In a significant answer to prayer, a project in Cumbria that connects with people on the margins through practical hands-on workshops re-opened at the end of February 2026.

In October 2025, Carlisle’s Community Shed was forced to close for financial reasons. The team, including mission partner Garry Ion, moved the contents of the Shed into a storage unit.

Following an outcry in the local community and a special fundraising effort, the Shed has reopened its doors. Once again, people living with loneliness and mental health challenges, including people recently released from prisons, can find invaluable support.

Garry shares that the new shed is even better than the old one: “We have a spacious workshop and social area with sofas and an indoor games area.

“The original shed started in a garage during the COVID lockdown by myself and Pioneer Chaplain, Rev Chris Harwood. This time, the local community’s involvement, commitment and determination have driven its reopening.

“The new Community Shed is in a very underprivileged area of Carlisle, and it’s truly heartwarming to see the generosity and time given by the community to support its future. We have so much to be grateful for as we begin this new chapter together.”

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Save the date

The face of Christianity in Britain is changing fast, and it’s a lot more exciting than the headlines suggest.

We’d love you to join CMS and the Acts 11 Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration in Liverpool (or online) 4–5 September 2026.

Named after the first multicultural church in the Bible, Acts 11 is a space where we explore the beautiful, messy and life-giving ways that migration is shaping our faith today.

The Mission and Migration conference isn’t just a series of lectures; it’s a conversation about how we live and worship together. We’ll be looking at how historic UK churches and vibrant diaspora congregations can move past “polite distance” into true, equal partnership.

Whether you’re leading a church, working on the ground, or just curious about how faith crosses borders, come and join us.

With keynote insights from Dr Alex Chow and Dr Sheila Akomiah-Conteh, we’ll dive into the real-world joys and challenges of doing mission side-by-side.

• When: 4–5 September 2026
• Where: Liverpool and online
• Who: Mission leaders, practitioners, and anyone ready to see the church through fresh eyes.

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Save the date – booking opens soon. Sign up for the Acts 11 newsletter to be notified

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Have you ever felt a “holy discomfort”? That nagging sense that God is calling you to serve, but perhaps not in a way that fits into a traditional Sunday morning box?

Recently, I stood in the Bishop of Exeter’s Palace to celebrate with a group of people who felt exactly that. I love that pioneer training with CMS doesn’t just happen in Oxford or in one single place. It’s happening – and growing – across the UK.

The latest CMS Pioneer Graduation gathered students from across the South West, including Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

The palace was filled with creativity, warmth and joy. There were interactive worship displays, beautiful sung worship led by a harpist, moving student testimonies, lots of delicious food and, of course, as befits a celebration, much cake.

A celebration of community 

This was more than simply a celebration of completing a course or receiving a certificate. Again and again, students spoke about finding a home. They spoke about finally discovering a language for what they had sensed God calling them to for years. They found a way of looking at mission – a missiology – that made sense of the places they were serving, and training that helped them do what they do with greater confidence, wisdom and courage.

That is one of the great gifts of pioneer training. It names and nurtures what God is already stirring. It helps people understand that mission does not only happen in familiar church settings, but also out at the edges – in the overlooked places, among those who may never walk into a church building, in communities where fresh expressions of Christian witness and discipleship are needed.

Some of the creative demonstrations of work by graduating students

Jesus calls us to the edges with him 

I had the privilege of sharing a few words during the celebration, and I found myself returning to a theme that has been growing in me for some time: Jesus as the Great Disturber.

That might sound like an odd thing to say at a graduation, but I think it fits. Jesus has always had a habit of lovingly disturbing people into new possibilities. That disturbance is not there to crush us, but to awaken us. It is often how mission begins.

Because pioneering is not first about having all the answers, having a perfect plan, or building something impressive. Pioneering begins with a willingness to follow Jesus into places that are unfamiliar, overlooked, risky, and sometimes uncomfortable. And that is right at the heart of CMS.

You may not always feel ready. You may not always feel confident. Some days you may feel small, uncertain, or underqualified. But the good news is this: God has always loved working through ordinary people who say yes.

And as I said to the graduating students: “Your ‘yes’ matters. So, as you graduate, don’t just think, ‘I’ve finished something.’ Think, ‘I’m being sent.’”

Rt Rev Mike Harrison, Bishop of Exeter, and I handed out certificates to around 24 students, each one representing a story of faithfulness, courage and calling.

As ever, the certificates only told part of the story.

The real story is what comes next: the communities that will be served, the conversations that will be had, the experiments that will be tried, the friendships that will be formed, the prayers that will be whispered, the people who will encounter Jesus in new ways because these pioneers said yes to his call.

Are you being called to something new? Find out about training with CMS

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UK: Pioneer Mission Training programme

CMS is hosting two open days next week: on-site in Oxford on Tuesday 21 April and online on Wednesday 22 April. These events are designed to help prospective students explore CMS Pioneer Mission Training options, including streams focused on African Christianity, Asian Christianity, children’s, family and youth work. Pray for people to attend these open days and see how the training could make a difference to their ministry. Find out more and book your place at https://churchmissionsociety.org/open

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Explore the challenges of the multicultural church, how we can overcome them and discover hope too.

The future of both the church and mission is undeniably multicultural – shaped by migration, global Christianity, and shifting cultural realities. Yet for many leaders, this future feels more complicated than hopeful. Why is that?

In this webinar, Harvey Kwiyani, CMS Pioneer Mission Training African Christianity Programme Lead and lecturer, explores the deeper challenges beneath the surface of “diversity,” including questions of power, belonging, leadership, and theology.

Drawing on his wider work on cultural diversity and decolonising mission, he will offer a fresh vision for understanding cultural difference not as a problem to solve, but as a gift to receive – alongside practical insights for leading churches into a more shared, participatory life in God’s mission.

Dr Harvey Kwiyani

Harvey is African Christianity Programme Lead and Acts 11 Centre Lead.

He is a Malawian missiologist and theologian who has lived, worked and studied in Europe and North America for the past 20 years.

He has researched African Christianity and African theology for his PhD, and taught African theology at Liverpool Hope University.

Harvey is also founder and executive director of Missio Africanus, a mission organisation established in 2014 as a learning community focused on releasing the missional potential of African and other minority ethnic Christians living in the UK.

Take part

Free to attend. Please reserve your place to get the Zoom details.

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An invitation to a mountain retreat

by Johnny Sertin

2 April 2026

For over 20 years now, a small community I am part of has been learning how to live with a different kind of rhythm. Not one dictated by urgency, productivity, or the constant churn of modern life – but one shaped by the seasons.

Year by year, we have found a cadence to personal and family life by paying attention to what already exists: the quiet wisdom of the natural world, the turning of the seasons, the rites they invite us into, and the organic liturgies that emerge when we slow down enough to notice. These rhythms don’t need to be invented; they are already there, waiting to be received, inhabited, and lived.

Out of this way of life, something else has grown.

Alongside my friend Paul Rose, I have been hosting mountain retreats in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District. In the years since COVID, these spaces have taken on an even deeper significance. There is, it seems, a growing need for people to step out of the noise and ask more attentive, more discerning questions of their lives:

• Where am I?
• How am I?
• Who am I being called to be?

These are not questions to be rushed.

They are questions that require space – space to walk, to breathe, to listen.

Our retreats draw on the Ignatian tradition of spiritual formation, where attention, awareness, and discernment sit at the heart of the journey. Over a couple of days, we take a small, circular pilgrimage through the fells – guided by Paul, a qualified mountaineer, and accompanied by me. The mountains have a way of becoming more than just a backdrop; they become a teacher.

Nature offers insights we often cannot access elsewhere – truths that only surface when we are fully present to our surroundings.

And, of course, the mountains do not bend to our plans. The weather will do what it will. There are moments of challenge, even struggle – and moments of breathtaking beauty and uplift. Both matter. Both shape us. Both have something to say about who we are and who we are becoming.

Equally important to the walking is the welcome.

Hospitality sits at the heart of what we offer. We are always beautifully looked after by the Home Community Cafe in Earlsfield, led by Meg Fry and her wonderful team, who nourish us with food prepared with care and generosity.

This year, we’ll be gathering in slightly more comfortable surroundings than the mountain huts we’ve used in the past. We’ll be based at the Rydal Hall bunkhouse – a cluster of cottages designed for groups like ours to come together. It offers a simple but rich rhythm: walking in the day, and in the evening, gathering around wood fires with good food, conversation, and rest.

If you are new to retreating, you would be most welcome. If you are someone who already loves the outdoors and recognises it as a place of encounter and reflection, we would love to have you join us again. Everyone is welcome!

You’ll need a reasonable level of fitness to take part in the walking, but you certainly don’t need to be a seasoned mountaineer – just open, willing, and curious.

If something in you is stirring as you read this, we’d encourage you to pay attention to that.

For more information and to register, please take a look at the flyer and follow the Eventbrite link.

Places are limited!

Take part

Cost: £150 per person
A subsidised rate is available if needed – please do ask. We do not want anyone to miss out.

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As we cross the threshold into autumn, we gather at the equinox – that moment of balance between light and dark – to reflect on the horizons within us and beyond us.

Set in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District, Equinox Retreat weaves together hiking in the fells, generous hospitality, reflective conversation, shared meals, still moments, and space to breathe. It is time to step back from the noise, look forward with intention, deepen old friendships and form new connections, and reconnect with nature and the great outdoors.

Rooted gently within the Christian tradition, the retreat also offers space to revitalise our connection to the divine. We approach faith here as something spacious, embodied and alive – attentive to beauty, open to mystery, and grounded in love.

Expect:

• Guided walks in stunning landscapes 
• Thoughtful conversation and gentle reflection 
• Space for solitude and stillness 
• Shared meals prepared by Home Community Café 
• Warm, relaxed community 

Whether you come seeking clarity, rest, connection, spiritual renewal, or simply fresh air and good company, you are warmly welcome.

• Hosted by Paul Rose and Johnny Sertin
• Catering by Home Community Cafe

Take part

Cost: £150 per person
A subsidised rate is available if needed – please do ask. We do not want anyone to miss out.

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A year ago, Jonny Baker asked me if I would contribute to a “little” idea he’d had: to write some reflections and liturgies on Jesus’ encounters from the fringes…

That “little” idea turned into more reflections and liturgies, then 20, and before we knew it (it turns out there are lots of edges to explore within the Gospels) it became 40 chapters. Throw in another 40 spiritual practices and we found ourselves with a chunky book, over 200 pages, with some beautiful artwork thrown in. The book you now know as Fringe Dweller was born.

How did this happen?

I remember thinking at the Fringe Dweller book launch (which I’ll talk about later), “How did this happen?” I had only recently finished studying at CMS, which I found both life-giving (the lectures and conversations) and particularly challenging (the essays).

I recall my tutor running up to me on the day we received our first marked essays and asking, “Why didn’t you tell us you were dyslexic?” She then proceeded to go through my essay (which, by the way, was okay), chuckling as she noted the glaring giveaways that my brain was wired slightly differently. If I’m honest, it didn’t get easier, but the regular feedback given to my work was that my ideas were interesting, creative even, and that my voice in it all was strong.

As I settled into study, I knew I’d found a home of sorts at CMS – an incubator for creative thinking, to listen, communicate ideas, and cultivate the voices and hunches I’d had about faith and life that perhaps weren’t always safe to verbalise in other spaces. I say this because, without those spaces of freedom to speak out, to agree and disagree with friends, my participation in Fringe Dweller would certainly be absent. It’s likely Jonny would have gone ahead anyway, but my voice would not be there. Homes are important, and the best ones are where it is safe to share your voice.

Riding the wave

Fast forward a few years, and I find myself in a beautiful Anglican church in Ealing for the book launch of Fringe Dweller. I still don’t know how we got here but I’m riding the wave. Jonny and I wanted to make the book launch more than a celebration of our work and certainly more than us talking about it; we wanted to create an experience for people, regardless of what tradition or place they’d come from.

If you haven’t seen any of the Fringe Dweller artwork designed by Jon Birch yet, they really bring the book to life. Jonny and I decided we’d get them blown up into large prints and hang them from the balcony of the church to create an exhibition.

As it did with the book, it brought an already beautiful space to life. It was wonderful to see people arrive into the church, and as soon as they saw the prints, I saw smiles, gasps, and in one case, people were visibly moved by what they were seeing and experiencing.

In one of the chapters, we query why so often street preachers go in with a hard sell, often bypassing most of Jesus’ life and starting with what happens at the end. Some, but not all, of the illustrations are of Jesus. Some are of him walking with people, one is of him laughing with friends as he pours drinks (my mum’s favourite), and one is of Jesus in deep grief. It was interesting to watch where people were drawn. We need to know that Jesus laughs, walks with us, and knows grief, and people were free to spend time with the artwork.

Jonny and I were interviewed about the book, its origin story, and how we made decisions on choosing the stories. Truthfully, there was little to no strategy in choosing the passages other than where Jesus was being with or advocating for people who had been sidelined for whatever reason.

Creative responses

One of our real hopes for the book is that by putting the stories and reflections in people’s hands, we’d get some interesting and creative responses back. We figured between us both we could pull enough favours from creative friends and family to make the evening a little less Dave and Jonny-focused, and we were overwhelmed with people agreeing to take part.

We kicked off the artists’ reflections with an original liturgy from Tina Hodgett called ‘Lock Picker of Closed Doors’, which we used in the book. It was a wonderfully traditional yet fresh way to start our artists’ reflections. Liturgy was not something I was brought up with in my tradition, but there was something stirring to hear young and old read the words “We come to you, seeking the gifts we need from the No One of Nazareth”.

Other highlights included songwriter Chris Read’s reflection of the chapter ‘Eating with Scum’, taken from Matthew 9 – you could have heard a pin drop as he concluded his composition with the same name.

We also had a reflection from Iva Decheva, a South-East London artist who, using incredible colours of blue, silver and green, weaved and embroidered the rippling waters of healing at the pool of Bethesda (John 5) as she imagined the view to be from the sick man.

Iain Cotton (who creates tiles for CMS graduates) took us somewhere deeper still, as he explained his craft and approach to creating his tiles while reflecting on Jesus, the Fringe Dweller.

The artists’ reflections finished with Jonny’s son, Harry, who had written a stunning reverse poem that had many of us feeling all sorts of emotions. His reverse poem ‘Flip the Script’, which riffed off a chapter from the book with the same name, had us all in the palm of his hand.

Strange times

The challenge in the chapter is to flip the scripts or stories we all have and hear, whether they be internal, in our communities, churches, or elsewhere. Harry’s poem was like breathing fresh air, as he challenged narratives that have unfortunately found themselves saddled up to the story of Jesus, the Fringe Dweller. “We have to flip the script,” the repeated refrain from Harry, and in every artist presentation, it felt that was exactly what took place. Our hope is that it would encourage and give permission for others to do the same. It was a wonderful ending to a beautiful evening.

Both Jonny and I noted that the book has come out at an interesting time. It is a strange time to be human, and certainly a strange time to share our faith with other Christians that seem to be living life reading from a completely different script to us. We hope that Fringe Dweller will offer a helpful narrative, particularly to those leading and dwelling in the fringes. We are grateful to all the artists for being generous with their art; it made the evening quite special and, to be honest, reaffirmed our hope for the book: that if we can offer these stories to and with people, wonderful and diverse reflections will come back to us.

If you haven’t got hold of your copies of Fringe Dweller yet, you can get it from getsidetracked.co. We’d love to hear your own reflections and thoughts on the book, as well as those you are connecting with on your context.

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In 2019 the first CMS Pioneer Mission Training students embarked on a doctorate in theology (DTh) at the University of Roehampton. In February this year, the first of those students, Paul Bradbury, successfully defended his thesis in his examination and was awarded his doctorate.

Dr James Butler, leader of CMS Pioneer Mission Training, talks to Paul about his experience of doing the doctorate,  what he studied and what’s next.

James: Why did you want to study for a DTh?

Paul: I started a DTh because I wanted to explore an issue that arose through my ministry as a pioneer. So much resource from the central Church of England was going into particular models of mission and particular forms of church that many pioneers were struggling to find the space or resource to carry out their ministry.

J: So, what did you discover?

P: In my thesis I argue that the nature of the church can’t be reduced down to particular models or forms. Instead, the very nature of the church is a becoming: it is always being formed and reformed through its engagement with the world.

I discovered that pioneers often resist predetermined models. Instead, pioneers build community through conversation with people in their context. Their focus is on prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit who they regard as present and active in the midst of the community that is forming. As I listened to the stories of how these new communities were forming, I heard how the pioneers involved were often surprised by what happened, finding that their assumptions about forms a church could take were disrupted.

I also learned from two dioceses about how they were trying to encourage pioneer ministry alongside more traditional parish ministry. I’ve argued that the tension experienced in this process might be seen as a creative tension as we develop toward a mixed ecology of church.

J: Sounds interesting, how can we find out more?

P: I hope to develop the thesis into a book soon. In the meantime, if anyone wants to have a conversation about what I’ve been learning they’re welcome to get in touch. [You can contact Paul via CMS here]. I’m also working with CMS to create a space for the kind of listening and discernment that is needed to support and enable a becoming church. We are looking to develop a resource of theological accompaniment, research and reflection to support pioneers and others.

J: And how has it been studying a DTh with CMS at the University of Roehampton?

P: The DTh has been a great experience. It’s honestly been the hardest but best thing I’ve ever done. There was never a point where I wanted to give up, though there were numerous times when I was pushed to think harder and more deeply than I thought I was capable of! It has answered the question I set out with, in ways I hope will be helpful to others. It’s also raised a whole host of other questions for the future!

J: It’s been a pleasure working with you on this Paul, and we’re so delighted that you have achieved your doctorate. All the best with sharing your findings more widely.

The DTh programme is designed for those who are actively involved in mission, ministry and pioneering and want to explore the things they are discovering in more detail. The first two years are taught part time, helping you to focus your ideas into a research project, before you then carry out your research over the following three to four years.  Do get in touch if, like Paul, there is something you’d like to explore.

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In many Western nations, politicians are lamenting the erosion of Christian values in society and calling for restricted immigration to prevent further erosion. They insist that a government’s first priority should be the care of its own citizens and that nations have the right to control their borders. This presentation will assess these claims by asking what a distinctively Christian approach to government and nationhood would look like, and then applying it to border control in order to propose a “Christian immigration policy.”

Guest speaker

Dr Barnabas Aspray, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at St Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore. He also writes a column for Seen & Unseen and hosts a podcast, Faith at the Frontiers.

Host: Tyler Horton

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Attendance is free but please reserve your place:

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If you’ve been thinking of booking your place on the Faith in Public course then don’t wait any longer. Spaces are filling up.

The agenda has been announced and more speakers with it. Including Jane Perry from Church Action on Poverty and The Very Rev Rogers Govender of Manchester Cathedral.

The course will take place over three online sessions and one weekend residential in Manchester.

The residential will include a visit to Manchester Cathedral and a Justice walk around Manchester’s civic centre, in which you will explore sites of significance in Manchester’s radical history and their connection to faith. It will include a panel of Christians in public service, with a chance to ask them your questions. And of course, given the political climate today, there will be a focus being a witness in today’s fragmented political environment. As well as being deeply theological the course will also be highly practical.

Here’s the full agenda:

You can read more about the course and book your place here.

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Are we letting buildings, structures and practices distract from conversation, the lifeblood of community?

A few years ago, I was involved in a series of round table discussions, focused on the church and its mission. The room was full of people invited from the wide range of traditions within the Church of England. Our task was to explore what a missional ecclesiology for the future of the church might be.

The day involved facilitated discussion on three themes: mission, kingdom and church. And what was interesting was that, while discussion on mission and kingdom revealed a high degree of common ground, the discussion on church saw a few sparks flying!

Out of that day the idea was developed to publish a book that reflected the spectrum of perspectives and missional practice represented by that conversation. Being the People of God (SCM 2025) continues the conversation and, we hope, widens it by giving people a chance to hear how, in a variety of contexts, the church is responding in mission to our changing cultural context.

Clare Watkins, a Catholic lay theologian and a professor at Durham University, has said that the church might understand itself as “a community of discerning conversation, open to the necessary incomplete and flawed contributions of all who seek what is most true”. But do we see the church and its ongoing life as “a discerning conversation”? I am not sure we do. Most often our attention is drawn to more concrete things like buildings, or to the organisational structures of the church. Or it is drawn so easily to the practices of the church, what we are doing (or not doing), and how we can do it better (or do it at all!).

Yet conversation is the stuff of healthy communities and healthy organisations. Without conversation, through which ideas, information, innovations and ideals flow, are reflected on, adapted and reinforced, organisations ossify into rigid institutions or machines. Good, open conversation is the life of any community. Conversation is also a key locus of discernment, making space and time for that slow work of reflection and evaluation as communities navigate their life and purpose through changing circumstances.

It is in the spirit of that need for discerning conversation that Being the People of God was put together. We recognised that the struggle to find sufficient common ground when talking about the church was not a problem to be fixed. Instead, it simply highlighted the nature of the church. That the church is not a fixed star somehow detached from the world, but an ongoing communal conversation on what it means to live together as disciples of Jesus in the world as it is.

Furthermore, the world as it is undergoing a period of change perhaps unlike any other in human history. We are engaging in this conversation in wildly turbulent days. The strapline for the book therefore reads “Missional ecclesiology in uncertain times”.

I invite you to join in this conversation at the next CMS conversations day on Tuesday 17 March. The day will explore many of the themes of the book. And we will be helped to do this through the contributions of some of those who wrote chapters for it. As you might expect there will be plenty of space for you to engage in conversation! We look forward to seeing you. Book your place now

About Paul Bradbury

Paul is an ordained pioneer minister in the Church of England, based in Poole, Dorset. He is a freelance practical theologian, writer and researcher, and a tutor and lecturer in missional ecclesiology.

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