“God, we need seven Bavarians…”
“God, we need seven Bavarians…”
CMS’s Britain team were delighted to welcome visitors from the board of Fresh Expressions Germany in October.
by Tina Hodgett,
“God, we need seven Bavarians to send into context!”
This prayer, written by a German visitor to CMS House in Oxford in October, refers to one of the founding stories of CMS: that the first missionaries sent by the newly established charity were seven Bavarians.
The story goes that the search for UK volunteers proved fruitless, but there were seven committed Jesus-followers from south Germany who were willing to go overseas to share the good news of God in Christ.
The story testifies to a strong connection past and present between the German church and CMS which is underpinned by warm friendship lived out through learning exchanges.
The Fresh Expressions movement in Germany looks to the UK as if – it seems – to an older cousin or sibling, and on 20 October a group of 17 visitors dragging damp suitcases and shaking wet umbrellas arrived in the foyer of CMS House to a very warm welcome from us.
The visit was organised by the Fresh Expressions board of Germany and made up of Protestant and Catholic office holders from different parts of the country in a variety of roles connected with pioneering mission. First order of the day was to agree on an understanding of mission as participating with God through Christ in the healing of all things.
Jonny Baker shared something of the more recent history of CMS in the context of UK church planting and pioneering, inspiring with his understanding of Jesus’ desire to cross social boundaries to engage with people like Legion in the story of the Gerasenes ‘on the other side of the lake’.
I was delighted to be in a room for several hours with old friends whom I first met through online webinars with Paul Bradbury as we launched and tested the Pioneer Spectrum tool online during the pandemic.
Since then a number of the visitors have worked hard on contextualising and translating the Pioneer Spectrum for a German audience.
The overarching inquiry for the visitors was ‘How does mission shape the church?’ and it was great to be able to share the learning of Greg Bakker in this area over three decades as a parish priest in multiple contexts summarised as the five key dynamics of a Pioneering Parish as well as the Beatitudes for Pioneers and Priests we have been featuring in our monthly newsletter, ably backed up by the Beatitudes map designed by our gifted graphic designer Sophie Killingley.
In the afternoon I tested out some theories I’ve been considering that connect the character of Jesus, neuroscience, play and clowning with a new audience.
The group did amazingly to engage with this topic across language barriers and joined in with some embodied activities aimed at awakening their more lateral-thinking ‘baby brains’.
There was lots of laughter, plenty of wonderment and some insights for me from the subsequent discussions.
We finished by creating a shared poem in which each participant shared their key insight from the day (below).
Wir sind die kirchliche No-Go-Areas die dich zittern lassen wie Espenlaub, dort, wo alles heilvoll werden kann.1
Let’s be fringe-dwellers!
Little things matter to a bunch of lake-crossers to help others focus on worlding the world.Become a baby brain and don’t stop playing.
Wenn ich nicht werde wie ein Kind… 2
We need more baby brain in our church.
Be the change you want to have with a playful baby brain!Finally finding my own tribe and play space
Trust in the playful guidance of the Holy Spirit!
God, we need seven Bavarians to send into context.
Don’t be so serious!
Schaut Tina mit ihrer roten Nase an…3
Spot the niche to intervene, be playful, and live your job as a clown.Clap for the failures
Folge seiner Intuition4
Let’s go to the other side of the lake
Cross the bridge of understanding.
Be brave, be even more brave, just try it and dance!
- We are the No-Go-Areas for the church, that make us tremble like an aspen leaf, where everything can find healing. ↩︎
- Unless I become like a little child… ↩︎
- Look at Tina with her red nose… ↩︎
- Follow your intuition ↩︎
