Until now, Doris has struggled to earn enough to support herself and her children – she was born deaf and was unable to learn much at school.

She has now become the first female carpentry trainee that mission partners Ben and Katy Ray have known – in 13 years of working with people with disabilities in Tanzania.

As an adult, she worked at a market selling vegetables and braiding hair, but still couldn’t earn enough to live on.

A few months ago she met Ben and Katy Ray, CMS mission partners who provide training through a charity, SAFI, to help people with disabilities to earn a living.

Now, Doris is learning how to make lots of different things with Alan, the SAFI carpentry teacher.

She is excited to be discovering her true value in Jesus and to be on her way to being able to support herself and her family.

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What can make someone go from being part of an armed militia to a minister of the gospel? As local partner Bisoke Balikenga shares the remarkable transformation story of Manasseh from DR Congo, his answer is clear – only Jesus.

“There was nothing else to do”

Manasseh never thought he’d join an armed militia. But one night he jolted awake to the sound of gunfire shattering the stillness of the night in his village in eastern DR Congo.

Dangerous militia men were coming: Manasseh and his wife were told to get out and run, escaping into the forest.

They lost everything – leaving behind their property, their possessions and the farm that supplied their food and income, with survival their only thought.

Without any of the security of his former life, Manasseh joined the militia group to survive. He explains, “There was nothing else to do. You’d left all your property, you cannot plant, you cannot farm, you cannot do business.”

He lived in the forest with the militia and later became the bodyguard of one of the commanders. Manasseh felt that life in the forest with the gangs was not good, and knew he was doing bad things – but he didn’t know where to turn.

Eventually the commander was arrested for war crimes and Manasseh knew he was at risk too. He ran away with his family, ending up in a refugee camp in Bunia.

Complex conflict

The people of eastern DR Congo have long felt the terrible effects of violent conflict.

CMS local partner Bisoke Balikenga works for peace in Bunia and explains, “The situation in DRC is very complex. In the north east of the country we have three militia groups attacking and killing people, and there are ongoing conflicts between different tribes too.

“Where I live in Bunia there used to be conflict between the Hema, who farm cattle, and the Lendu, who grow crops – this dated back to the period of Belgian colonial rule, but intensified 20 years ago.

“That conflict wasn’t fully addressed and now both groups have weapons. And we have 440 tribes in DRC, and they each have conflict with another tribe.

“People say, ‘if our group can have a weapon, it can protect our village’. So now all those people are fighting together.

“In Bunia, we have UN peacekeepers, and also government soldiers. That’s why in Bunia there is a bit of peace, but you cannot go more than 20km away.

“People are coming to Bunia because where they used to live the killing is still going on. There’s no way to stay – it is better to run away, to go where they can have peace.

“But when they get to Bunia, there is another terrible situation. People come having lost a loved one or some of their family, and when they reach Bunia, sometimes food and a place to stay is not easy to find.

“If there is peace, life in the village is nice. We have very good soil people can cultivate, so you can have land, you can eat very well and relax. But in town people need to buy everything and they don’t have money.

“When I talk about this situation, I feel so bad. People have been killed like insects. Our future is really not clear.”

Working for peace

In the face of this bleak reality, Bisoke, who works for the Anglican Church, is still seeing God at work through a peace centre he started. And Manasseh now works alongside him!

How did such a transformation take place? Bisoke is clear: “Only Jesus.”

The peace centre was born out of a request for Bisoke’s help and the gift of a small piece of land. After praying and talking to local leaders, Bisoke wanted to do something about peace.

Starting small, Bisoke and his colleagues cultivated crops and started to help women to learn to read so that they could access the Bible. Later they started teaching practical skills so women could earn an income.

When war came nearby, many people came to the centre knowing that there might be a welcome there.

The people arriving were traumatised and needed help, so Bisoke and his team got training in trauma healing and reconciliation to offer a trauma healing programme.

The centre provides food and access to clean water too, as people need these basic necessities before they can engage with the training.

Bisoke and his team face great challenges, but they are seeing God at work and seeing people become Christians and be transformed. Some are starting to be able to work together across divides.

Turning to Jesus

The Anglican team from the peace centre go into surrounding refugee camps to share the gospel, including the camp where Manasseh was staying.

Manasseh’s wife became involved with the peace centre first. Like other women receiving their support, she began to noticeably change.

Manasseh started to slowly get involved at the peace centre too, encouraged by the fact that the team showed him God’s love despite the terrible things he had done.

Bisoke recalls that when he first met Manasseh, he was not happy and could not laugh or smile.

Over time, they started to talk more and Manasseh took part in the trauma healing programme. He turned to Jesus, and over the five years since becoming a Christian he has participated in training with the peace centre and CMS-Africa.

CMS-Africa’s training aims to help people experience holistic transformation as their faith impacts all areas of their life.

Manasseh learned about self-reliance and having a biblical approach to money and resources, and as a result he planted crops, sold them and started a shop to provide for his family.

Bisoke’s team arranged for Manasseh to train for ordination in the Anglican Church, and now he is the pastor in an Anglican parish as well as working at the peace centre. He goes into the refugee camps to preach and share his testimony to encourage others.

Testifying transformation

There are more people like Manasseh who used to be in the militias coming to the peace centre.

Manasseh shares, “They go through a very difficult life, violence, no peace, conflict among themselves and within themselves. They can now see how I live outside, since I have come out and joined Jesus and been rehabilitated in the community.”

At the peace centre, there are people who have been deeply traumatised by the militias experiencing support and healing from their suffering, as well as those who have participated in horrific violence.

Bisoke shares, “We keep seeing the way Jesus says: ‘I’m coming in to help those people who are sick.’ Then we see the people coming in are really vulnerable people.

“God has really put his hand on some people. They are becoming Christian. They are being transformed. Then some are saying, now we can work together.

“They say, ‘People were killing us. Then we ran away and we are here. We thought you really can help us, or the army can help us. No. Now we have seen the only one who can help us is Jesus.’

“That’s why we keep saying only Jesus. We like people to develop prayer a lot so they can discover Jesus. Then they will come back to help us, like Manasseh.

“It builds our faith, to see the way people are coming without anything. Then they become Christians. In spite of everything they face, some say, ‘Wow, we see things as very good,’ which means we’re really in the right place to help people.”

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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 ︎

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A new kind of leader is needed in conflict zones like South Sudan – and many of them – as we discover in this conversation…

With Joan Busolo and Naomi Rose Steinberg.

Naomi: Can you tell me where the idea for a tribe of Abunas came from?

Joan: We know that in many countries in Africa where there is much violent conflict, there are also high numbers of Christians and churches. We have been asking, why is it that forgiveness is not more in the vocabulary? Or peace? Where are we in these contexts?

We held a gathering of Christian leaders in Wau, South Sudan, to consider the continuing armed conflict there. There has been very bad fighting, many people killed or displaced.

We discussed how, clearly, there was a gap in understanding and practice in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus amid violent conflict. Recognising this gap was the beginning of the idea of making and multiplying Abunas.

Naomi: What is an Abuna?

Joan: Abuna is an Arabic word [that we are using] to refer to a pastor or leader who is recognised for good character, care for the congregation, and exemplary faith and integrity. This is an individual who fosters peace and provides visionary and servant leadership to their household, community, society and nation.

An Abuna finds their identity in faith, not tribe. So, it became a rallying cry for the kind of disciple that we seek to have in South Sudan. There are 64 tribes in South Sudan. We want to see a 65th – a tribe of Abunas.

Naomi: How can this happen?

Joan: It is not an overnight journey. At the meeting, with many denominations represented, we kept returning to the question: why is fighting continuing?

Some reasons included disputes over land or cattle. Digging deeper, you realise the prevailing mentality is: “We are the people being wronged; we are the people who need the cattle, we are the people who to whom the land belongs – the others are undeserving.” But why aren’t they deserving? Because each side doesn’t see the other as human, as worthy.

Naomi, people have been so hurt, they cease to feel. They can only see their own pain; they need to be continually re-sensitised.

Since that first meeting, my colleague Karobia has returned to the area to continue the conversation. He said people are realising that there is enough for everyone – you don’t need to be killing. To me this is a very strong message. If we separate ourselves from greed and selfishness, we can be sustained.

Karobia also mentioned there was real forgiveness happening: people from different communities apologising, embracing, agreeing that they must get past this kind of living. And continue to raise up Abunas.

It is a journey, and that is why CMS, CMS-Africa and our partners find this so crucial. We have to journey with them. We have to help them face the atrocities and prayerfully, we expect then we will begin to see the Abunas, this new tribe.

Naomi: Is an Abuna always a leader, or should we all be Abunas?

Joan: In whatever context you find yourself, you can be an Abuna. We are talking about a movement that is borderless, a lifestyle that can cut across South Sudan. It’s the answer to the atrocities. It is the answer to the pain people are experiencing.

Naomi: Can I ask how?

Joan: The Bible says when we do not have God in us, we have hearts of stone. And when we accept Christ and we know who we are in him, then we have hearts of flesh. Abunas have hearts of flesh. To see the pain of others. And empathise. Abunas are willing to resolve issues with love.

Naomi: Is one of the issues about finding one’s true identity in Jesus, not a tribe?

Joan: Yes, we’re talking about walking in the pattern of Jesus. Jesus was able to sit with the Samaritan woman and not judge her. Jesus went to Zacchaeus’s house, though he was a tax collector. Jesus forgave Peter even when Peter denied him. When I am able to see you as beautifully and fearfully made by God, here for a purpose, a complement to the person that I am and not the opposite… that’s what we are looking at here.

Naomi: Would people actually say something like, “I refuse to commit violence because I am an Abuna”?

Joan: People will return home from our discipleship training, to their churches or youth groups and we expect they will talk about what is shared and why it’s transformational. And they will say they are Abunas and people will watch them to see if they are driving peace.

And hopefully they will see something they want to emulate. This is how the light will be shared.

Naomi: It seems to me that people must be able to look to the church and find a visibly different community of peace?

Joan: 100 per cent yes. It truly takes the Spirit of God and prayer plays a crucial part. To think that a person can kill a whole village, kill everyone in the most brutal way possible… and walk away as if nothing happened…. It takes a miracle for them to turn around. For me this really brings forth why we are saying it is with Jesus that we are going to these edges – it is in vain if you dare go alone.

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Anna and Chris Hembury were already connected with local kids in a deprived area of Hull through running an after school club when they had an idea: a breakfast club where children could come and eat in a family atmosphere before school. This September marks 25 years of that Breakfast Club.

Mission partners Anna and Chris moved to Hull in 1997 to work with the local community in an area suffering from high unemployment, child poverty, addiction and mental and physical health problems.

They could see potential, despite many people writing off or ignoring those who live there, and got to know around 60 local kids through a Monday after school club.

But they wanted to see the children more regularly in order to deepen the relationships and share Jesus in a more relevant way through eating and sharing life together.

They also wanted to show local kids and families that God was busy every day, not just on a Sunday.

Small beginnings

In September 1999, Anna and Chris and a few volunteers came together for Breakfast Club’s first day. Everyone chipped in for supplies and eight children sat down to eat toast and cereal together.

At first only kids from the after school group came, but they soon started inviting their friends so numbers grew steadily. That Christmas, Anna and Chris decided to put on a cooked breakfast and invite parents as well.

Following that cooked breakfast, the club gradually became a space for parents and children to attend together. Now, 25 years on, around 50 people including parents come to Breakfast Club every weekday.

Anna and Chris estimate that between 2,600 and 2,800 different children, parents and teachers have attended the club over the past 25 years. There are even parents at the club who remember coming as children themselves!

Beyond cereal

Breakfast Club isn’t just a place for children and parents to gather and enjoy some family atmosphere and food before school. It has also become a place where people build friendships, find support and can see God at work every day.

Through volunteering at Breakfast Club, a number of older Christians have found their faith rekindled and discovered fresh purpose.

Additionally, Breakfast Club has opened the door for further community-building through curry nights, community fundraising events and banquet meals for local mums.

The club is also valued beyond those who attend – Anna and Chris share, “The school sees it as a real asset as they refer families to the club…”

Sharing Jesus

Just as they’d hoped, Breakfast Club did help Anna and Chris to get to know the local kids and their families better and made it easier to share Jesus’ story with them in relevant ways. Anna and Chris explain they “felt called to share our everyday lives with people and show a living relationship with Jesus over time”.

For many years now, Anna and Chris have also taken several of the kids from Breakfast Club away on camp with Frontier Camps in the summer, for a great holiday and to learn more about Jesus.

Over the past 27 years, Anna and Chris have seen a number of young people in the community commit their lives to Jesus, many of whom have been part of Breakfast Club.

One of those young people was Nicky.

Nicky

Anna and Chris first met Nicky when she was about six years old, when she started coming to the after school club and then Breakfast Club. They soon built a friendship with Nicky and her family and over time they became more like family than friends.

Nicky remembers “small daily experiences, like learning to read at Breakfast Club”. Nicky grew up with Bible stories at the after school club and the Breakfast Club, and later, weekly meals with other young people at Anna and Chris’s home, youth club, summer camps and a couple of trips to Greenbelt.

Over many years, Anna and Chris have been a stable presence through the ups and downs in Nicky’s life, and they were always there, especially Anna during Nicky’s teenage years.

Nicky says that Anna, Chris and others working with them, “have supported me and my family in every aspect of life, helping to make sure we always had community and friendship”.

Over the years, Nicky saw Anna and Chris’s relationship with Jesus in everyday life and saw the faith behind their work in the local community.

Gradually, Nicky’s own faith grew quietly and she came to know Jesus more and more for herself.

Baptism

When Nicky decided she wanted to be baptised, she wanted to do it at summer camp, a place where she’d taken so many steps of faith before.

Anna says: “Camp was church to Nicky in a way her local church wasn’t able to be at that time – an inclusive, supportive family, the good news made relevant, other young people to figure out faith with.”

So, at the evening meeting on the last night of camp, Anna and Chris used what was at hand – the big steel buckets which they used for washing the pots after meals. They poured three buckets of water over Nicky – baptising her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

They reflect, “It was a profound act, not only for Nicky on her faith journey but also because you could see by their faces, her example made this a possibility on the journeys of all the other children there.”

Nicky is still very much involved with camp, now as a leader. She shares her faith with others through leading the camp crew, spending time with the young people during the week and leading reflections and giving one of the short evening talks.

Still going strong

And what of Breakfast Club?
Anna, Chris and the volunteers are still up bright and early each day, faithfully setting up, cooking, sharing food and fun.

Day by day, they continue to build friendships and invest in the community, living out the love of Jesus on the margins.

Anna and Chris comment, “In terms of faith the community is able to see that God is busy every day and perhaps even that Jesus is someone who can be trusted.”

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The number of students entering the Church Mission Society (CMS) Pioneer Mission Training programme has this year risen to record levels, enhanced by the enrolment of a cohort of students from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

At a time when many Christian training colleges are struggling to attract new students, a total of 45 students have enrolled for the CMS Pioneer Mission Training programme for the new academic year, spread over its undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral research courses.

CMS Pioneer Mission Training is now in its 14th year of helping prepare students for mission at the edges of society, with innovative and creative initiatives designed to engage people who fall outside the scope of traditional church programmes.

Bishop Martin Gordon, a CMS mission partner and the Bishop of Goma in Eastern Congo, said the group of Congolese men and women, who are aged between 27 and 45, are expected to become senior leaders in the diocese. The group will remain in DRC but will have an onsite tutor/mentor to assist them with their studies as they study for an MA in Theology, Ministry and Mission (African Christianity route).

One of the new students, Judith Kahindo Mwengenindi, a mother of four and health and community programme leader, said: “I support ministers in the war-torn regions of the DRC, providing pastoral care and assistance. I am eager to deepen my understanding of theology and ministry to better serve the pastors and leaders I minister to in the conflict areas.”

James Nzanzu Muvunga, an IT graduate and student ministry leader, said: “As a trainer and programme coordinator at the Centre for Intercultural Mission, I seek to equip student leaders in the DRC with the skills to effectively engage in evangelism and bridge the perceived divide between faith and science in academic settings.”

The course will include diverse subjects such as Church History, Christianity and Indigenous Religions and Global Pentecostalism and is incorporated within the African Christianity route through the Certificate and MA courses. The course combines CMS’s experience of pioneering mission and ministry with partner Missio Africanus’ experience of resourcing non-western missionaries involved in mission work in the West (and in Africa). St Augustine’s Foundation, a body which enables ministry training, will support the Congolese students’ studies through its innovation fund.

Joseph Ola, African Christianity MA lecturer at CMS, said: “The Congolese cohort come with a burning desire to acquire practical knowledge that directly addresses the unique challenges they face, coming from a war-torn region. We are thrilled to welcome them and we are confident that this training will equip them to develop meaningful and transformative mission strategies for their communities.”

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At a time when the UK is still reeling after violent protests against immigration in cities and towns across the country, Church Mission Society (CMS) is urging Christians to take a different approach and reach out to migrant communities with love and faith.

Dr Harvey Kwiyani, Diaspora Centre leader for CMS, said; “CMS recognises that the world is experiencing an ‘Age of Migration’ where globally one in every 30 of the earth’s population are migrants. However, until now migration has not been an integral part of mission and Christian communities are not equipped to reach out and share their faith with strangers in a world where migration and tensions are on the rise.”

In response to this uncertainty over how to engage with migrants, a new centre for mission that will help educate and equip Christian communities reach out to migrants is to be launched by CMS, as part of its long-term vision to reach people at “the edges” with the Good News of Jesus.

Central to this vision is this first-of-a-kind education centre, tasked with helping Christian communities to imagine and embrace hospitable mission in a world where migration is on the rise. The centre will also focus on preparing Christian migrants for effective witness wherever they migrate.

The new centre will be named The Acts 11 Centre, reflecting the biblical account of the first believers migrating from Judea.

Dr Harvey Kwiyani, the inspiration behind the new centre, said; “The explosion of migration globally over the last 25 years has prompted a reassessment of how we prepare Christians to engage with migrant communities, as well as how we equip and enable migrant Christians to share their faith.”

Initially, the centre will offer theological and missiological resources, practical seminars, courses and conferences on global witness and human migration. In addition, the centre will help create and curate resources for Christian communities, mission agencies, and academic institutions interested in reaching migrants around the world, and research opportunities and challenges that emerge for followers of Christ in the current context of global migration.

To launch this new initiative CMS is running a ground-breaking conference to examine the missiological and theological issues around migration.

Titled Acts 11: Convergence 1, the conference takes place from 26 to 27 September 2024 at CMS’s offices in Oxford. Professor of World Christianity, Dr Jehu J Hanciles, from Emory University in Atlanta will deliver the keynote address.

Dr Kwiyani explained: “Our vision is to gather people and share resources to equip and empower the Body of Christ to effectively bear witness for his name in the age of migration.

“We are committed to helping Christian communities share the Good News with the migrants who come to their neighbourhoods and to empowering Christian migrants to engage in disciple-making in their new host societies.

“Migrants are often at the edges of society, but we believe they come bearing God with them.”

More information is available at churchmissionsociety.org/acts11

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“The thing is, Greg, we are just never going to go to church.”

by Naomi Rose Steinberg

These were the candid words of one couple to Rev Greg Bakker, one of the leaders of Pioneering Parishes.

Research indicates that 85 per cent of the non-churchgoers in the UK, just like this couple, are unlikely to ever come to church.

But that doesn’t mean they are unreachable.

Pioneering Parishes is about redirecting congregations’ energy outward into their local communities. And nurturing the discovery of faith among a wider range of people, like this church-wary couple.

Energy shift

This is a real shift of thinking and practice.

For many churches, the majority of energy and resources are focused inward, constantly pulled to the centre.

It takes someone like Greg or co-leader Rev Tina Hodgett to help churches become more outward-focused, without increasing workload on clergy.

It’s not a competition

Greg and Tina understand that pioneering and traditional ministry have often been seen as hostile rivals. People in traditional churches can feel threatened by new approaches and continually being told that only the new is needed.

Pioneering Parishes doesn’t treat pioneering and parochial as foes. It’s not an either/or thing – each sphere brings a unique contribution.

Pioneering Parishes training fosters learning and collaborating between local churches, pioneers and those we want to engage outside of church. The team are persuaded that pioneering should be an integral part of every parish and that all churches are called to be pioneering. That’s one key theme that comes out through the training.

There are other key factors too:

Unlock barriers to thriving

One thing the Pioneering Parishes team have learned as they go is that one barrier to churches being able to move outward is grief. There can be sadness and a deep sense of things being lost in the process.

One vicar said that a church can be so full of this kind of feeling that there’s an expectation that someone can come wave a wand and make things like they used to be.

In Pioneering Parishes training, the team help congregations lament about what might have been lost so they can move forward together.

Be driven by values

Pioneering Parishes is rooted in helping churches become values driven.

Many congregations are stuck on personal preference being the basis for decision making.

One parishioner once practically screamed at Greg after a service: “You played the wrong tune!” Greg asked, “Do you mean it was morally objectionable or that you prefer another tune?” The woman then clarified that she meant the latter and, thankfully, smiled.  

“So many communities make decisions on preferences instead of values,” says Greg.  

“So, we help congregations go through a values discernment process, to help them determine what and who they want to be.

“It’s not that preference is wrong, but values help pave the way forward so the church can be who they have agreed to be for God and their local community.”

Nurture dreamers

Churches can be good at snuffing out alternative thinkers, making them feel unvalued or unheard. So the Pioneering Parishes team ask, “How can we nurture an environment where creative thinkers are allowed to thrive?

“How do we identify dreamers who do?

“What can we put into our frameworks and structures to allow for all kinds of ideas to be put on the table without judgment or ridicule?”

Effective and affordable

To see some of the inspiring ways congregations have taken Pioneering Parishes training and applied it to their local contexts, click here for stories.

Pioneering Parishes is not off the shelf training; it gives churches tools, postures, practices and skills to help change their culture:

“We hope to see church culture focused on the edges, engaging people at the edges in context-appropriate ways that will lead them to faith discovery and faith development.”

In this way, the fact that 85 per cent of non-churchgoers might never attend church is seen as an opportunity for creative mission, not an occasion for doom and gloom.

Hundreds of people have taken part in Pioneering Parishes training so far. It’s currently a real bargain, thanks to a grant that subsidises the cost of the seminars – £10 for four sessions.

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