New report makes pioneers feel seen and heard
New report makes pioneers feel seen and heard
Listening to the Voice of the Pioneer, a new report, has been published by CCX, our partners in London Pioneer School.
by Tina Hodgett,
It is a deep human need to be seen. This weekend the story of Hagar rang out for me again with new resonance. Hagar: a slave girl, exploited, pregnant, running for her life into the desert…seen by God. “You are the God who sees me,” she asserts.
For those who minister within the institution of a church, there seems to be a parallel need to be seen for who you are and for what you bring to the body of Christ. The new research findings by Joe Warton in ‘Listening to the Voice of the Pioneer’ offer this service resoundingly for pioneers.
It has been a wound for many over the 20 years since individuals were called to reach new people in new ways [in the Mission-shaped Church report] that they have not been ‘seen’ by the wider church in that deeply spiritual sense… the way God sees us.
God does not simply set eyes on us, locate us in a landscape. God’s seeing is an affirmation. A wordless valuing. A celebration of unique gift and call. A deep understanding of everything we are.
So the affirming tone of this new report is a balm and blessing. It refutes many of the myths, stereotypes, dismissals and downright lies about the character, spirituality, motivation and skill of the majority of pioneers and shows them as committed, theologically grounded, prayerful facilitators of pioneering teams.
Anyone who has hung around with pioneers for any length of time won’t be surprised by the findings in the report. The executive summary from interviews with 15 people from around the country mirrors the world most pioneers of my acquaintance live in. It describes the challenges they face as a result of the fact the established church has a limited understanding of “what pioneering is, who pioneers are, and how to support and resource pioneering ministry well”(p6).
My favourite finding was that pioneers are “deeply theological”. Perhaps it’s because of the articles I read in the early days that portrayed these “creative experimenters” as shallow, faddish, ignorant and disrespectful of tradition. But just recently the introduction to the book New Churches: A Theology also implied that pioneers were ‘doers’ as opposed to ‘theologians’. Wharton says pioneers are both.
So – download a copy of the report, put your feet up and prepare to feel seen. Affirmed. Valued. Celebrated. Understood.
Have a celebratory tipple/treat ready and toast the Trinity, Joe Warton, Phil Hoyle (who commissioned the report), yourself, fellow pioneers and all who support and encourage them.
For the sake of those who used to “think Jesus hated them, the church hated them, and actually they recognise that neither of those two things are true” (p13). For the sake of lives and communities healed.
