Spiritual hunger in the Middle East leading to “discipleship gap” say local Christian leaders

Behind today’s worrying headlines, and amid turmoil, displacement and deep trauma across the Middle East, Christian leaders in the region report an extraordinary spiritual awakening – one they say is gathering momentum at a pace not witnessed in generations. Now, many of these leaders are calling upon their counterparts throughout the world to join with them and “prepare for the harvest”. They caution that without joint efforts, there’s a risk of a “discipleship gap” developing.

In a recent interview with Church Mission Society (CMS), S,* a regional leader who serves with a CMS partner organisation, describes a “massive and genuine search for God” emerging from the heart of crisis. She explained war, migration, political instability and global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have created a moment of unprecedented openness to Jesus: “Although the world is in chaos, God has been preparing the scene for the biggest revival ever. People have been dragged out of the normal rhythms of life and into deep pain – and in their pain, they are truly searching for God.”

Shaking leads to awakening

According to S and others, the spiritual hunger now visible across the region began during the global pandemic and continued amid tumultuous world events and ensuing instability: “Everything is shaking,” she said. “But in the unseen, God has been preparing hearts.” In several Middle Eastern nations, people displaced by war and/or disillusioned by corruption are encountering faith in Jesus for the first time. One woman told S that if she had not lost her home and been forced to flee from Syria, “I would never have met Jesus.”

A surging movement – and a massive challenge

As large numbers – reportedly tens of thousands – of people living in the Middle East begin exploring Christian faith, the need for support structures is becoming acute. As crackdowns on religious freedom and missionaries in some countries increase, many new believers, especially those from Muslim backgrounds, cannot safely or comfortably attend traditional churches. “They need love, acceptance, a safe community,” said S, adding, “They need help discovering their identity in God. And many churches in the region simply aren’t equipped for this.” This reality has led to a rapidly expanding network of house churches and online Bible study groups across the region where believers live out their faith more secretly. Yet, a frequent question these days is, with such demand, who will lead these groups and guide these men, women and children in following Jesus?

Andy Roberts, CEO and previous mission director of CMS, said, “Though people are turning to Jesus in large numbers, the risk is that without steady, contextual, locally-led discipleship, a huge portion will turn away due to pressures they often face from their communities. There is in a very real sense, a discipleship gap growing in the Middle East, which means that if we don’t act at this pivotal moment, this could adversely affect the future of the body of Christ there.” In light of this, CMS is currently making it a mission priority to equip and encourage believers in places where they are still in a pressured minority.

Making the most of this moment

Roberts outlined four key strategic efforts being put into place so as not to lose momentum:

• Equipping and Discipleship – Training local believers to disciple the growing number of seekers and new Christians.
• Raising Quality Local Leaders – Empowering young, skilled leaders who understand the culture, trauma and challenges faced by new believers from another faith background.
• Innovative Digital Outreach – Using social media and modern communication tools to reach audiences who cannot access physical churches.
• Planting Home Churches – Establishing safe, discreet communities where people can explore faith and grow spiritually.

S emphasised that the key to sustaining the movement lies in unity, humility and collaboration across Christian organisations. She also says, “We cannot continue with ‘business as usual. The harvest is huge. We must work together in new ways. God is connecting modern day Esthers, Josephs and Daniels – ordinary people with an extraordinary purpose.” She added: “Revival will come from the nameless and faceless, grassroots; small groups are good but they need to be connected.”

S concluded: “This is a unique opportunity. We are about to witness the biggest harvest the world has ever seen. We believe churches and individuals in the UK have a vital role to play. We need partnership. Each organisation has an edge – something they do best. If we bring those strengths together, we can meet the enormous needs on the ground.

“Evangelism and salvation are important but growth in Christ is just as important if not more so. We have to nurture the seeds that have been planted or they will get snatched away.”

[* Name withheld for security reasons]

Related posts

Get our email updates:

SIGN UP

The post Spiritual hunger in the Middle East appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Kiran, Rida and Farah all grew up in devout Muslim families in the Middle East. Choosing to follow Jesus made them outsiders in their communities. But today these three women find themselves on the cutting edge of mission – helping hundreds of others follow Jesus. 

Meeting Jesus

Kiran, Rida and Farah all came to Lebanon as refugees from Syria with their families in recent years. As refugees, they were already pushed to the edges: outsiders living in a foreign culture, away from almost everyone they knew and loved. Little did they know, they would soon be pushed to the edges even more.

Kiran used to live in Beirut, not far from a church which has had links with CMS for several years. Kiran would often pass the church on her way to the market, and remembers seeing a Bible verse on the door: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “I felt like that message was meant just for me,” she says. One day, Kiran went in. As she stepped inside, a woman started apologising to her, saying the church wasn’t giving away food or other supplies that day. Kiran explained that she wanted to know what was happening in this building. Why had she seen so many people coming out with smiles on their faces? This was the beginning of Kiran’s faith journey, and not long after, she started following Jesus and became part of the church.

Farah and Rida also visited churches near where they lived and were both touched by Matthew 5:44: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you. “That really stayed with me – there’s nothing like that in the Quran,” says Farah. Rida read the entire Bible and ultimately found “no violence or hostility” in it, in stark contrast to the violence of ISIS she had witnessed in Syria. It wasn’t long before Farah and Rida gave their lives to the Lord, too.

Pushed even further to the edges

For Kiran, Rida and Farah, making the choice to follow Jesus was costly. All three women faced intense opposition to their faith.

“When I was first exploring faith, I felt that the devil was telling me that it would be better for me to keep living in darkness,” remembers Kiran. And things got worse: the day she was baptised, Kiran’s father-in-law kicked her out of the house and her entire extended family cut all contact with her.  

Farah’s husband used to offer her money and more freedom if she stayed away from church and he would punish the children for singing Sunday school songs and asking questions about Jesus.

Rida’s uncles ridiculed her and one of them declared that killing her would be permissible because she had left Islam. In his eyes, she had dishonoured the family.

But in the face of hostility, divorce, rejection from family and friends and even death threats, these women are still standing strong today.

Learning to lead

Kiran, Rida and Farah’s pastors introduced them to a CMS partner called TN, a movement of Christians helping disciples grow in Christlike character and develop their leadership skills. TN offers ministry training specially tailored to Muslim-background believers (MBBs), including in-person training in groups as well as regular one-to-one support. This helps people like Kiran, Rida and Farah to grow in their relationship with Jesus and develop spiritual practices to sustain them in their faith as well as equipping them to share their faith and disciple others.

Rida serves in southern Lebanon, a region which is 90–95 per cent Shia Muslim. She had been sharing Jesus and discipling people there for two or three years when she did some training with TN. Through the training, she was encouraged to consider how to make her ministry even more effective. Rida was supported as as she came to focus on discipling young people.  

Farah found the training with TN gave her practical tools to share the gospel and make disciples. “The training strengthened me, encouraged me in my calling and made me a better servant of the Lord,” she says. Farah is now looking after two small groups and is discipling followers of Jesus from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds.

Kiran was already sharing Jesus and making disciples in six areas in southern Lebanon. Following the TN training, Kiran is now ministering in 12 areas, looking after 16 discipleship groups and over 200 families.

TN’s training has helped Kiran, Rida and Farah and many other women build a solid foundation of faith and provides the ongoing support they need when things get tough. And they know they are connected to a whole network of Christians that stretches across the Middle East and North Africa.

Related posts

Get our email updates:

SIGN UP

The post The powerful witness of women in the Middle East appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Could picking up a magazine really change your life? For two young men in the Middle East, that is how they came to learn more about an intriguing figure called Jesus.

Baraa was far from home, toiling in the hot sun to provide for his family. This was a far cry from his family’s revered heritage in Syria, the war-torn home Baraa and his family had fled in desperation. Life was reduced to a daily struggle to survive.

Baraa had been born into a Muslim family, with one of his grandfathers a notable sheikh. His early upbringing was shaped by this background of faith and ancient tradition. However, the safety of home was shattered by war in Syria and the family sought refuge in neighbouring Lebanon, along with around two million fellow Syrians.

Gone were the security and opportunities of normal life – 90 per cent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty.¹ Like them, Baraa’s family needed a source of income to survive. This led 16-year-old Baraa to find labouring work in the city of Sidon, taking on the responsibility of providing for his mother and sisters.

Growing curiosity

While working, Baraa came across a group of fellow refugees who seemed to have a greater purpose in their lives beyond the daily grind of just surviving. What he saw of the group made Baraa curious.

As he tried to find out more, he was given a magazine called Spark (produced by a CMS partner organisation), which introduced Bible verses and a Christian message.

As he read these pages, Baraa felt as if his eyes were being opened, yet at the same time he was conflicted – these words were not those of the faith he had grown up with.

Journey of exploration

Baraa began a journey of spiritual exploration, with questions swirling in his mind, and members of the group walked alongside him. One of these believers in Jesus in particular had similar Syrian Muslim roots to Baraa, so understood the questions and challenges he was navigating.

As he explored this new faith further, Baraa found Jesus increasingly compelling.

At a discipleship gathering he voiced his decision for the first time: he intended to follow Jesus. Baraa continued his discipleship journey with this community of believers and was baptised into his newfound faith.

Within this discipleship group (which includes workers from CMS’s partner) he continues to deepen his faith and find solace and strength despite the challenges of his life as a refugee.

Sparking conversations

Spark is an evangelistic magazine produced by one of CMS’s partners in the Middle East. It shares the foundations of the Christian faith in an attractive design, and includes the text of John’s Gospel. During 2023, 90,000 copies were distributed.

This partner’s team train churches and home groups to use a discipleship version with both nominal Christian and non-Christian young people. At the end of 2023 there were 88 discipleship groups, each with 14 or 15 young people.

Baraa isn’t alone in seeing his life changed after picking up a copy of Spark. Hussein is a young man who lives in another part of the Middle East and loves to learn new things. One day he stumbled upon an old copy of Spark.

Intrigued, he began to read. As he read, his excitement grew, as did his desire to know more.

Spark magazine helps small groups learn more about Jesus and grow in faith Pray with us for people like Baraa and Hussein to meet Jesus and to be encouraged in their faith by local Christians and resources such as Spark magazine.

New possibilities

One of the team at CMS’s partner organisation saw how excited Hussein was, describing him as “like a thirsty person drinking water”, and came to talk to him.

Hussein shared how much he loved the magazine, explaining that it made him see the world in a new way and lifted darkness from his heart.

This worker chatted further with Hussein, asking him questions to help him think about his beliefs.

Hussein saw the possibility of a new path ahead of him, free from fear. He was drawn to Jesus’ teachings and wanted to find out more about faith in Christ.

As his journey continued, Hussein placed his trust in Jesus and has started a new chapter of his life in which he has found peace and trust in the goodness of God.

Pray together

Pray with us for people like Baraa and Hussein to meet Jesus and to be encouraged in their faith by local Christians and resources such as Spark magazine.

1. https://www.unhcr.org/uk/countries/lebanon ︎

Related posts

Get our email updates:

SIGN UP

The post Sparks of new life in the Middle East appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Editorial: Learning faith | ANVIL volume 39 issue 2

by James Butler

Discipleship, faith formation, learning and training are important themes within mission and the church. At Church Mission Society there is a particular interest in how people grow and develop in faith, and their gifting around mission and pioneering. Within denominations, the questions of faith development are high up the agenda, particularly with declining church attendance and the decreasing prominence of faith in the West. This edition of ANVIL picks up the question of how people learn, grow and develop in faith. It presents some of the fruits of the Methodist learning research project carried out at the University of Roehampton and funded by the Susanna Wesley Foundation. By turning to the everyday experiences of faith and learning within eight sites across the British Methodist Church, the project sought to develop a grassroots account of what we came to call “faith learning” and draw wider insights for how churches and groups approach the questions of discipleship, learning and growing in faith.

Some of the key themes that emerged from the project, and are reflected on in detail within the articles and interviews in this edition of ANVIL, concern the importance of conversation, informal spaces and care in faith learning. As the articles in this edition will describe, while much of the attention within narratives of discipleship and faith formation focuses on formal learning through courses, Bible studies and sermons, very often the most significant times of faith learning happened in the midst of everyday life. It was through life events, big and small, through informal conversations, in the chance encounters that took place, and through the long-term relationships of life lived together that faith was shaped and changed. This will not be a surprise to most people, and as we share these insights, people often recount similar stories and experiences from their own lives. However, what we have felt as a team is that the significance of the informal and conversational nature of learning is yet to be seriously integrated into the accounts of discipleship and faith formation, and its implications for mission and evangelisation are yet to be deeply and practically understood, in ways that keep them central. There is a need to learn how to honour and value the informal without somehow trying to formalise it or instrumentalise it for our courses and discipling methods. In the articles and interviews within this edition we hope that there will be much to stimulate your own reflections and thinking around faith and learning, and some helpful and constructive ways to honour and value the kinds of faith learning we saw within the project, in churches and mission contexts.

This edition begins with a brief introduction to the research project and to the methodology used. The short article “Researching the grassroots experience of faith learning” provides a summary of the research project and an introduction to theological action research. This gives the context for the rest of the articles and will provide a point of reference for some of the terms used in the rest of the edition. The nature of collaborative research projects like this is that the different teams, research sites and participants have all experienced the journey differently and learned different things. By hearing from multiple voices across the research, this edition of ANVIL provides multiple perspectives on the project, in keeping with our commitment to paying attention to diverse voices, and to the renewal of grassroots practice. In the light of the whole project these different accounts, within the articles and interviews, act like a prism that refracts that light differently depending on the context, experience and role of the writer, resulting in different patterns of faith and learning.

The University of Roehampton reflector team have written the three main articles. The first is from Clare Watkins, the principal investigator on the project, who was particularly struck by the richness of the accounts of church and mission within rural settings. So often the rural church is seen as being in need of the resources and support of thriving urban congregations, and yet Clare’s article highlights the many ways in which rural churches, though small and fragile, have much to offer the conversation too and are themselves a gift to urban and suburban churches.

I was the researcher on the project, carrying out much of the data collection. For me one of the most interesting things has been the way that the very ordinary accounts of people I have met have seriously challenged the narratives around discipleship that are often pushed in church and mission settings. I heard how people’s faith was shaped and changed by the ordinary and everyday experiences of life, and how that shaped much of what they did. In contrast to the impression that many people in churches simply fill the pews on Sunday, I met faithful people acting in generous and servant-hearted ways in their families and communities, which was often invisible to the churches they attended. In this paper I explore how these insights can help us move away from thinking of discipleship as something that a leader initiates, and instead put the Spirit’s work and everyday life at the centre of learning and discipleship.

The third article is co-written by Sue Miller, Stan Brown and Graham Jones. Given that this was a project focused on British Methodism, they particularly explore the ways the insights of the project relate to, illuminate and draw on Methodist and Wesleyan accounts. Making connections between the insights of the project and many of the recent initiatives of British Methodism, they demonstrate that this is in keeping with the historic emphasis on holiness within Methodism, and argue that seeking wisdom is at the heart of grassroots learning.

The project focused on eight different research sites. One of the research sites was the Wales Learning Network and the fourth article describes this group’s experience of being a local research team. Delyth Davies, part of the network, writes about her experience of the project and the way in which participating in the project shaped the network’s work. She particularly draws out the ways in which conversation and relationships became key focal points for their engagement with churches and groups.

The last three articles are short interviews with participants in the project. We asked them to reflect a bit on their experiences of learning and some of the insights from the project. We gave all three pseudonyms to protect their identity. Liz reflects on her experience of life-long learning and the way she has been shaped by the people and places around her. Eleanor talks about how participating in the project caused her to look a little differently at learning and how her own journey as a pioneer has shaped her learning since. Finally, Sarah spoke about how her own faith has been shaped by her experiences and about being a family worker in her local Methodist church. She reflects on the learning she has seen around her in the families she connects with.

As always, we have a healthy selection of book reviews of recently published books around mission, pioneering and theology from our broad team of reviewers. We hope you enjoy this edition of ANVIL. If you have enjoyed exploring the themes in this edition, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that a book about the project will be coming out in 2024 (hopefully!).

About the author

James Butler is pioneer MA lecturer and assistant coordinator for Pioneer Mission Training at Church Mission Society. He teaches in the areas of mission, ecclesiology and practical theology. His PhD explored how small missional communities sustain their social action. He also works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Roehampton, researching themes of learning, discipleship and social action.

More from this issue

The post Editorial: learning faith appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Church Mission Society’s new director of international mission, Andy Roberts, reflects on relocating from Brazil (where he and his wife founded ReVive, a charity working with vulnerable children) to Britain, making disciples and unlearning colonialism. He shares his hopes for the future for CMS with Naomi Rose Steinberg.

What will be the hardest part about moving to the UK?

The biggest challenge will be for our family: Rose, my wife, is Brazilian. For her and our kids it will be their first extended time away from our Brazilian family. I’ve lived in Brazil for almost half my life. Maybe I’m too Brazilian now for British tastes?

Why not stay in Brazil?

With ReVive, we’ve been lucky to pioneer something that God placed in our hearts. It might be comfortable to stay. But it’s time to pass things to local leadership, which I’m passionate about. And to take on this fantastic role. Even though CMS is 200+ years old, it feels as if something new is happening: with our founding principles in mind, we’re entering a new stage of pioneering.

Speaking of local leadership, in your experience, is there a good model/formula for partnership between Westerners and non-Westerners in mission?

We didn’t follow a model, though we’ve seen firsthand what not to do: how ministries can be starved of life by a foreign missionary holding onto control when there are local leaders waiting and willing to take things on.

So I wouldn’t say there’s a blueprint, but the foreign missionary has to be willing to share leadership and responsibility. Mission is an interchange.

Are you concerned that you’ve imported a Western model into Brazil?

When I first came to Brazil at age 18 I had a white saviour mentality. I remember thinking basically, “These Brazilians are so blessed because I’m coming.” But I didn’t speak the language, I didn’t know the culture.

I soon realised I had much to learn, from the street kids and from the local church. Though in material poverty, they were spiritually richer than I was. Coming back to the UK after six months, I was broken.

For my next outing to Brazil, I was ready to learn. And I’d met Rose and she helped me. She’d say, “That doesn’t work here, that’s not how you speak to people, that’s not how you run meetings.”

I learned organically. And our ministry developed in a less colonial way I hope. But of course, it’s a challenge to evaluate this impartially.

You were young on that first trip, but you aren’t exactly old now. Will this be an advantage or disadvantage in this new job?

I am very aware of my youth and my whiteness. I think we’re moving away from assuming leaders should be older, white, British, male. I am British, but I hope to come with a Latino heart and youthful enthusiasm, including enthusiasm for combatting colonial tendencies that still exist despite great efforts to move past them.

For example, there’s increasing focus on working with local partners; we need to ensure this isn’t just rhetoric, that we are truly listening to our global family. I’m hoping my experience of learning to be guest, not host, will translate on a larger scale.

Not to be too provocative, but if, after decades of trying to be less colonial, it’s still a struggle, should we stop sending Westerners?

I think God calls people overseas and as disciples of Jesus we should be involved in global and local mission. But I recently read about a UK pastor who spent three weeks in India teaching people how to preach. I thought, “What does he know about preaching in an Indian context?” So, we must ask, what is the nature of our involvement? Are we coming from a place where we truly believe God is already at work in another context?

You used the word “disciple”. How much do you think of your role as disciple-making and how can you tell if someone is a disciple?

I think everything we do in mission is ultimately about making and building disciples. A disciple loves and follows Jesus and is making more disciples.

And I’d go a step further – a disciple is someone who’s involved in God’s mission. You cannot be a follower of Jesus without understanding that you’re called to mission.

When you look at the global picture, what are some key trends affecting mission?

Most foreign missionaries are being sent to nations with a strong Christian presence. Fewer people are going to where it’s harder to be a Christian. CMS is sensing a call to partner with people in spaces with minimal Christian presence.

Also, as technology becomes ever more universal, I’m inspired by digital opportunities. I also feel the continuing pull to unlearn colonialism.

The Bible doesn’t say God so loved the world that he sent money or signed a contract – he sent himself. So going back to your question, should we still send people – Jesus sent himself. So we need to do likewise. But the Bible says Jesus emptied himself – we must walk in humility as we go.

Pray

Pray for Andy in his new role and for him, Rose and the children as they settle into their new home.

Related stories

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Back for the future appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Medhat is a local partner working across the Middle East. Here he tells how people have come to hear the good news of Jesus both in person and online, even during lockdowns.

“I was afraid I was on my own!” This was the first thing that A, a professional man in Cairo, said when we connected him with another Christian at his workplace.

My ministry is all about connecting those exploring faith with Christians in their local area. I build and maintain a network of trusted volunteers who connect with seekers near them. Our volunteers answer questions about anything related to our faith and connect people with other local Christians, and help source any materials they might need.

A’s faith journey had begun when some Islamic hardliners made references that A wanted to investigate further. As he researched those references, A came across some Christian programmes. He contacted the makers of one programme and subsequently said, “I accepted Christ as my Lord and now I feel like a newborn baby living a new life.”

On meeting A, our volunteer noticed the joy on his face. A expressed a desire to be baptised, though he was also afraid. Our partner encouraged him not to rush into baptism before some discipleship to prepare, and met with him twice a week to learn and study the Bible together. In one of his first discipleship meetings A brought his friend and started sharing about Jesus – A is very eager to reach people around him with the good news.

Network connections

Like A, many others get in touch as a result of TV and radio broadcasts, social media posts and other online material. Some have seen broadcasts from our organisation and contact us directly, others get in touch with media organisations with whom we work closely – we support those organisations by connecting seekers with our volunteers.

Another part of my work is in empowering local churches and home churches to use the internet – so this area of work has become very important in the last year.

Normally, I would travel to encourage our volunteers, as well as speaking to them regularly by phone. Although I have not been able to travel over the last year, I continue to be encouraged as our volunteers share stories of God at work. God is doing great things even in this pandemic – we see people coming to Christ and lives changed.

Finding a family

L is a university student from a Muslim background, studying in a different country to where she grew up. She lived there with her mum, but then her mum died and she was totally alone, far from family. L has been very lonely since her mother’s death, and has gone through trauma in her life.

Several years ago, L and her mother had been introduced to a church, but felt their faith was not taken seriously. A partner organisation connected with L online over several months, and now she is in touch with a female volunteer from our network. She reported that, “L is a wonderful girl and has a strong faith and loves the Lord Jesus a lot,” and L would like to be baptised. L is being linked up to a Zoom discipleship group and our volunteer meets her regularly and takes her to church, and they celebrated Christmas together.

Our volunteer hopes to see her get to know faithful believers in her city who can encourage her faith and make her feel like she has family.

Small beginnings

One of our field partners, a pastor, met with an Iraqi refugee woman who had requested discipleship. As he met with her, he was also put in touch with another woman in the same city, a refugee from a different country who wanted to learn more about Jesus. After several visits, the pastor decided to start a house church meeting in one of their homes and encouraged them to invite others. Now there are over 25 members in that meeting excluding the children!

Developments online

During the pandemic, we have further developed the material we put online, to engage seekers and to support our partners.

Up to now, we have mainly given training and resources to our volunteers on the ground, to help them to answer questions as they meet with seekers. Now we are also giving that support to our media partners who are engaging with such questions online by creating a website bringing together relevant information.

We are also responding to the fact that people are having dreams and seeing Jesus, but not understanding what they are dreaming or why. We’ve created a visions and dreams Facebook page to help them explore this, and to connect them with the good news.

Pray

Please pray for Medhat, and for all of the young Christians and seekers his team meet virtually and in person, that they will find fellowship with local Christians and grow in faith.

Related stories

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Casting a network for spiritual seekers appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Andrea Campanale of Sacred Space Kingston shares her learning

STEP 1 Gather people

I run a missional community called Sacred Space Kingston. I started it five years ago, having done outreach to spiritual seekers at New Age type fairs since 2005. It began because those who had come to faith found it nearly impossible to settle into conventional church. The services were too long and they felt they had little in common with the regular members of the congregation. I was also gathering people who had been in church for a while and who wanted more space to question and experiment with Christian disciplines from other traditions, as well as be more intentional about mission. It seemed like a logical next step to pull these folk together into a missional community.

STEP 2 Develop a rhythm

I deliberately wanted us to be very different from what we’d come from, so we began with a very relaxed, informal and relational style. We met in ones and twos to build relationships, and would come together as a bigger group for meals every couple of months. After about a year, everyone was begging for more structure. This was because it was so fluid people were struggling to work out who we were and what our purpose for being actually was. So we developed a rhythm for meeting throughout the month. We now have prayer every other Thursday evening at someone’s house, one Monday evening a month we join with Kingston United Reformed Church for a Christian meditation and we have a community meal once a month where we break bread and extend hospitality to those who are not yet members of our community or another church.

The men decided they wanted to do their own thing in addition to this regular pattern of meeting. So they go out for a curry, take a long walk that ends at a pub or go off-roading. These activities happen as and when it suits them. We also have a community meeting twice a year where we hear what everyone is up to, review what’s working well for the community and decide where we might need to change in order to keep pace with what people are doing.

STEP 3 Prioritise relationship

I think what makes what we do distinct is that the relationships are real and honest. Most of us have had, or support someone with, a mental health problem or learning disability. We are therefore used to sharing at a deep level and have a high degree of self-awareness. The core group have also known each other for a long time and have come alongside one another in many joys and struggles over the years. We are also intentionally missional. Our goal is to be agents of transformation in the area and spheres of influence where God has placed us. When I conceived of it, I imagined Sacred Space as a Fresh Expression of church for spiritual seekers but that idea has evolved since its inception. I now help each member of the community work out their vocation and then devise a way in which this might be fulfilled through missional activity in Kingston. We have set up a town centre chaplaincy service which is being run by a retired social worker in our community and I am currently partnering with another member of our community and a dwindling Baptist congregation to re-imagine their building as a community arts centre.

STEP 4 Discipleship through mission

I’ve come to believe that one of the reasons previous evangelistic efforts have failed to bear as much fruit as we’d hoped is because as soon as someone outside the usual orbit of church became a Christian we encouraged them to become just like us. They began only socialising with other Christians and conformed to our values and lifestyle choices. I think we mistakenly thought this was discipleship, when really it was the very human desire to want to fit in. The consequence was that new believers were then unable to reach back into their web of contacts with the gospel.

What I’m seeking to do with Sacred Space is to enable people who have access to relationships in a network or subculture to work out what it means to be a follower of Christ in that context. They then disciple others within that culture and create ‘church’ that is a reflection of who they are. My hope is that indigenous expressions of church might grow out of the Sacred Space missional community and that we become an umbrella for a plethora of unique and diverse expressions of the Body of Christ in Kingston.

STEP 5 Discover some theory that makes sense of your practice

On reflection, I have found inspiration from a school of thought called communioecclesiology.

This relies upon the Trinity – God in relationship as three distinct persons, each with a different purpose, but with a common aim and made of the same stuff. We have much to learn from this about how we function as Christian community marked by unity, diversity and love. However, this relationship at the heart of God does not stay exclusive and self-serving. It overflows and invites the whole of creation to join in its work of redemption, restoration and reconciliation. For me this is what mission is about. It is a huge a privilege that, wherever we are located, God allows us to partner with him to bring about transformation.

Related posts

The post How to… start a missional community appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).