The Clergy October Blog

What is a Pioneer and What is Fresh Expressions

Pioneer Curates Blog!

I was asked recently – what is a Pioneer Curate and what is Fresh Expressions – two very good questions! So, I thought I would aim to try and clarify this through my blog!

Sooooooo, in a nut shell:

The background:

The Church of England is looking to ordain missionaries to England and the Western world. They are doing this as the Western world is largely seeing decreasing numbers attending their traditional church services on Sunday mornings.

Fresh Expressions … Of Church?

The term Fresh Expressions of Church was coined in the 2004 church report: Mission Shaped Church. It stands for ways of ‘doing and being church’ that reach out to those who are not and will not be attending church in the near future. It means doing church in a fresh way. (Not implying that other ways are stale) It’s hope is to remove barriers for the many who have come to struggle even beginning to comprehend what we do on a Sunday morning let alone engage with it. It is different from a missionary outreach as it aims to become a ‘mature’ expression of church with baptisms, communion and all the other things that make a mature church. *

Pioneer Curate/Vicar/Minister

A Pioneer … is someone ordained by their denomination (this is an ecumenical movement) to seek out ways of planting Fresh Expressions of Church. There is clearly a spectrum of Pioneers, some of which are more focussed on working with church as it stands and doing more traditional mission, to those who want to go and do crazy whacky things, and some of whom are happy doing both …

This is where I come in: I am of the breed that loves church the way it is but sees the potential for it existing in many different shapes. My particular interest is in planting churches in theatres – which I have talked about before, will talk about more and enjoy doing every Tuesday night!

This is why my chosen path of training was to embrace the offer of doing 50% pioneer training and 50% inherited ministry – I love them both and am very excited and seeing both being blessed by God.

NB:

As Bishop Peter wisely pointed out recently, that all Priests/Vicars/Curates are going to need to be pioneers in certain elements in the future. It is equally true that most Pioneers will also need to have some element of embracing and understanding more traditional ministry. How that works out in the detail is being wrestled with even as I type!

As many of you have also become aware, as term has begun, an exciting proposition has been put to St Mark’s to work with another church in the city centre. Hennie has been asked to become Priest-in-charge of this potential new parish taking a small amount of her time to care for this fledgling venture.

The hope is that there would also be a pioneering element to this work and that part of my training will include getting involved in this city centre ministry. The detail of this has yet to be fully processed but we have been told that if this project goes through St Mark’s would also have another curate this coming June.

So, as you can see, there are exciting things a foot in the Church of England and God is doing great things to see people come to know him and join his Church. Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated in this time.

Yours in Him,

Revd. Jonathan Phillips

* There is a lot of debate on this but a very good summary can be found on the Fresh Expressions of Church website!