Cathy Ross explores the theology and stories of those who have found lament to be the catalyst for healing and something new.

Lament is often associated with Lent but it can also be off-putting with many unsure of how to “get it right”.

Canon Dr Cathy Ross, lecturer and tutor with CMS Pioneer Mission Training, will help us understand the theology and how it informs our practice.

She will share case studies of those who have found lament to be the catalyst for healing and something new.

By the end of this webinar, you will you know how to reflect on areas of your own life or in the world which cause you pain, how to present those to God and how to allow him to renew your hope.

Canon Dr Cathy Ross

Canon Dr Cathy Ross is a lecturer and tutor with CMS Pioneer Mission Training and is a lecturer in mission at Regent’s Park College, Oxford.

She led CMS Pioneer Mission Training Oxford from 2019 to 2025, before handing over the reins to Dr James Butler.

Until 2016 she was the General Secretary of the International Association for Mission Studies.

She has previously worked in Rwanda, Congo and Uganda with NZCMS. Cathy is also canon theologian at Leicester Cathedral.

Her research interests are in the areas of contextual theologies, World Christianity, feminist theologies and hospitality.

She is married to Steve, a GP in Oxford and they have three children and five grandchildren. She enjoys tennis, swimming, coffee, travel and watching the All Blacks.

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There’s a new leader for CMS’s Oxford-based pioneer training. But he may not be new to you.

Dr James Butler has been appointed to the role of Pioneer Mission Training team leader. James has served as pioneer MA lecturer and assistant coordinator at Church Mission Society (CMS) Pioneer Mission Training for the last eight years.

Commenting on his appointment, James said: “I really think we have something special in terms of the courses and the team. I’m looking forward to this change in role and supporting the team as well as the students.”

Jonny Baker, Britain Hub mission director at CMS, said: “I am delighted that James has been appointed as the Pioneer Mission Training team leader. He has eight years’ experience of working in the team, teaching the MA, so knows CMS well. We interviewed both internal and external applicants and James was the outstanding candidate.”

Jonny added: “I also want to take this opportunity to thank Cathy for all her leadership and hard work over the years that she has led of Pioneer Mission Training.”

Canon Dr Cathy Ross has led the team for six years but has decided to hand the reins over. She will continue to teach and tutor as part of the team.

James has a wealth of experience in academic research. Alongside his work at CMS, he has also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Roehampton, researching themes of learning, discipleship and social action. His interest in social action began many years ago and has been evident in many of his previous roles including with a charity working in emergency accommodation. His PhD explored how Small Missional Communities sustain their social action.

As well as teaching and research, James has plenty of practical experience of mission. He has previously served on mission in Argentina and Uruguay. Indeed, much of his research was focused on ‘real life’ as James explains, “the privilege of being involved in research was the opportunity to hear about the rootedness of faith in people’s lives. I’ve hugely benefited from collaborating with them, seeing what they were doing and learning, and experiencing the changes actually happening in them and in their communities and churches.”

This collaborative approach is something James is keen to continue in his new role, as he says: “I am looking forward to connecting with pioneers on what they do to develop our work with them further. Our doctoral students are already conducting great research and I am looking forward to developing that along with our listening work. I want to see our students thrive in what they feel called to.”

James is married with two young daughters. Outside work he enjoys running (though not particularly quickly) and would like to watch more films, if he had the time.

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This year some of our students volunteered at the CMS stand and here are their reflections.

Greenbelt is an amazing place; I have been going since I was 18 (although not every year)! Over the last few years, I have been occasionally attending to be present on the CMS stand and talk to people about our work with Pioneer Mission Training. It’s been a privilege to do this.

This year our stand was run by me and Jonny Baker with four volunteers from the CMS study community.

I spoke to one of our volunteers, Christian Osborne, an undergraduate ordinand student, who told me:

Being in the CMS stand at Greenbelt was a great way to get to meet people from around the country who were interested in the work of CMS. Conversations ranged from the decolonisation of mission, to a Sri Lankan ordinand who wanted to share his positive experience of attending a school which had originally been set up through CMS, to people considering whether they would like to sign up for an MA, BA or individual modules to support the pioneering work that they are already doing.

Most encouraging were the stories from those who were trying to grapple with a sense of calling from God to learn more in order to be equipped on the ground in their local settings. It was a joy to share with people the range of ways in which CMS might be able to help equip them whilet bringing them the opportunity to be a part of the CMS community spread across the UK and beyond.

I spoke to another of our volunteers, MA student Lindsey Morgan Lundie, who told me:

Greenbelt this year for me was all about linking up with people new and old, spending quality time while listening to some amazing music! It was really wonderful to connect with so many being on the CMS stand and linking people together that will hopefully become part of the network.

And finally, another of our MA students, Fiona Barber, told me:

We frequently talk of pioneers as people that don’t quite fit in. But at Greenbelt we step into what feels like an alternate universe filled with poetry and music, shared meals and laughter alongside deep conversations and even deeper prayer. A place where we dream of all we could be together with God. A place where those that don’t fit in – do! Four days in a field that refreshes the soul with belonging to step out into a world where I don’t feel like I do! As Greenbelt says: “We’re somewhere to believe in. We’re somewhere to belong.”

Personally, I am always impressed by the emphasis on justice at Greenbelt. This time there were many talks about the theme of justice and we were treated to a replica of the Gaza Lighthouse. The original tower was built from the rubble left by Israel’s 2012 assault on Gaza and was designed and constructed by acclaimed Gazan artist Shareef Sarhan. Shareef Sarhan was exiled in Paris and responded by rebuilding. He created a work of grief, memory and resistance – brought to Greenbelt by their friends, Amos Trust.

With justice very much at the centre of Greenbelt, this year as always, it felt like a very safe space to be. Lots to see and do, hear and eat, and perhaps most exciting of all, lots of new people to meet.

If study with CMS is something that interests you, it is not too late to sign up for a course this coming academic year, or look into an open event with a view to studying in 2026.

And if Greenbelt interests you, maybe we will see you there in the future, dreaming together in a field in 2026 or beyond!

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Our professional doctorate programme run in collaboration with the University of Roehampton adds to the richness and depth of the conversation about mission and pioneering.

On a sunny Thursday a few weeks back, Cathy Ross and I travelled into London on the train, to the University of Roehampton to meet with a group of doctoral students (pictured above) to help them put together their research plans ahead of beginning the research phase of their programme.

This is the sixth year we have had CMS students studying their doctorate at the University of Roehampton, focusing on themes around mission and pioneering.

We see having doctoral students as a key way to encourage and support research into mission and pioneering and it has been great to see the wealth of subjects being studied by our students.

We have students studying questions of innovation, emergence, the Holy Spirit in mission, pioneering and church, spirituality, prayer and many more, all through a lens of mission and engaging with lived practice. 

One of the beauties of the DTh programme at Roehampton is the fact that for the first two years students get to journey with fellow doctoral students as they focus their research topic and develop the skills they need to do the research.  

As Jo Allen, in her first year of the DTh with us, commented, “I love the opportunity to design my research with others on my course, bouncing ideas of each other and exploring new avenues that I wouldn’t find on my own.”

They study two modules each year and meet six times throughout the year to learn together. 

While Cathy and I were meeting with the second year students who are reaching the end of the taught stage and putting together the details of the research plans, the first years were also meeting, thinking about the other voices and writings within their chosen fields of study.

Ben Morgan Lundie, who is coming to the end of the second year, reflected: “I chose to study my DTh with Roehampton and CMS because the team are experts in practical theology and bring a missional edge to how we shape our projects. The last two years of the taught programme have stretched me intellectually and I am really looking forward to the next few years of research and writing.”

On each DTh teaching day we also have the opportunity to come together for the Practical Theology Seminar, where various academics in related fields are invited to come and share their research and thinking. 

On this most recent visit it was the turn of Dr Pat Jones from the University of Durham, who shared her research into abuse in the Catholic Church and the learning which has come from listening to a wide variety of voices and experiences. It was a powerful session, not just because of the content, but also Pat’s engaging and reflective presenting.

I look forward to these teaching days and the chance to think deeply with students and learn together. It has been a real joy to see people develop their research around their passions and their pioneering and mission practice, and to see the kinds of deep insights beginning to emerge from their careful work. 

I enjoy hearing people express the same feelings of joy and privilege that I feel from doing qualitative research; having the opportunity to listen to people talk about their lives and seeing the ways in which deep and careful listening opens up new learning and practice.  

Paul Bradbury, coming towards the end of his doctoral research commented, “The DTh programme gave me such a good grounding and support for carrying out my research into pioneering – it has been a fabulous process.”

We anticipate our first students finishing their doctorates over the next year, and look forward to helping them to share their learning and findings more widely. 

If you have something you have a burning passion to explore and find out about, do get in touch to explore the possibility of doing the doctorate with us.

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Lots of us want to get involved in mission in our own locality – but where to begin? We share some insights on how to get started.

Host Cathy Ross, leader of CMS Pioneer Mission Training in Oxford, garners insights on doing mission where we are:

• Ways in to mission in the neighbourhood – with James Butler
• Connecting with young people – with John Wheatley
• Connecting with new churches – with Sheila Akomiah-Conteh

Take part

For more webinars and events, please take a look at our Events page:

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Jesus arrived by boat at Weston-Super-Mare. Who knew? This is a local legend or myth that Jesus came by boat to Weston as a boy on his way to Glastonbury. 

The donkeys that can be seen on the local beach are descendants of the donkeys that came with Jesus – according to a tongue-in-cheek blog post. They arrived with Jesus but got bogged down in the mudflats at the beach so could not carry Jesus to Glastonbury. Now their descendants are still on the beach at Weston! 

Fanciful perhaps but a lovely local myth and something to be appreciated as we began our MA weekend with a meal in the home of Cathy and John Wheatley, and their two young daughters, who have lived there for 15 years. 

They have made their home on the Bournville estate, an estate that is locally disparaged. Cathy works for the local council and John is a volunteer pioneer youth worker relating with children and young people in the parks, on the streets and building partnerships for change. They are self-supporting and are well embedded in their local context.

John arranged a fantastic programme for the 10 of us who were there mid-March from the CMS MA programme. We were all hosted locally with very welcoming hosts.

We began in Cathy and John’s home by hearing about this estate on the Somerset coast. The next morning we visited the Healthy Living Centre, opposite their home, a multi-agency development and considered the strengths and weaknesses of this model. 

We set up our own cathedral tent in there for morning prayers – complete with stained glass windows – see the photos! John tells us that the young people love it!

The local Anglican and Methodist churches sold their buildings and now have their church inside this centre – not very visible but located in the heart of this centre. Is this a good approach?

From there we had delicious (and plentiful) fish and chips on the seafront (looking out for the donkeys) before attending a fantastic play, “The Old Pier” at a local community theatre, The Front Room, located in a former Pizza Express.  

The one-man show was about George who wants to leave his hometown. Nothing makes him more eager to do this than the sight of the ​Old Pier – a crumbling wreck on the edge of the ocean.

But at night, lights twinkle amongst the rubble… A ghostly steamship arrives in George’s bedroom which leads to a night of adventure and to his reconsidering his decision to leave Weston.

This set the scene superbly for us to have a conversation with Barney and Sara Barron, pioneers from Looe in Cornwall and Jade Zerk, a Baptist minister in the next coastal town, about life and ministry in coastal communities in Somerset and Cornwall. 

The following morning we met at the allotments which are free to anyone in the community to use – complete with fire pit (read toasted marshmallows) and pizza oven (read pizza and bread rolls)!

Here local youth worker Dylan Barker chatted with us about creative youth ministry, and Zoe Missen, a local youth worker from the YMCA about her experiences working there. Then after pizza it was all over, very sadly.

It was a fantastic weekend. As one student said,

“There is obvious value in reading research, books, and written accounts of pioneer missiology. But none can compare to seeing and feeling these contexts in action. A reflection of 15 years of decisions, effort, collaboration, relationship building, struggles, mistakes, repeated rhythms, all while following the disruptive Spirit of God.

“The depth of the experience offered to us by John, Cathy, their family, and collaborative partners has breathed new life into any vision I have for my role in pioneering mission.”

Others commented on seeing “being with” lived out rather than “doing to or for.” Another was inspired by their faith and creativity. And another was unexpectedly surprised by the resonance with her own context of rural ministry and she came away with new ideas. 

We all left inspired, challenged, humbled to see faithful, unassuming and creative ministry truly on the edges, done with few financial resources but with a lot of time, nurturing of good relationships and partnerships, a practical hospitality, a commitment to the local and a willingness to be in the neighbourhood for the long term. 

Thank you, Cathy and John.

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A recent research conversation day at CMS looked at fresh ways to express and think about pioneering and church planting.

One of our priorities at CMS is enabling thinking and theological engagement around mission and pioneer practice.

One of the ways we have sought to do this is through the doctoral programme that we offer in partnership with the University of Roehampton.

Another way has been through our conversation days where we invite different contributors who have been thinking and researching around mission, church, and pioneering. 

In March these two things came together when Paul Bradbury, one of our first doctoral students, gave us a snapshot on his doctoral research and the implications for pioneering and church.

Fresh expressions of pioneering?

Paul has been looking at the experience of pioneers within two Church of England dioceses. 

Through listening to what the pioneers do in their work, and how they talk about their pioneering, he is expressing pioneering and church in ways which take seriously the more emergent nature of their work.

He has noticed a tendency when thinking about church planting and new worshipping communities, to turn to models, but what he heard from the pioneers was a much more responsive approach to the formation of ecclesial communities. 

He described how:

• pioneers create space through their work for mutual dialogue, where the primary aim is be with each other, and learn from one another;
• this is part of what it means to participate in God’s mission, being together and learning together;
• in this space the pioneers journey with others, noticing how church is coming into being through the work of the Spirit;
• this idea of becoming church allows a much more dynamic understanding of church as a community on the move, rather than a fixed sense of what church is.

His account stimulated a great conversation with people in the room and those online, whose questions and comments encouraged discussion around discernment, the work of the Spirit, what a ‘models’ approach to church planting might offer, and how what Paul was discovering resonated with the practice of many pioneers in the room.

New churches: working with the Spirit

Later in the morning we reflected on the recent book New Churches: A Theology which a number of people from across the CMS network had contributed to, including Cathy Ross, Tina Hodgett, Paul Ayokunle, Paul Bradbury and me. 

Through a panel discussion format, the contributors discussed what we had valued in one another’s chapters. 

Paul Ayokunle’s chapter explored an omolúàbí understanding of church planting, drawing from a tradition within his own Yoruba Nigerian background. 

Through this tradition he expressed an emphasis on both the character of those planting churches, and on the way in which human agency and the Spirit’s agency work together.

In fact, Cathy pointed to an emphasis on the work of the Spirit being a theme across the different chapters we were discussing. We were pleased to have Rachel Edge from SCM Press with us, offering a discounted copy of the book. Do get hold of it and have a read.

We have two Conversation Days a year, which cover themes relevant to mission and pioneering and draw from the wealth of wisdom across our work and networks, particularly connecting it to the pioneer, African and Asian conversations we are developing in our MA programme.

Look out for future Conversations through our Pioneer Newsletter and Events page.

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“We Believe in… the Lord, the Giver of Life”: Polycentric Mission from and beyond Nicea: Reflections on Earthkeeping and Power

by Cathy Ross

17 March 2025

This was the title of the most recent conference of the Central and Eastern Association for Mission Studies held in Osijek, Croatia in February. Unexpectedly it led me to the following reflections on earthkeeping and power.

I was soon to learn that the Nicene Creed (2025 marks its 1,700th anniversary) of is a very important and foundational document for Orthodox Christians, theologians and missiologists.

It was fascinating to meet Orthodox Christians from Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia as well as Protestants and Pentecostals from these same countries.

I had been asked to reflect on our MA programmes and how we had integrated them with African and Asian streams as an example of polycentric mission.

Creed compels care for creation

One doctoral student from the Orthodox tradition presented on creation care and earthkeeping all based on the first line of the Nicene Creed.

He explained that Communist ideology had a “rapacious attitude” towards the environment and that the Creed challenges that. 

He told us that one day, as he recited the first line of the Creed, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen”, he got not further as he suddenly realised our responsibility as disciples who are called to care for creation, before God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

This then led him to begin a research project on creation care in his own context and to challenge the Orthodox church in Romania to be more committed to work towards a ‘green’ Romania.

Power and mission

Prof Klippies Kritzinger from South Africa presented some fascinating insights on power and mission.

He framed power around six concepts: power within, over, against, for, with and inward.

He claimed that we are not corrupted by power but rather we do power corruptly.

If we think of power as “the ability to act” then that was a new way for me to reflect on power.

I think I have always considered power negatively – and certainly there is much in our own and world politics to make us think like that – but perhaps it is just naive not to think more creatively about power and how we can use it for good.

He quoted South African activist Steve Biko who was killed by the apartheid state in 1977: “Powerlessness breeds a race of beggars.” If we are not be beggars and without any agency we need to leverage power appropriately.

A key principle of Citizens and of community organising is that power can change things and that as groups we can leverage power to change situations to make a difference.

Time to get up

Coming from South Africa, Klippies has a liberative approach to engaging in mission. He said that the first words of the gospel are not “turn around” (metanoia/repent) but “get up” and see who else is oppressed. That is an approach that requires the gift of sight and the willingness to exercise power.

Perhaps you might like to reflect on what power you may hold and have, not so much as an individual – although the very fact that you are reading this means you have some power – but in the groups you are part of and whether together you can begin to leverage that to make the world a better place.

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It is always exciting to teachers and their schools when students complete their studies and graduate. For us, here at CMS, it was extra special on 4 December when the first cohort of our African Christianity programme students graduated.

To those of us directly involved in running the programme, teaching and admin staff alike, it felt like the end of the first mile of a journey of many more miles.

We were happy to see that the dreams we – Missio Africanus and Church Mission Society – had a little over three years ago become reality right before our eyes.

Dreams becoming real

We dreamt of students journeying with us over a few years and coming out of the programme with a solid understanding of what God is doing among Africans and how African Christians are now at the very front of what God is doing in the world.

Seeing the smiling faces of the African Christianity graduands and hearing their exhilarating words of gratitude to everyone who helped make their days studying with us fruitful persuaded us that God’s hand is in this work. It is for this reason that we have launched a new pathway in our programme: Asian Christianity.

Each of the students graduating had a few words to say. Rosie spoke about the life-changing impact that the programme had on her understanding of God’s purposes for her life and her ministry.

World of new possibilities

Studying African Christianity and theology at CMS has been the exact piece she needed at this point of her academic and ministerial journey.

It opened for her a new and exciting world of possibilities as she finds herself at several intersections – in her career, ministry, and simply her existence as a female Christian leader of West Indian heritage in England.

Charles celebrated the simple fact that he had been able to study all he did on this programme. He comes from Ghana and serves as a pastor in the Church of Pentecost in London.

He spoke of how studying this programme at CMS has changed the way he leads his congregation in mission in inner-city London. He appreciated that the modules in this programme helped him understand himself as an African serving God in the global city of London.

Tools to share the good news

The programme helped him accumulate the adaptive tools he needs to be effective in sharing the good news of Jesus especially among those at the edges of society in London.

Angelina used a poem entitled ‘Click and Send’ to reflect on the profound journey of studying at CMS. She has graciously agreed for us to share it.

CLICK AND SEND
by Angelina Quamina

Captivated by my love for the Lord
Longing to find a place which positioned
the guidance of the Holy Spirit front and center.
Application completed click and send…

I embarked on a voyage of discovery;
as I clicked the link for Church Mission Society;
a step towards purpose realised.
Memories of our first class, Knowing no one;
we began to reflect together, in each class,
friendships blossomed and grew
as we began to unlearn what couldn’t serve us
as we actively listened to the thoughts and opinions of others…
WhatsApp Groups offering comfort and support
as the emotions of everyday integrated into our lives
navigating the hustle and bustle of life…
Time to submit… STOP, Click and Send

Doubts, fear, joy, peace, fellowship, encouragement, worship and prayer…
Words that have become second nature
Seeds planted as I reached forward to grab destiny
Years of discovery, journeying through the highs and the lows
Each conversation and moment brought us closer to graduation day
No longer will we click and send, the final button has been pressed….
Retirement approved…. purpose sought… We step forward…
His Jewels…. His pioneers of destiny
Locked on the Lord… Send Us…

These things – seeing happy students graduate and move on to touch the world for God – are the best experience every teacher hopes for. We get to experience that often because of the many great students God sends us.

We are grateful to them for allowing us to be used by God to share our knowledge and experiences to help them along the journey of their ministries. In the end, all glory belongs to God.

Your opportunity to study

A new cohort of students will join us in September. We are in the process of recruiting for this new cohort.

If you are interested in studying African and Asia Christianity, or you know anybody who you believe may be interested, please, get in touch with us by sending an email to helen.harwood@churchmissionsociety.org.

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The feasting of Christmas and Epiphany may be over but behold! – arriving in bookshops and online is a feast of thought, research and story from the community of people who have in recent years enabled the genesis of new churches.

New Churches: A Theology by Will Foulger and Joshua Cockayne (eds)

A number of teachers on CMS pioneer courses as well as contributors to the Anvil journal have provided chapters, along with practitioners and thinkers from across the church.

They serve up a tasty banquet of 12-page reads reflecting a diverse range of approaches to starting and thinking about starting new churches.

Topics cover, for example, Anglo-Catholic church-planting (does it happen?!), church planting as a craft based on medieval guilds, an exploration of church planting hints in Romans 16, and community organising as a resource for church planting. Plus Thomas Aquinas on asking for help!

Is your appetite whet yet?

The editors offer a thoughtful introduction as to why such a book is needed. They suggest that the doers – those who get on with the business of starting new things – and the reflectors – those who are wary of ‘jettisoning the task of real, slow, deep theological reflection’ on any area of practice may need a conversation with each other if new churches are to arise faithfully (if at all).

The introduction addresses some of the binaries that have grown up around the conversation: theory and practice; old churches and new; pioneering and church planting.

The book takes a non-partisan stance, speaking generously of pioneers and planters, recognising their different instincts, suggesting that pioneering has a particular part to play in enabling the church to remember that mission is about the slow, patient and emerging work of God in real people’s lives among those who will never come to any of ‘our’ churches.

It was a joy to me to see how many of the CMS pioneer community had peppered (or salted) the book with some compelling themes to a wider readership.

Paul Bradbury writes about small, simple, slow communities; James Butler about contextualised mission spirituality and the agency of the Holy Spirit; Paul Adekunle offers an ecclesiology drawn from the overlaps between Yoruba culture and Christian ethics; Cathy Ross directs our attention to the edges and to the place of surprise in mission work; I (Tina Hodgett) write about co-creating churches playfully.

There is much to savour, digest, find nourishment from. It’s pricey at £30 but I hope your resourceful networking may enable a copy is shortly delivered to your door. Bon appetit!

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“It seems their studies really were treasure.” Dr Cathy Ross, leader of CMS Pioneer Mission Training Oxford, listens to students reflecting at our 2024 graduation.

“Old, new and unexpected treasure.” This was how one of our graduating students, Laura Evans, framed her reflection on her studies here at the Graduation on 4 December. It was a joyful occasion, especially seeing the first cohort of students graduate from the African Christianity pathway. 

The theme was “Revealing what is hidden” from Colossians 1:26: “the mystery that has been kept hidden for generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people”.

It was moving to hear the student reflections of how they had experienced their studies. It seemed their studies really were treasure. 

Laura said that what she had learned during her pioneer studies had added to her treasure chest and shaped her to go and do her pioneering. 

She also reflected on now having a treasure map of friends across country, a network of pioneers who can help, provide comfort in difficulties, encourage in doubts and celebrate the highs. She said that this was her “greatest unexpected treasure.”

Alan Griggs reflected on all the treasures he had discovered during his three years on the course – listening, learning from difference and diversity, letting go of power, collaborating, taking time to reflect, creating space for others, living with complexity, leading with vulnerability, celebrating the small. He has also found a language to express his pioneering calling. 

Perhaps most moving was hearing him express how he had found treasure in himself. He said, “I have found treasure in me! I am amazed that I have finished an MA as someone who left school without any qualifications!” So there is room for everyone on our courses!

Angelina Quamina, who graduated from the first African Christianity cohort, wrote a beautiful poem reflecting on some of her experience of unlearning, listening and new friendships,

Knowing no one; we began to reflect together,
in each class, friendships blossomed and grew as we
began to unlearn what couldn’t serve us as we
Actively listened to the thoughts and opinions of others….
WhatsApp Groups offering comfort and support as
the emotions of everyday integrated into our lives –

Along with their certificate each graduand is presented with a hand-crafted tile which represents the theme of the graduation for that year. These have a carved path which has always represented the journey of the pioneer.

Iain Cotton, the artist, explains this year’s design: “This year the path appears more like an archaeologist’s trench on the site of the tile. This is pioneering as a work of excavation, searching for wisdom. The treasure is represented by a splash of gold leaf – perhaps spilling over the edge of the excavation into the landscape of the tile.”

We love this piece of art and think it is a brilliant memento for the students to remember their learning and the community of friends they have discovered. 

The focal point of the graduation was a light box decorated with pieces of coloured glass which had been excavated from sand and water by the attendees. 

As we dug around for this treasure we were encouraged to ask one another what treasure have you found in your lives so far, in your pioneering ministries and work, in those wider and unexpected places and spaces. 

Perhaps those are good questions to ponder for the rest of this Advent season.

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After her own experience of walking part of the North Wales Pilgrim Way, Natalie Burfitt spoke to two experienced pioneer pilgrims to find out more about pilgrimage and why it might be a good practice for pioneers.

Inspired by the BBC2 programme Pilgrimage, where seven celebrities (who else?) took two weeks to walk the North Wales Pilgrim Way, I managed three days of this route earlier this year. The sense of this as an embodied spiritual practice grew with the days, even in this shortened version. 

I wanted to find out more about pilgrimage and why it’s a good practice for pioneers to consider. I talked to Ash Barker who leads Newbigin Pioneer Hub in Winson Green and Cathy Chapman who is currently studying there for the certificate in pioneer mission. They are both regular walkers of pilgrim trails, both in the UK and Europe.

They began by telling me how they got into pilgrimage:

Cathy: I was working in Rwanda with VSO and I met an Irish woman who told me about the Camino de Santiago. She was very funny – and something in her story really attracted me. Then I saw some pilgrims when I was holiday and was intrigued.

The other thing that was important was that I’d recently returned to church after a time away and I wanted to do something meaningful – a demonstration that I was walking back to God and pilgrimage seemed to fit that. 

My first pilgrimage wasn’t this serious thing I’d been expecting – it brought me so much joy that I became quite a fan of walking them!

Ash: On my 50th birthday, I was desperate to go to the Holy Land and I came across a fundraising walk for a hospital there, walking from Nazareth to Capernaum with a group and I thought. “I want to do that, I want to connect with the land not just go on a bus.”

As a pioneer, place and place-making has been a really important theme, and so I loved sitting in those places that Jesus had sat – being physically present to place and people. 

And then other friends from Australia were doing the Camino and St Cuthbert’s Way and I joined them.

When I got to my sabbatical, I was pretty exhausted and really needed to look after my health a bit better and preparing for a two week walk of the Camino Portuguese was instrumental in a re-set. The walk was a magnificent experience.

So pilgrimage is good for personal renewal and also an embodied, experiential enactment of the spiritual journey?

Ash: Yes, and that happens around three areas. One is a self-awareness of your whole being. Pioneering can be a head and spirit preoccupation but this makes you reconnect with your body. It’s also time with God and it’s about personal growth. For me, in this second half of life, it’s really important that I make time to reflect, to be a human being not a human doing.

As regulars to this practice, how has it developed? And how does it relate to your pioneering?

Ash: We take our local people on pilgrimages and they LOVE it! We do it with a support bus so that if people get stuck, they can ride the bus for a while – we make it really accessible. 

Walking these sacred walks together has been beautiful. Two of our guys got baptised on Holy Island this summer. 

For a pioneer, it’s all those things that we seek coming together – the community building, the journey, the discipleship, the mission. 

For a lot of our people, just being away from the local context and being out in nature under those big skies creates a liminal space where they can open up and experience new things. 

And the strength of connections that are built is remarkable – five days of pilgrimage is worth a year of meetings! We all feel we know each other a lot better – snoring and burping and farting together!

Cathy: I’m more comfortable as a pilgrim than a pioneer at the moment as I’m just learning pioneering. 

There are a lot of similarities with pioneering – things unfold. In pilgrimage, each day is different, you respond to who you meet and what needs occur. You are putting yourself “in the way of beauty” – you’re opening yourself up to conversation in a way that nothing else can as you’re sharing the journey.

I’ve done different pilgrimages and they’ve taught me different things. One of trips took me to Greece where I volunteered with a UN resettlement programme for refugees.

My pilgrimage was, in a small part, standing in solidarity with those who have journeyed across continents by human power. Obviously, it’s a lot easier for me – but even then, something that you think is going to be difficult turned out to be a real joy. 

Walking really helped me to have first-hand experience, both by hearing people’s stories, and in my own journeying, of what human migration is like with families scattered across borders, trying to find life but living on the edges.

Ash: We’ve also experienced this ‘borderland’ world that forms in you this pilgrim approach to life. You’re not quite sure of the rules any more, it can be dangerous but also incredibly innovative and creative. You really need faith, hope and love. We do pilgrimages but you bring back that mindset to your pioneer practice.

What would you say to people considering a pilgrimage walk for the first time?

Cathy: Do it!

Ash: Yes, try it out – honestly, you won’t regret trying it. Even if it’s not for you or your group in the end, you won’t regret trying it. You might even love it like we do. And you get fit by doing it – so don’t worry about your fitness level.

Cathy: Maybe start with just a day trip. Get a group together and maybe pick a theme like ‘nature’ and you’ll find as the day progresses that conversations just happen. It’s such a natural thing for humans to walk side by side and talk. It features in the Bible a lot doesn’t it? Jesus is always walking – moving from place to place, up mountains on his own – it’s how he does life.

Ash: Pilgrimage is different to hiking. There’s a sacredness to pilgrimage. Places like the Camino carry you. You can start with a small introduction. We do the walk across the causeway to Holy Island which only takes an hour and we encourage people to be quiet, to ponder their own journey, to try out the practice.

Cathy: If you want to travel abroad for your pilgrimage, do look at overland travel rather than flying! Make all of your journeying part of your activism.

Ash Barker regularly runs pilgrimages that you can join. Go to the Seedbeds website for booking information.

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