The DNA of Pioneer Ministry

Andy Milne

Description

This book is a resource to help people involved in fresh expressions, pioneering, youth work and mainstream church ministry. It explores God's calling, teamwork,how to plan, worship and much more.

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern
• Date de parution: 03 novembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780334054115
• Langue: English

Extrait

The DNA of Pioneer Ministry

© Andy Milne 2016
Published in 2016 by SCM Press
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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, a member of the Hodder Headline Ltd.
Scriptural quotations are also taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Fresh Expressions stories are reproduced with permission from source, copyright © 2016 Fresh Expressions freshexpressions.org.uk
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
978 0 334 05409 2
Typeset by Manila Typesetting Company
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
Contents
Foreword by Canon Mark Russell
Foreword by Canon Phil Potter
Acknowledgements
Introduction – the story of Sorted
Part 1 Early days – foundations
1  Beginnings – who are you?
2  How do I form a team?
3  Where do I find support, and how can we create good, sustainable partnerships?
Part 2 Getting started – beginning the pioneering work
4  How do you plan? Learning to think in stages
5  How do I read the context and create opportunities to pioneer?
Part 3 Making it happen – getting stuck in
6  Where do I love and serve people, and how do I build community?
7  What’s so good about small groups, and how do I make disciples?
8  Worship – when to begin and how to get started
9  What helps people take ownership, and how can the new church learn together?
Part 4 Looking further ahead
10  How do we reproduce a fresh expression of church?
11  Baptism, communion and Bishops’ Mission Orders – how do we introduce them among people of no church background?
12  Can you make a fresh expression of church sustainable?
Bibliography
Foreword by Canon Mark Russell
Sitting on a wall in a housing estate on the north east side of Bradford, a teenage boy told me about how he had been on drugs, was regularly drunk, and how had his life not changed he was headed for prison. Today his life has been transformed and he follows Jesus. He said, ‘Sorted saved my life because Sorted led me to God.’
One of the greatest privileges of my job as Chief Executive of Church Army is visiting our Centres of Mission across the UK and Ireland and hearing stories like this. God has used Sorted to change the lives of hundreds of young people, helped them break out of patterns of antisocial behaviour and set them on a different path following Jesus and becoming more like him. Church Army is so proud of Andy and Tracy Milne and their amazing work with Sorted. There are three congregations in Bradford, and now another Church Army Evangelist has taken the DNA from Sorted and is growing a fledgling youth congregation in South East London.
We can look to Sorted and admire all that has happened, but it is tempting to think that we couldn’t possibly do anything like this because we aren’t like Andy and Tracy, or we haven’t been to Bible College or been ordained. This book says loud and clear, yes you can! God can use you!
I encouraged Andy to write this book because I wanted him to share the story of how Sorted grew, the things that went well, and the things that didn’t go as well; to share his learning and wisdom.
My Church Army colleague George Lings’ research into fresh expressions of church shows that if we want to reach the unchurched, and particularly unchurched young people, then it is projects like Sorted, pioneering fresh expressions, that are the best way to do so.
I pray that as you read this amazing book you will be inspired not just to thank God for Sorted, but that you will be inspired to have a go yourself! Could God be calling you to plant a new youth congregation in your area? Young people need to know God loves them, and young people need caring adults who are prepared to show them just how much.
I pray the legacy of this great book is that loads of new fresh expressions are planted to serve young people and help them follow Jesus in their lives.
Canon Mark Russell
CEO Church Army and Youth lead on Archbishops’ Task Group for Evangelism
Foreword by Canon Phil Potter
Pioneers like Andy Milne remind me of the artist, L. S. Lowry. Initially working in obscurity, he painted Salford landscapes with the eye of a local and the heart of a northerner. The extent of his passion and skill were long hidden and sometimes ridiculed, but in time his paintings came to be classified as masterpieces. The shaping and pioneering of new forms of Church has a similar story – happening in secret, often unrecognized, painted by locals but celebrated over time.
The story of Sorted is an excellent example of this. Andy, too, worked from humble beginnings, living with and loving the locals, totally and naturally at home in his Bradford context with a bible and a skateboard. Over a decade later, not only has Sorted grown and reproduced itself twice, but the DNA of the pioneer has spread beyond his own community as similar fresh expressions have been planted in Thamesmead, London, and as far away as Nairobi in Kenya. Those are just two examples of projects that are directly linked to Sorted, but Andy’s influence has been quietly spreading in all directions, inspiring many others to make a start in offering their skills and a missional heart for God to shape and use.
The clue to such an inspiring story is in the title of the book. This is not just another pioneer story, but rather a book that is laced with principles of good practice. Those principles may be simple and accessible, but this is by no means a ‘paint-by-numbers’ kit. Take the principles seriously, and Andy is offering genuine pioneers an authentic experience, one that will be fashioned by the Holy Spirit and will eventually bear much fruit.
I have a Lowry print called ‘Group of children’ hanging on my wall. It is beautifully simple and childlike, but powerfully evocative and unique. The pictures Andy paints in these pages are the same. They are painted by a humble man who offered his skills in a very ordinary setting, but I think you will agree as you read and enjoy this book that the results are extraordinary.
Phil Potter
Archbishops’ Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Tracy, my wonderful wife, for your love and patience as we’ve followed this calling together, and to Sam, for being an amazing son to us. To Mum and Dad for always being there for me. To Emma and Patrick. To Alan and Mollie and to all in our wider family. Big thanks to Trevor and Lynn, also to Errol and Mavis, David and Pauline and Shirley, who helped me discover God and get going with him all those years ago.
To James, Laura, Samuel, Becky, Carl, Lynzi, Nick, Evelyn, Joshua, Gabriel, Damien, Simon, Val, David, Beka, Will, Anne, Michelle, Carole, Marva, Sharon, Ian, Ruth, Kathyrn, Robert, Lynn, Richard, Debbie, Kate, Sue, Tina and so many others who’ve helped make Sorted work. To all the many young people past and present – it’s a privilege and a joy to know you and journey with you. To mention some of you by name is to miss others; you all know who you are – thanks!
Thanks to Mike Moynagh for advising me, helping to structure this book and reading over the draft. Thanks to David, Mary and everyone at SCM Press. To Karen Carter and Elspeth McGann for finding stories for the book. To George Lings, Andrew Wooding and Christine Gore for encouraging me to write.
Thanks to Stuart Hacking and Immanuel. Thanks to everyone at Church Army, especially Andrew Smith, Neville Willerton, Mark Russell, Des Scott and Richard Cooke. Thanks also to Steve Hollinghurst, Paul Deo and Ian Maher. Thanks to the old Bradford diocese and the new Leeds diocese, especially David Lee, +David, +Toby, +Nick. Thanks to several local vicars whose help over the years has been essential for me and Sorted. Finally, thanks to numerous Christians from local churches who have worked with us, giving their time and support.
Introduction – the story of Sorted
While attending Bible college, I sensed a calling to get alongside young people and pioneer a fresh expression of church among them. By late 2003, my wife Tracy and I moved back to North Bradford with our newborn son, Sam, ready to begin.
The vast majority of young people in the Greengates, Idle and Thorpe Edge areas of Br