Starting something new
Listening
You may already have ideas about mission projects or new ways of connecting with your community but the best place to start in mission is to listen.
Listen to what’s going on in your community; listen to the particular gifts and experiences of your local church and above all listen to God.
Our situations are forever changing around us. There is need but also opportunity and there are often more gifts available than we think! Putting ourselves in a place where we are asking questions & listening is a healthy place to be. You may find it helpful to ask at this time who do we particularly have a heart for?
There are many ways of doing community or mission audits but generally they will include
-Questionnaires
-Focussed interviews with key community leaders
-Open day/ vision day at the church
-Away day for discernment
Some of the work can be done by an individual but often it is best if in some way or another the whole community is mobilised.
Mission audits are a way of putting ourselves beyond our self- interests and learning more about others and our particular context. They are more than simply a task to get the information we want but are a good expression of love and service in themselves if done well. You may wish to consider a season of listening with a series of sermons on Sunday etc. Ask Peter about this.
Helpful websites -statistics, tools & courses
www.cos.churchofscotland.org.uk/church-finder/
www.acpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/listening-for-mission.pdf
www.cinnamonnetwork.co.uk/church-support/socialactionaudits/
Pioneering
Mission is about God coming to us in Jesus. So pioneering ministry is when we leave the church building and go to where the people are and build community there.
An increasing number of people finds it hard to contemplate the idea of crossing the threshold of a traditional church building. We need to recognise that if we love people we can start where they are.
New Christian communities or new worshipping communities can take place in lots of different ways with different people. These can include
Pub Church
Knit & Natter
Youth Church
Etc.
They can also lead to new Christian social enterprise projects.
In recent national consultation…
New communities are not intended a rival to inherited churches but to compliment existing churches and to play their part in the ecclesiastical eco-system.
To help this changed mind set training is recommended.
The Mission Officer co-leads the New College Introduction to Pioneering & Church Planting course
www.divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-events/short-courses-for-church-people
Also consider the Forge Pioneer course
www.cairnmovement.com/forge-pioneer-course
and CMS training www.churchmissionsociety.org/pioneer/