now gaining increasing traction as more denominational groups sign up and commit to practise greater responsibility in their use of social media.

The initiative has emerged from years of conflict and trauma in which unverified social media posts and inflammatory online messaging have contributed to tensions and violence, including during the 2016 national crisis and the 2022 clashes between Abyei and Twic communities. Christians and Christian leaders from groups in conflict have confessed to past participation in this kind of activity but are now setting an example for others to follow in refusing to spread hateful rhetoric about one another.

Digital discipleship stopping hateful divisions

“A single post, share, or voice note can directly cause loss of innocent lives, displacement of families, and community destruction,” says Paul Lueth, a local peacemaker working with Church Mission Society (CMS). “As disciples, our online behaviour must reflect our faith. Jesus called us to be peacemakers in Matthew 5:9, and biblical stewardship requires self-control over our keyboards just as much as our tongues.”

The initiative recognises that social media and messaging platforms, particularly WhatsApp, are an important part of everyday communication for church members and young people.

Church leaders are therefore seeking to equip Christians, especially youth, to use social media constructively for peacebuilding rather than spreading division, misinformation or hate speech. The issue is being addressed directly through peace rallies, prayer breakfasts and community dialogues, giving church leaders an opportunity to establish a clear moral standard for responsible online behaviour and encourage accountability among young people and diaspora communities.

The Digital Pledge for Peace frames responsible use of social media as part of Christian discipleship, drawing on biblical principles such as Ephesians 4:29, which calls believers to use words that build others up rather than cause harm. In communities where inter-church peace rallies and dialogues have taken place, young leaders are increasingly challenging fake news and inflammatory posts within their own WhatsApp groups and social media networks. Rather than simply passing on potentially harmful information, they are seeking to become digital peacemakers. The grassroots initiative also complements the work of local civil authorities, including the Twic County Commissioner and Abyei Chief Administrator, in efforts to maintain calm and reduce tensions in the region.

An example for the world

Sustaining the initiative remains a significant challenge. Large numbers of church members, youth groups and communities are spread across remote rural areas, making regular communication and pastoral follow-up difficult. Limited funding for transport, fuel, communications and educational activities restricts the ability of local leaders to reach communities consistently. Church leaders say that a commitment made during a single peace rally cannot, by itself, create lasting change. Continued pastoral engagement, educational workshops and community-level monitoring are needed to turn the pledge into everyday digital responsibility. Nevertheless, local youth leaders are already reporting changes in behaviour, with some social media influencers challenging fake news and aggressive posts within their own WhatsApp groups and wider online networks.

Joan Busolo, CMS regional manager for Africa, said: “South Sudan’s peacemakers are bringing a stark reminder to the global Church: digital interactions are never neutral. Words shared online carry real-world weight, making digital responsibility an essential duty for Christians everywhere.”

Women playing key part in peace

The Digital Pledge for Peace forms part of an ongoing peacebuilding process facilitated by CMS and its local partners in South Sudan among the Dinka Twic and Dinka Ngok groups who have been mired in violent conflict involving a land dispute for years. In June 2025, women from the communities involved came together for the Twic and Ngok Joint Women Peace Dialogue Meeting. The event brought together religious leaders, representatives of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, government officials and community representatives. Women from both communities committed themselves to becoming ambassadors for peace in their homes and communities, encouraging forgiveness and respectful dialogue and taking an active role in local peacemaking. The latest digital initiative extends that work into an increasingly important area of community life: the online spaces where information, opinions and tensions can spread rapidly.

For the churches involved, the message is simple: peacebuilding does not stop when people pick up their phones.

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AI is rapidly reshaping our world, this Conversation Day will explore what it means to be in pioneering mission in an age of AI.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the ways we work, learn, communicate and participate in community. For Christian communities, this moment presents more than a set of technological challenges. It is an opportunity to ask deeper questions about mission, vocation, human flourishing and how we are joining in with what the Holy Spirit is doing.

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Mission and Pioneering in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the ways we work, learn, communicate and participate in community. For Christian communities, this moment presents more than a set of technological challenges. It is an opportunity to ask deeper questions about mission, vocation, human flourishing and how we are joining in with what the Holy Spirit is doing.

This Conversations Day brings together theologians, scholars, practitioners, pioneers and Christian leaders to explore the emerging landscape of AI through the lens of mission and pioneering. Rather than asking only what AI can do, we will ask what this new technological context means for mission and pioneering.

Through keynote contributions, interdisciplinary conversation and practical engagement, our Conversations Day will explore the opportunities and challenges AI presents for Christian mission.

Keynote speakers

Fr Dr Gabriel Hanganu

Gabriel is an anthropologist and community manager at the Alan Turing Institute in London, the UK’s National Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. He is also a priest in the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Kester Brewin

Kester is an acclaimed writer and speaker. He is associate director at the
Institute for the Future of Work, a research institute exploring how AI and automation technologies are impacting labour markets.

At the heart of the day is a conviction that pioneering is not simply about keeping up with change. It is about cultivating the imagination, courage and discernment to explore new possibilities, experiment with new forms of community and mission, and ask where God might be at work in the midst of profound cultural change which may seem unsettling and even threatening to some.

The conference will therefore create space not simply to respond to developments in AI, but to imagine, discern and begin to try to shape the future. What new forms of mission might emerge? What might pioneering look like? And how can Christian communities bring wisdom, hope and human connection into a world which is increasingly shaped by AI?

Join us for a day of theological imagination, pioneering practice and forward-looking conversations as we explore how Christian communities can not only navigate the age of artificial intelligence, but also thrive in it.

Take part

This event is free. Join us in person or online!

Book now via eventbrite

• See all pioneer events

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Video transcript

[00:00:05]

Hello and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS.

In this episode, we’re bringing you three inspiring stories from the edges. We hope you’ll rejoice with us as you hear about people finding new hope in Jesus. First we’ll head to Nottinghamshire, where a community have changed their minds about church being irrelevant. From there, we’ll go to Spain, where some of our partners are getting creative about connecting with their neighbours. And finally, we’ll go to Lebanon and share an update on our recent appeal.

[00:00:41]

First, let’s go to a village in Nottinghamshire where people are meeting Jesus through a new church community. CMS pioneer training graduate Jane Robins lives in Ruddington, where until recently many people thought church was irrelevant. Following her training, Jane got stuck into village life and listened to her community. Wanting to help people to meet Jesus. But not necessarily through traditional church.

Jane started a church plant, Framework Church, which runs from a coffee shop. Though part of St Peter’s Anglican Church, it’s a more informal community, a good fit for people who’ve just done Alpha or who find traditional church intimidating. Framework Church has seen as many as 40 people attending and is growing steadily.

Framework and Alpha aren’t the whole story. St Peter’s is thriving too, because people now consider the church part of village life. Over 1,100 people attended Christmas services last year, more than three times as many as the year before. Last year, 11 people in this village were baptised, and they’re now all involved in God’s mission. One of them has started a weekly prayer group in one of the toughest prisons in region.

Jane is now planning an Alpha course, geared towards families, and she’s excited to keep pioneering as the spirit leads.

[00:02:11]

Now let’s go to Spain, where CMS partners support Christians across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as actively engaging in local outreach near their home in Madrid.

For these partners, mission is a family affair. Last year the three children joined with Christians on their streets and gave out homemade cookies and Bible verses to neighbours at Halloween while their parents prayed together for the community. Days afterwards, the family were able to talk about Jesus on the way home from the park.

At New Year, they gathered with friends to worship together and pray for their neighbours.

As well as connecting and sharing Jesus with their immediate neighbours, one of our partners takes time when he can in a busy city street finding space for people to talk and sometimes share deeper questions about faith.

Their daughter helps run a children’s club at their local church, welcoming in neighbours from non-Christian backgrounds to learn about Jesus, and some of their families have come along to the church.

[00:03:16]

And now to Lebanon, which might be mostly gone from the headlines, but not from our hearts. You may remember we recently held an urgent appeal for Lebanon, hoping to raise enough money to support 1,000 families in desperate need.

We’re so grateful to God and to you, our supporters, that together we reached this goal and we’re able to provide life-saving practical relief for some of the most desperate families in Beirut. Our partners are continuing to support families through ongoing trauma support and spiritual care.

Thank you for giving generously and for praying faithfully for our partners in Lebanon.

Thank you for joining me for these stories from the edges and for your prayerful support for all our work at the edges around the world.

Please share this video with your church, small group or anyone you think could use some fuel for their faith. Until next time, we’re so grateful for your gifts and prayers as together we go with Jesus, with each other, to the edges.

ENDS

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Earlier this year, as airstrikes and escalating violence turned lives upside down across southern Lebanon, our local partners were thrust into navigating personal grief alongside widespread destruction. 

Yet, as Jad,* a Church Mission Society (CMS) team member from Beirut, shared during the height of the crisis: “As Christians in Lebanon, we feel we must respond – and we are responding.”

Because of your extraordinary generosity and faithful prayers during our summer appeal, local leaders did not have to respond alone.

We are deeply grateful to share that together, we have reached our goal of raising enough money to provide life-saving relief and trauma support to 1,000 displaced families.

More than food

Your gifts have directly supplied urgent practical relief, including emergency food parcels, blankets, essential medicines and hygiene supplies. But as our partners on the ground frequently remind us, physical supplies are only part of the story:

“We don’t just need food – we need peace inside.”

Beyond emergency provisions, adults and children are receiving ongoing emotional care, spiritual comfort and trauma support. Through these personal encounters, displaced families are experiencing the peace and hope of Jesus. Here are three stories that illustrate the impact of your partnership:

Nour’s story: “our lives still mattered”

When relentless shelling hit her neighborhood, Nour* and her family crowded onto a single motorbike in the middle of the night to escape. In the chaos, they were struck by a car – a collision they miraculously survived – before taking shelter in a makeshift tent.

When our local team visited them, they brought they brought practical supplies, yet it was their presence that the biggest impact on Nour:

“Before the food parcel reached our hands, their care reached our hearts. The assistance met an urgent need, but their presence restored something war had tried to take from us: the assurance that our lives still mattered and that we were not alone.”

Easing a family’s fear

Fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight as bombs fell nearby, another family left behind everything they owned, quickly running out of basic supplies and food. In the midst of uncertainty, local partners stepped in – and stayed with them:

“The team did more than deliver food parcels and leave; they stood beside us and reminded us that we had not been forgotten. The assistance eased our hunger, but their presence also eased the fear and loneliness of displacement.”

Rania’s story: hope rising from rubble

For Rania,* the reality of war struck without warning. As her family gathered inside their home to hastily pack a few belongings, an airstrike destroyed the house, burying everyone beneath the rubble. Rania shielded her two-month-old granddaughter in her arms. Though Rania was eventually pulled alive from the collapse, her hand was badly crushed – and tragically, her granddaughter did not survive.

Multiple surgeries reconstructed Abeer’s hand, but she carried deep emotional and spiritual wounds. In the months that followed, our partners connected with Rania for prayer and trauma support helped her process her profound grief. Through spiritual care and devotional literature provided by our partners, a message reached her wounded heart: “We can trust God with the unknown.”

“The rubble was still part of my story – but it was no longer the end of my story.”

Today, Rania says she feels an inner renewal. While her pain is not forgotten, despair has given way to genuine peace and restored hope.

Standing together between gratitude and grief

Living between deep gratitude for survival and grief over immense loss, local Christians in Lebanon continue to serve on the front lines as a vital lifeline to their communities. 

Your kindness has sent a clear signal to our Lebanese brothers and sisters: the global body of Christ stands firmly by their side.

On behalf of our regional team, our courageously faithful partners and the families whose lives you are touching: thank you for showing God’s love in Lebanon.

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Video transcript

Hello and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS.

In this episode, we’re sharing three remarkable stories of lives transformed at the edges, showing how God is bringing belonging, restoring dignity, and planting vibrant communities of faith in unexpected places.

First, we’ll head to Brazil, where a remarkable prison ministry has been given the go-ahead to plant a church behind bars.

Then we’ll go to Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where families living in conflict zones are finding sanctuary and hope as new local churches are planted there too.

And finally, we’ll visit a UK pioneer community where art and creativity are opening doors for people to experience church in a whole new shape.

We begin in Brazil, where hundreds of men in a local prison are experiencing life-changing transformation.

For years, CMS mission partners and local leaders have walked alongside these men, offering Bible studies, discipleship courses, and a chance to encounter the love of Jesus. The outcome has been profound. Men who felt completely written off are finding forgiveness in Jesus and choosing a brand new path. Andy Walsh, who works with CMS in the prison, reports that hundreds of men have come to faith. Yet for a long time they were not allowed to gather together for any kind of worship service.

Now, after persistent advocacy by Andy and local Christian leaders, prison authorities have officially granted approval for a church plant inside the prison. Every week a chapel time forms behind bars, giving inmates a supportive community and real hope for their future outside. Our hope is that this will become a model for other churches to be born in prisons across Brazil.

Next, let’s go to Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to see more churches growing on the edges.

For decades, the district of Kibumba has been deeply affected by armed conflict, forced displacement, and resulting trauma. Rev Innocent Kwitonda, vicar of St John’s Church in Buvira, was born in this area. And his life story reflects both the deep suffering and incredible resilience of the local people.

Where violent conflict has uprooted lives and shattered stability, Rev Innocent and St John’s Church have refused to let fear have the final word. During the most recent brutal conflict in Goma, St John’s welcomed war-displaced families, providing clean water, basic household items, and temporary shelter for over 2,000 households.

Now, at the direct request of this local community, they have also planted three new churches in the area. These churches continue to grow in size and impact. Women who suffered sexual violence and harassment are gradually rediscovering hope and dignity through biblical teaching, pastoral care and supportive fellowship. Children participate in trauma healing sessions, educational activities, and structured play times that help make their restoration possible.

Rev Innocent says, “We firmly believe that the Lord alone is the healer of broken souls, and that the Church remains his chosen instrument to bring healing, reconciliation, and lasting transformation to wounded communities.”

Finally, let’s return to the UK, to the London area, for a wonderful story from CMS pioneer training graduate, Hayley Humphreys. A story of creativity, community, and connection.

What has become known as Art for Wellbeing, or Art Church, began a few years ago with 10 people, a table, and some paint and brushes. Hayley says, “There was no grand strategy, no detailed blueprint, just a sense that creativity mattered, that people needed connection, and that God might be present in the simple act of making something together.”

People who are unlikely to feel comfortable in a traditional church setting arrive, often carrying loneliness, grief, anxiety or doubt. And they are finding a non-threatening space where everyone belongs, no matter their artistic ability or background. Each session opens with a simple spiritual reflection, followed by open time for conversations about life and faith.

The fruit has been beautiful. Participants have discovered hidden gifts. Seven new leaders have stepped up from within the group, and people have taken significant steps in faith, including baptism. This year the group was formally recognised as a fresh expression of church. It is a powerful reminder that church doesn’t always look traditional.

As Hayley puts it, “The Kingdom of God is appearing right there in brushstrokes, conversations, and cups of tea.”

What strikes me about all three of these stories is the power of belonging, whether in a prison cell, a conflict zone, or around an art table. God’s love meets people right where they are.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support that empower local leaders to bring this hope to the edges.

Please share this video with your church or small group to encourage others today.

Until next time, we are so grateful for your gifts and prayers as together we go:

With Jesus
With each other
To the edges

ENDS

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Rt Rev Abelino Apeleo, the first indigenous Anglican bishop in Chile and an inspiration to CMS staff and partners, died suddenly on Monday 24 August 2026.

Bishop Abelino was a longstanding partner, both as bishop and as rector of the Instituto Bíblico Rural (IBR), playing a hugely significant role in training indigenous church leaders. His life and ministry laid foundations that would eventually shape Misión Indígena, a CMS-facilitated group supporting indigenous mission across Latin America.

Paul Tester, mission director at Church Mission Society, commented:

“Our relationship and partnership with Bishop Abelino spans so many years – as a partner, friend, advisor and a wonderful example of Christian leadership. He has been an inspiration to so many, including myself, and has always been an incredible witness.”

Joel Millanguir, a CMS partner and current Bishop of Araucanía, shared this moving tribute to his friend and colleague with CMS manager in Latin America Alonso Silva:

Bishop Abelino was very important in the life of the church here in Chile and for the development of mission in the Araucanía region. He was a man who preached the gospel, not just with his words, but with the testimony of his life. His humility, simplicity and deep commitment to Jesus made him respected and beloved pastor among the communities he served.

Personally, Bishop Abelino profoundly marked my pastoral ministry. He was a spiritual father whose closeness and accompaniment were constant over the years. I had the privilege of being ordained by him as both deacon and priest, and then he preached at my consecration as bishop in 2023, moments that remain unforgettable for me.

We worked together for many years, especially in the rural ministry of our region and the ministry with the Mapuche people. In that walk I learned from him genuine love for the people from his land, his respect for indigenous culture and his tireless concern for the spiritual and human well-being of each person. For Bishop Abelino, mission wasn’t a programme, but a particular expression of the love of Jesus towards the most remote communities.

One of the qualities that most stood out was his extraordinary closeness to the people he ministered among. He knew how to listen with patience, tackle difficulties with calm and offer advice full of biblical wisdom and pastoral discernment. His leadership wasn’t instilled by authority, but born from service, compassion and by example.

Bishop Abelino had a fundamental role in Misión Indígena as a mentor in biblical training and pastoral ministry. His experience, leadership and deep knowledge of indigenous experiences have contributed significantly to the growth of discipleship initiatives, leadership training and the growth of a mission contextualised and faithful to the Scriptures.

This collaborative work seeks to strengthen the links between indigenous people in South America – Mapuche, Wichí, Toba, Chorote, Enxet and Angaité, among others – encouraging the exchange of experiences, cooperation between dioceses and building a mission that values the cultural identity of each people while proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord.

I give thanks to God for his life and ministry. His legacy continues inspiring those who had the privilege of walking alongside him, and his testimony lives on in the churches, the leaders he trained and the indigenous communities, to which he faithfully dedicated much of his life.

We pray for Bishop Abelino’s family and friends as they grieve, and give thanks to God for his life and witness.

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Video transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS.

In the next few minutes, we’ll bring you inspiring news from three edges in our world, stories that you are making possible through your gifts and prayers.

First, we’ll go to South Sudan, where people from two tribes in conflict have planted a church together.

From there we’ll go to Brazil, where CMS partners are reimagining church and seeing people meet Jesus in a local park.

After that, we’ll go to South Asia, where a family in crisis got to see God turn things around for his glory.

Finally, we’ll stop by Lebanon, where CMS church partners are making a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

First, let’s go to South Sudan, where a cross-tribal church is thriving despite the odds.

How would you feel about sharing a church pew with someone who had robbed you? Or worshipping alongside a member of a community that, for years, had been locked in a deadly conflict with yours?

Brothers and sisters in Turalei, northern South Sudan, are doing just this. Christians from two tribes in conflict – Dinka and Nuer – have planted a church together.

These tribes have a longstanding conflict over grazing lands and many lives have been lost over the years.

CMS partner Paul Lueth, a Dinka himself from Turalei, knows the weight of this division first-hand. In early 2024, Paul and other Christian leaders from both tribes gathered to try to find a way forward, starting their time together with prayer and worship.

To their surprise, when they started discussing how the tribes could peacefully share the disputed grazing land, their shared faith helped them find a way forward. During the meeting, one participant looked around and asked, “What is this Jesus, that we are able to speak to each other beyond tribes?”

This impossible-sounding church plant now has over 450 members and new people join them every week.

Paul and other leaders are baptising visitors as they encounter Jesus for the first time and commit their lives to him. Adults from opposing sides of the conflict build community while their children play together.

How is this possible? Their explanation is simple: “God has done this.”

Now, let’s go to Brazil, where people who are unlikely to go to church are encountering Jesus through mission.

In Indaiatuba, CMS partners Marcio Ciechanovicz and Noemi Celeti and a team of volunteers are reimagining church, creating space in a local park for people to engage with fun activities, join in with worship events, ask questions and have meaningful conversations.

Over the past few months, Marcio and Noemi have seen God working through many different activities.

A young artist who was just walking past a worship event was invited to pick up a canvas and paint as part of the event, and painted a beautiful scene of Jesus holding a lamb. He said he hadn’t been to church in ages, and had never been given the opportunity to use his gifts as part of a worship event. He left feeling so recognised and welcomed.

Another weekend, a volunteer set up a clothes donation stall, which helped lots of people find items they desperately needed and inspired generosity in others. A man who was walking through the park with his family stopped at the stall. The volunteers wondered if he needed anything. To their surprise, he took off his brand-new tennis shoes, donated them and walked away barefoot!

Marcio and Noemi and the team have also recently joined in with prayer walks, an immersive prayer station, an art evening, visits to the local skatepark and a service at a tattoo studio. God is on the move in Indaiatuba, Brazil!

Next, let’s go to South Asia to meet a family who saw God change an impossible situation.

A couple who we won’t name for security reasons were living a very unhappy life.

They’d been married for a few years and had two children together, but they fought every day.

It was so bad that the police had to be called most weeks. So, why all this fighting?

Well, the wife was having an affair. As the affair continued, the fighting got worse. Even though the couple couldn’t see a way forward, everything was about to change.

A neighbour, Sister Nitu, was a Christian and belonged to a church planted and led by Asia-CMS partners Deepak and Kareena. Sister Nitu prayed for this family and invited the wife to come with her to church.

She made new friends at church who showed her Jesus’ love in action. They listened to her pain, read the Bible with her and prayed for her family. When the husband suddenly became ill, the church supported him too and over time walked through counselling with the couple.

It was the first time the wife had learned about the sanctity of marriage and the true meaning of faithfulness to God and to a spouse. But the story doesn’t end there.

While the couple’s relationship was still very fragile, the wife discovered that she was pregnant. The last thing she wanted to do was bring a baby into this home of non-stop fighting and even thought about ending her pregnancy. But her friends from church supported her through this as well, and she decided to keep the baby. Their beautiful, healthy baby was born a few months later. They were so grateful for this unexpected gift from God.

Earlier this year, the couple took the most significant step of their lives together – they were baptised, and started a new life on a solid foundation.

Finally, let’s go to the Middle East.

We recently launched an appeal focused on Lebanon, where 1.4 million people have been displaced due to airstrikes and ongoing violence, and many families have lost everything.

Our partners in Beirut are living between gratitude and grief, grateful to have survived but in grief at the loss all around them. Our partners are working tirelessly to provide emergency food packs, medicine and trauma support to people in desperate need.

With your help, we’re aiming to provide this lifeline of physical relief and spiritual refuge for 1,000 families. To support this appeal, go to churchmissionsociety.org/Lebanon and find out more.

Thank you for joining me for these stories from the edges and for your prayerful support, which makes them possible.

Please share this video with your church, small group or anyone you think could use some fuel for their faith.

Until next time, we are so grateful for your gifts and prayers as together we go:

With Jesus
With each other
To the edges

ENDS

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Our week of book launch parties in Exeter, Sherford (Plymouth) and Bristol exceeded my expectations.

by Rev Tina Hodgett

I imagined it would be a time of selling – the book, ourselves, Pioneering Parishes. But as people left each party, we realised God had been – as usual – in the ‘in-between’ spaces: profound conversations, new connections, ideas for future possibilities. People left inspired, encouraged and hopeful and reminded of God’s faithfulness, not just £12 lighter in the purse/pocket and 128g heavier in the handbag/manbag (yes, I did weigh the book!).

‘Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church’ was described by Jonny Baker at the party in Sherford as ‘distilled wisdom’ – like a fine whisky, he said. We rejoiced that the book is short and therefore both readable and affordable – so people often bought one for their vicar, friend or colleague. It was a time to celebrate all the people who had in larger ways or smaller taught us, ‘seen’ us, supported us, advocated for us, challenged us, made space for us, and allowed both Pioneering Parishes and its book form to come into being.

As we were interviewed Greg and I both found the Holy Spirit directing us back to the early whisperings of the call to be part of a movement to enable more parish churches to embody a missional posture and practice and offer practical spiritual care to all souls in a parish. As Greg talked about recognising the origins of the book content and purpose in his experiences in his early years as a priest, my thoughts were drawn back to my studies in educational change management in the 2000s when I sensed God calling me towards ordination. From this I am reminded again that God’s timescales are longer, slower, wiser and more incremental than ours!

As our current funding stream comes to an end we are pivoting to a different way of working. You can find all our tools and resources on our website here. We can still be contacted via www.pioneeringparishes.org and on Instagram and Facebook. We may still contact you occasionally but less regularly via newsletter. You can always unsubscribe if this is unwelcome. Greg and I are available for work as self-employed consultants; you can approach us via a range of routes. If you want to hear more from us you can subscribe to our Substack accounts: https://gregbakker.substack.com and https://tinahodgett.substack.com/ (or www.tinahodgett.net). If you’d like to stay in touch with the Church Mission Society you can subscribe to their pioneer newsletter here or their regular mission updates here.

We bless you with joy, adventure and hope as you discern and join in with God’s mission locally. From the Pioneering Parishes team: Gail, Greg, Jayne and Tina.

Find all our tools and resources here.

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In Palhoça semi-open prison in Florianópolis, prisoners who follow Jesus or who are exploring faith can now meet together on Saturday mornings.

“It’s clear the Lord is opening doors, and it’s yet another affirmation that we are on the right path,” shares Andy Walsh, a CMS mission partner doing prison ministry in the city.

Following requests by Andy and his team, the governor of Palhoça prison gave the green light for regular church services in March 2026.

Palhoça’s church plant heralds a new phase of prison ministry in Brazil.

Over the past couple of years, Andy and a small team connected with the local Baptist church have been working among people in prison in and around Florianópolis, running a 12-week discipleship course in several prisons and supporting prisoners to explore faith in Jesus. Hundreds of men have chosen to follow Jesus, but more follow-up and pastoral care are needed, and in most cases, prisoners aren’t allowed to meet together for church services, despite this right being outlined in Brazilian law.

Andy and his team hope the church in Palhoça will become a model that can be replicated in other prisons.

Next, they are hoping for progress with decision-makers at San Pedro de Alcântara Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison housing over 1,500 men.

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A new book which has been called “a ‘must-read’ for all who want to see their local churches thrive” has just been published.

It has been written by our very own Rev Tina Hodgett and Rev Greg Bakker, founders of Pioneering Parishes, which provides tools, practices and postures to help churches go into all the parish. The training helps churches cultivate an environment in which new things can thrive in an appropriate way for their context and community, helping engage with people who are unconnected.

In August 2023 Church House Publishing asked Tina and Greg to write a practical book for church leaders on culture change. They prepared a proposal for the editorial board and were delighted with the affirmation that what they proposed was a “hopeful, conciliatory and constructive contribution to contemporary church life and the church’s mission”. After three years of work, Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church is available now.

Into all the Parish moves away from attempts at rejuvenation of the parish church based on replicable strategies or programmes into a ‘way of being’. Reviews of the book are pouring in and many are commenting on the ‘practical companionship offered’ for congregations wishing to make this change.

One review says:

“For leaders, dreamers, and blue-sky thinkers, this book offers plenty of imagination and possibility. It challenges churches to pay attention to where God is already active in their parish. For anyone longing to see faith become more connected, hopeful, and rooted in everyday community life, Into All the Parish offers a way to do church differently.”

Rev Marie Meredith, vicar to the churches of Great Wyrley: St Andrew’s and St Mark’s

Another says:

“Long gone are the days when ‘pioneering’ was seen as being in opposition to ‘traditional’ parish ministry. Here is a clear demonstration of how cultivating a pioneering disposition enables parish church congregations to explore afresh their identity and vocation for the present time.”

Rev Canon Jane Maycock, Canon Missioner, Durham Cathedral

CMS’s Jonny Baker, director of mission in Britain, says of the book:

“If I was new in a ministry post or on the PCC in a parish church, I would be thanking God for this book! It is short, sharply focused, and extremely practical. It will really help you lead a church through a process of culture change giving the best chance possible of taking the whole church with you on the journey. The five dynamics explored arise from distilled wisdom learned from putting this into practice in a parish setting over many years and you can tell.”

Lots of lay people and clergy working across the country are already benefiting from the book, as this review shows:

“Into All the Parish is the best kind of “self-help” book – opening space for gathered communities to discern together the movement of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Led by discerning questions, each chapter prompts readers to consider an area of parish life where small shifts might lead to significant relational and spiritual flourishing. No act is deemed too small to be significant and no hope too large to be attainable. Highly recommended for churches desiring to reach the whole parish but uncertain how or where to start.”

Stacey Van Dyk, Children & Families Ministry Leader

The book has also reached the attention of bishops with Mike Harrison, the bishop of Exeter, saying:

“A wise, accessible and practical guide to helping Christian communities discern how God’s Spirit is at work inside and outside the Church. Tools are provided helping congregations to ensure principles eclipse preferences, abundance mind-sets hold sway over scarcity narratives, and different ways of doing and being church are held together synergistically. All this wrapped up in a missional understanding of being caught up in God’s sacrificial loving movement towards the world – personified in Jesus and inviting our participatory involvement. Recommended!”

And Jonathan Frost, bishop of Portsmouth, giving heartfelt approval:

“I am delighted to read this contribution to the vital task of parochial ministry. God’s church needs pioneering ministry in every context. Wherever Tina Hodgett and Greg Bakker share their rich experience, new life happens, and the hope of God’s kingdom becomes breaks out. I commend this work with all my heart”

Buy Into All the Parish: Pioneering practices for every local church now.

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The post New book helps churches go Into All the Parish appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Harvey Kwiyani named in Top 10 list for outstanding books in mission studies

At CMS many of our staff regularly add books to our library bookshelves – by writing and publishing them. In fact colleagues have published more than 26 books!

One of these books has recently been recognised for a prestigious honour.

In August 2025, Dr Harvey Kwiyani – CMS Pioneer Mission Training African Christianity Programme Lead and Acts 11 Centre Lead – published Decolonizing Mission. Through the book, Harvey traces the history of Christian mission alongside the history of empire, showing the influence that one had on the other. Imagining what mission without imperialism would look like, he sheds light on the connection between colonialism and mission and invites readers to realign missional methods with God’s.

The book has had an international impact and been widely celebrated. Most recently, Decolonizing Mission has been named among the 10 Outstanding Books in Mission Studies, World Christianity, and Intercultural Theology for 2025 by the International Bulletin of Mission Research.

Speaking of receiving this esteemed acknowledgement of the book, Harvey said:

“There are moments in academic life that feel deeply personal, yet clearly point beyond oneself; moments that hint at a wider shift taking place within a discipline. I receive this recognition with genuine gratitude. But more than that, I receive it with a quiet sense of recognition that this is not simply about my work, nor even about one book. It feels, rather, like a sign that a conversation many of us have been carrying for some time – often from the margins, often against the grain – is now being heard more widely.”

Harvey is currently raising funds to publish Decolonizing Mission in Africa, with the aim of making it accessible to pastors, church leaders, teachers, students, and mission practitioners across the continent. If you would like to support this project, you can do so here.

Decolonizing Mission is available from SCM Press and other online book retailers.

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