Our week of book launch parties in Exeter, Sherford (Plymouth) and Bristol exceeded my expectations.

by Rev Tina Hodgett

I imagined it would be a time of selling – the book, ourselves, Pioneering Parishes. But as people left each party, we realised God had been – as usual – in the ‘in-between’ spaces: profound conversations, new connections, ideas for future possibilities. People left inspired, encouraged and hopeful and reminded of God’s faithfulness, not just £12 lighter in the purse/pocket and 128g heavier in the handbag/manbag (yes, I did weigh the book!).

‘Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church’ was described by Jonny Baker at the party in Sherford as ‘distilled wisdom’ – like a fine whisky, he said. We rejoiced that the book is short and therefore both readable and affordable – so people often bought one for their vicar, friend or colleague. It was a time to celebrate all the people who had in larger ways or smaller taught us, ‘seen’ us, supported us, advocated for us, challenged us, made space for us, and allowed both Pioneering Parishes and its book form to come into being.

As we were interviewed Greg and I both found the Holy Spirit directing us back to the early whisperings of the call to be part of a movement to enable more parish churches to embody a missional posture and practice and offer practical spiritual care to all souls in a parish. As Greg talked about recognising the origins of the book content and purpose in his experiences in his early years as a priest, my thoughts were drawn back to my studies in educational change management in the 2000s when I sensed God calling me towards ordination. From this I am reminded again that God’s timescales are longer, slower, wiser and more incremental than ours!

As our current funding stream comes to an end we are pivoting to a different way of working. You can find all our tools and resources on our website here. We can still be contacted via www.pioneeringparishes.org and on Instagram and Facebook. We may still contact you occasionally but less regularly via newsletter. You can always unsubscribe if this is unwelcome. Greg and I are available for work as self-employed consultants; you can approach us via a range of routes. If you want to hear more from us you can subscribe to our Substack accounts: https://gregbakker.substack.com and https://tinahodgett.substack.com/ (or www.tinahodgett.net). If you’d like to stay in touch with the Church Mission Society you can subscribe to their pioneer newsletter here or their regular mission updates here.

We bless you with joy, adventure and hope as you discern and join in with God’s mission locally. From the Pioneering Parishes team: Gail, Greg, Jayne and Tina.

Find all our tools and resources here.

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Ali Mascarenhas attributes her start as a pioneer to Pioneering Parishes. 

by Rev Tina Hodgett

Ali attended one of our earliest courses and took our content and ran with us. We’ve told her story to lots of different groups of people round the country (and the world via our website), and she’s contributed to every First Steps course we’ve put on online. Her story has inspired hundreds of people and helped them realise that pioneering is something ordinary people can do.

We featured her slow but steady transformation of the churchyard at St Mary’s Brighstone in the Isle of Wight into an outdoor place of encounter with God through community scrub clearance and establishment of a beautiful Biblical olive garden where Celtic Encounter worship services take place outside in summer months.

She excitedly shared with us all the gorgeous mosaic art projects – Celtic cross, advent calendar, nativity scene and many others, that were made by members of the local community learning the skill of glass art together working inside the ancient church building on long tables, coming together for companionship and creativity.

Over the five years since Ali set off from very small beginnings she has continued to carefully discern where the breadcrumbs the Holy Spirit lays down have led. Recently she and her lay worship leader companion who creates beautiful Celtic liturgy have planted two new small Celtic Encounter congregations in a local village (which had no Christian expression of worship) and the town of Yarmouth. She calls this a ‘ministry of smallness’.

Ali was commissioned last year as a Lay Pioneer by the Director of Ministry at the Diocese of Portsmouth in a church full of community members. She has facilitated over the years a wide variety of talks on aspects of creation care and the environment, and has a programme for this summer including bird-watching, wild orchids of the Isle of Wight and dinosaurs which inhabited the area 125 million years ago!

The latest mosaic project is intended for the annual church Christmas Tree Festival which will be on the Narnia theme of C S Lewis’ book ‘The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe’.  She writes: ‘You’re going to be able to walk through the wardrobe to Narnia and be greeted by a ‘mosaicked’ Aslan, Mr Tumnus and the beavers by the lamppost and you can have your photo taken with them.’  Ali herself hopes to arrange some storytelling of the book and to explain the Christian message of the book in various ways along with dressing up as the character of Queen Susan with a bow and quiver strapped to her back. In a wide range of ways that are appropriate to the rural island context Ali and her team (made up of members of both church and community) are putting the church at the heart of the village and enabling opportunities for encounter by all ages of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Find out about how you can shift the energy of your church outwards through the Pioneering Parishes book: Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church.

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A new book which has been called “a ‘must-read’ for all who want to see their local churches thrive” has just been published.

It has been written by our very own Rev Tina Hodgett and Rev Greg Bakker, founders of Pioneering Parishes, which provides tools, practices and postures to help churches go into all the parish. The training helps churches cultivate an environment in which new things can thrive in an appropriate way for their context and community, helping engage with people who are unconnected.

In August 2023 Church House Publishing asked Tina and Greg to write a practical book for church leaders on culture change. They prepared a proposal for the editorial board and were delighted with the affirmation that what they proposed was a “hopeful, conciliatory and constructive contribution to contemporary church life and the church’s mission”. After three years of work, Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church is available now.

Into all the Parish moves away from attempts at rejuvenation of the parish church based on replicable strategies or programmes into a ‘way of being’. Reviews of the book are pouring in and many are commenting on the ‘practical companionship offered’ for congregations wishing to make this change.

One review says:

“For leaders, dreamers, and blue-sky thinkers, this book offers plenty of imagination and possibility. It challenges churches to pay attention to where God is already active in their parish. For anyone longing to see faith become more connected, hopeful, and rooted in everyday community life, Into All the Parish offers a way to do church differently.”

Rev Marie Meredith, vicar to the churches of Great Wyrley: St Andrew’s and St Mark’s

Another says:

“Long gone are the days when ‘pioneering’ was seen as being in opposition to ‘traditional’ parish ministry. Here is a clear demonstration of how cultivating a pioneering disposition enables parish church congregations to explore afresh their identity and vocation for the present time.”

Rev Canon Jane Maycock, Canon Missioner, Durham Cathedral

CMS’s Jonny Baker, director of mission in Britain, says of the book:

“If I was new in a ministry post or on the PCC in a parish church, I would be thanking God for this book! It is short, sharply focused, and extremely practical. It will really help you lead a church through a process of culture change giving the best chance possible of taking the whole church with you on the journey. The five dynamics explored arise from distilled wisdom learned from putting this into practice in a parish setting over many years and you can tell.”

Lots of lay people and clergy working across the country are already benefiting from the book, as this review shows:

“Into All the Parish is the best kind of “self-help” book – opening space for gathered communities to discern together the movement of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Led by discerning questions, each chapter prompts readers to consider an area of parish life where small shifts might lead to significant relational and spiritual flourishing. No act is deemed too small to be significant and no hope too large to be attainable. Highly recommended for churches desiring to reach the whole parish but uncertain how or where to start.”

Stacey Van Dyk, Children & Families Ministry Leader

The book has also reached the attention of bishops with Mike Harrison, the bishop of Exeter, saying:

“A wise, accessible and practical guide to helping Christian communities discern how God’s Spirit is at work inside and outside the Church. Tools are provided helping congregations to ensure principles eclipse preferences, abundance mind-sets hold sway over scarcity narratives, and different ways of doing and being church are held together synergistically. All this wrapped up in a missional understanding of being caught up in God’s sacrificial loving movement towards the world – personified in Jesus and inviting our participatory involvement. Recommended!”

And Jonathan Frost, bishop of Portsmouth, giving heartfelt approval:

“I am delighted to read this contribution to the vital task of parochial ministry. God’s church needs pioneering ministry in every context. Wherever Tina Hodgett and Greg Bakker share their rich experience, new life happens, and the hope of God’s kingdom becomes breaks out. I commend this work with all my heart”

This summer, Tina and Greg will be hosting launch events across the South West and online and they would love to welcome you to hear more about the book. There will also be contributions from a number of churches who have benefited from Pioneering Parishes training. Book your place now.

Buy Into All the Parish: Pioneering practices for every local church now.

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‘The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.’  Alexandra Trenfor’s well known maxim is our aspiration as trainers and writers.

by Rev Greg Bakker

Our forthcoming book, Into all the Parish, is an attempt move away from rejuvenation of the parish church based on replicable strategies or programmes into a ‘way of being’. As reviews of our forthcoming book pour into our inbox, many have commented on the ‘practical companionship offered’ for congregations wishing to make this journey.

Our approach does have a strategy; it is simply rooted in rediscovering afresh the missional aspiration and calling through five dynamic principles (or ways of being church) which characterise a pioneering congregation. Through the five dynamics, we seek to show leaders and congregations where to look, but not what to see.

Our theory is that parish churches who have recaptured a pioneering spirit and made it integral to parochial life practise these five dynamics in a communal way:

• congregational spiritual discernment: the transformative skill of noticing
• shared missional values: the power of principle over preference
• shifting heart, attention, and resource outward: losing your life to find it
• trusting in God’s abundance: what do you have in your hand
• different ways of being church: equal, connected, and distinct.

We sometimes have clergy say that they are already teaching these things in their congregations. This is great. Keep going.

What we ask for is the opportunity to help raise missional aspiration and formation in whole congregations through the communal practices of the five dynamics. For as long as I’ve been a parish priest, our interpretations of the gospel have largely been focused on the individual. What would we see if we practised together the five gospel dynamics in a communal way, allowing these to shape our aspirations, our use of power and processes in decision making, and our spiritual care for one another and a wider range of people unconnected with the church?

So, if you yearn for your congregations to thrive but you’d appreciate a little help about where to look without being told what to see, get your hands on a copy of Into all The Parish.

Buy Into All the Parish now from Church House Publishing, Eden or Amazon.

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Church House Publishers approached Tina and me in August 2023 about writing a book. 

by Rev’d Greg Bakker

We prepared a proposal for the editorial board and were delighted with the affirmation that what we proposed was a ‘hopeful, conciliatory and constructive contribution to contemporary church life and the church’s mission’.  This summer, after three years of work, Into All the Parish:  Pioneering practices for every local church, will be published. 

Mike Harrison, Bishop of Exeter, describes Into All the Parish: “A wise, accessible and practical guide to helping Christian communities discern how God’s Spirit is at work inside and outside the Church. Tools are provided helping congregations to ensure principles eclipse preferences, abundance mind-sets hold sway over scarcity narratives, and different ways of doing and being church are held together synergistically. All this wrapped up in a missional understanding of being caught up in God’s sacrificial loving movement towards the world – personified in Jesus and inviting our participatory involvement. Recommended!”

I was asked recently why we wrote this book. Tina will share her response in a forthcoming newsletter. I wrote because I believe God is not done with the parish church. I dare to believe God has more for congregations than can be seen from where we currently find ourselves. I believe God invites congregations to journey, to explore, to discover what God has for us. 

God has shown me over many years that when engaged and generous congregations of all shapes and sizes redirect their energy, talent, and resources towards unconnected people and help nurture safe space for those on the margins to be seen, heard and valued, the thriving of local community and of Christian faith become possible. Into all the Parish is a reflection on the pioneering practices which transform the inner life of congregations through small but dynamic changes and cultivate an environment within and beyond the church walls for unconnected people to discover that they are seen, heard and valued by God.

Pre-order the book from Church House Publishing.

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‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’.  This was a proverb I learned growing up, and as I look out of my upstairs office window typing this I see a row of castles opposite.

by Rev Tina Hodgett

When the weather is good my neighbours sit in their gardens and pretend the others in the other gardens are invisible.

In ancient Biblical times people lived in tents that could be moved.  You’d see people coming from a long way away and would prepare to meet them on arrival, not knowing if they brought gifts or threat. In either case, as Abraham knew (Gen 18), offering lavish hospitality was a way of making it more probable the outcome of the visit was a good one for all.

Hospitality is about a posture of openness to the stranger. It is about holding a space for them and yourself to meet on shared ground as fellow human beings. A fellow human being is in need of water in the desert. She or he needs freshly prepared nutritious food, shade, rest. When we encounter others as fellow human beings – subject to bodily needs, physical and psychological safety, and a need to make meaning in our lives – we are more likely to see a stranger as an opportunity to share connection. Not barricade ourself into the castle of seeing people we don’t yet know as a potential threat.

When you read this it will probably be in the raw bright days after Easter Sunday. The encounter between Jesus and the couple on the road to Emmaus may be in your mind.  Sometimes we focus on what happens at the table in that story, but Jesus is hospitable way before that. In his tone of voice, body language, humble listening and responding to them in their distress and confusion, he has created space for them to see more and become more while they are together on the road.

This is what Pioneering Parishes aims to do and aims to help churches to do; create space for others to see more and be more through encounters with Jesus and others on the road.

Is being hospitable an important value for your congregation? Discover who your congregation aspires to be for God and your local community at the next Pioneering Parishes Values Setting and Embedding Workshop. Find out more.

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There is no getting around the idea of power. It is woven into the fabric of every human community and organisation. What is asked of every congregation and its leadership is to be attentive to the use of power.

by Rev Greg Bakker

An attentiveness to the use of power in our congregations is rooted in the humility of God. Our worship liturgy, sermons, and prayers frequently affirm the power of God. Yet, one of the defining but understated characteristics of God is humility.

We often read our Bibles and pray as though humility is primarily about our unworthiness. But what the coming of Jesus shows us about divine humility is its willingness to draw alongside humanity and nurture space for us to be seen, heard, and thrive. Equally, our disposition of humility before God is about cultivating space for God to be seen, heard, and honoured in our lives and world.

How would we know that our church community and leaders are being attentive to the use of our power? We might expect to see:

• significant efforts to include as many as possible in the contributing of ideas
• robust, transparent, honest conversations in our church communities
• a curiosity to understand others and what has shaped their perspective
• careful listening for ideas that reflect the whisper of the Spirit rather than just simply seeking the opinion of the majority
• pastorally sensitive, participatory processes of change rather than change done to us by those with power

How would we know when our church community and leaders are not being attentive to the use of power? Power lacking humility:

• frequently expects people to move quickly through stages of loss or adjustment (just get on with the new stuff)
• marginalises those who have questions or simply need more time to see in a new way
• reflects and benefits the personal preferences of the “powerful” within the congregation
• rewards those who get in line with the vision and strategies of those in charge without robust processes for communal discernment

Attention to the use of power is vital to the thriving of our church communities. Power used well, power to bless, is ultimately shaped by a humility which allows us all to feel we have been seen, heard, and valued within the kinship of God.

Discover more about paying attention to use of power during a Pioneering Parishes course. Find out more.

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At Pioneering Parishes, we are persuaded that pioneers and parishes need each other.

But the dynamics between pioneers and advocates are often challenging and disruptive. To foster better understanding and coloration in mission, Rev Greg Bakker and Rev Tina Hodgett, leaders of Pioneering Parishes, have created the beatitudes for pioneers and priests.

Last year, on our blog we featured a series on the Pioneering Parishes Beatitudes. Beginning with an introduction and then looking at each beatitude in more detail. You can see all the posts here:

• Introduction to Pioneering Parishes beatitudes
• Aspiring to be our best
• Show interest
• More in common than you might think…
• Equality…
• Think Win/Win
• Journey Together
• Practise the Better Way

Now we have put together the beatitudes into one download. Making it easy to share them with your priest or pioneer and see if you can support each other to be who you each aspire to be for God and your community?

If you would like support in working with either a priest or pioneer, Pioneering Parishes can help. Take a look at our training courses or get in touch with us via the link at the bottom of this page.

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by Rev Tina Hodgett

‘These are uncertain times.’

‘This is an unprecedented situation.’

‘Things don’t seem to work anymore.’

How many times a week do you hear these kinds of phrases on TV, social media, the radio? They appear in articles and book titles like ‘How to lead when you don’t know where you’re going.’

I wonder if you ask yourself what you can do to make it (whatever ‘it’ is) better, particularly in the context of leading in the parish church?

Often what needs our attention is our own posture towards God, ourself and others. What ways of being, listening, talking and doing do we bring to these areas of our life? Our existing ways of being may be wise and wonderful.

On the other hand they may have been formed in early life to keep us feeling safe, and it may be time to carefully, with self-compassion, with the help of our community, open ourselves to change them.

This is the essence of being adaptive. Understanding that new ways forward will depend on giving up existing beliefs and habits and adopting new ones; being willing to let go of aspects of ourselves and our familiar practices; take a risk for the sake of discovering something we hadn’t imagined; trying out new things and celebrating failure as learning.* This is, I would add, the essence of the life of a disciple of Christ.

All of this can be uncomfortable, but it will be more fruitful than applying an ‘off-the-peg’ solution that assumes our deep-rooted challenges in parish churches are purely technical and can be fixed like a faulty boiler (unless of course they are a faulty boiler).

Pioneering Parishes is an adaptive organisation. We try to model adaptive approaches and we encourage parish churches to do likewise.

*You can read more about technical v adaptive solutions in Heifetz, Ronald A., Marty Linsky, and Alexander Grashow. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World. Harvard Business Press, 2009 or find short articles on the internet.

Find out about how your church can make being adaptive part of who it is at Pioneering Parishes Values Day.

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The lecturer entered the lecture hall bellowing, ‘What questions do you have about the assigned reading?’ The room went silent. No one engaged.

by Rev Greg Bakker

The lecturer then raised the temperature in the hall. ‘Please take out your exam booklets,’ he replied. ‘If you don’t have any questions, I’m assuming that you have mastered the content and are ready to demonstrate this.’

Hands were quickly raised in hopes of heading off an exam few were adequately prepared to sit. What followed was extraordinary. There was no lecture. There was only engagement around the questions, insights and connections of the learners in the room. Sometimes questions raised were even answered by other students.

I was in that lecture hall. I was profoundly changed that day. What Ted Hamilton, “lecturer” in Geography, did was transform me into an active participant in my own learning. His whole approach to teaching was to model what he expected of himself and what he wanted to see in us – participative learners who were curious, questioning, noticed patterns and able to explain our understanding of content to someone else in a way which contributed to their learning. His medium was his message.

One of the key values of Pioneering Parishes is ‘we model what we want to see’. In many ways, this aspiration is the pinnacle. It is the value into which all our other values flow. This value is the commitment to embody who we aspire to be in the little and big things we do. The implication is that if, for example, we aspire to be creative and pay attention to the use of power, we will cultivate systems, ways of going about things which in themselves convey our aspirations. The medium of communication, as people say, becomes the message.

This, of course, isn’t fancy corporate speak. It is deeply Christian for we follow the One whose very life was his message.

Come along to Values Day to find out more about modelling what you want to see. Book your place now.

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A church where I served in the early 2010s runs an event at this time of year called Star Trail.

by Rev Tina Hodgett

The 13th century civic parish church of St Peter’s in Portishead is turned into a Middle Eastern landscape, starry skies are projected onto the vaulted ceiling, adults dressed as the Lord of Time, navigators, magi, Mary… school children travel the star trail to meet the wise men to hear their individual stories in elaborately decorated gazebos. It’s magical… there’s no shortage of adults to dress up and rock a baby Jesus on a bale of straw, or dress themselves as an alchemist trading in myrrh.

It’s a playful, embodied, interactive and relational way of telling the ancient story. It’s immersive and engages the whole person. As infant nativities do, they draw us in to the moment body mind and soul. Of course, with infant nativities there is risk and mistakes, laughter and the unpredictable rogue child. Families attend to watch their child go through pre-school ritual, but also to enter into the jeopardy of the story again.

I’ve always seen the story of the birth of Jesus as the story of God at play. After all, here is the Son of God appearing on the human stage dressed in flesh and blood, heart and spirit, acting out the drama of God’s design in the world while the angels look on. It’s a breath-taking event, full of twists and turns, surprises and overturnings. The Holy Spirit directs the play – the drama – and creates the space for spontaneous improvisation by the human actors – the unpredictable rogue adult.

In Pioneering Parishes we are convinced that God is inviting us to join the Holy Trinity at play in the world today, like little children confident in the love and welcoming gaze of their adoring parent. We try to be playful in all we do… beyond Christmas and in the training space, in the parish, in our newsletter. How are you incorporating play into your practice as a priest or minister? Let us know!

If you would like to gift your church the opportunity to be playful in training why not buy a gift voucher for your church? Drop us a message here.

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Independent research has found that Pioneering Parishes is impacting the fulfilment of the Church of England’s six bold outcomes at the parochial level.

Recent independent research demonstrates that the small, start-up training organisation is giving long-established parish churches the tools and confidence to revitalise for mission, enabling them to reach out to children and families in the wider communities, and cultivating a framework for growth in discipleship. Read the Executive Summary here.

The research was independently commissioned by the Church of England Vision & Strategy team to evaluate the impact Pioneering Parishes is having on those who have attended courses and on the parishes they are part of. It was carried out by Paul Bradbury, ordained pioneer minister in the Church of England and associate tutor with Sarum College, Church Mission Society and Ripon College Cuddesdon. This research evaluated the experiences of Pioneering Parishes attendees against the six bold outcomes of the Church of England’s Vision and Strategy.

The data in this research indicates how Pioneering Parishes enables parishes to renew their life of worship and witness in their communities. The result is a move toward community listening, prayer, new initiatives and to changes in existing provision which makes it more welcoming and accessible.

Parishes are complex places, with long histories and multiple influences. Yet, it is also the case that many participants credited PP directly with many of the changes they were seeing in their parishes.

This is the work of culture change; work to help move parishes toward renewed vision and values for their common life. Such work can be slow and difficult. This research indicates that Pioneering Parishes is a significant and powerful tool to help parishes make substantial progress in this area in a relatively short period of time.

Read the Executive Summary of the research.

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