Mission-shaped Team Vicar
In the beautiful Tas Valley in rural south Norfolk
To work with both traditional and fresh expressions of church

Are you….
· A growing disciple of Jesus Christ, a person of prayer open to the Holy Spirit.
· Able to share the vision for sharing the gospel in these 6 villages, a desire to express the story of God’s love in creative ways for today’s culture
· Committed to growing in numbers in both traditional and fresh expressions of church.
· A pastoral heart. Loving people of all ages.
· Enthusiastic about the bible and placing a high value on its authority
· Committed to personal integrity and mutual accountability
· An enabler who can resource and develop people to exercise their gifts
· Good sense of humour
· A good listener who enjoys being part of a team and sharing ministry with others.

Key tasks
1. To lead the ministry of the churches in Saxlingham and Shotesham, Tasburgh and Tharston as the parish priest of these villages and to share in the leadership of the cell church. Particularly fostering links with the village schools, old people’s home, almshouses, village hall and village residents associations.
2. To have a particular responsibility across the team ministry. This might be to develop the ministry of lay pastoral visitors or to develop the fast-growing youth cell network.
3. To actively and prayerfully play a full part in the leadership team across the benefice as it develops

Training/Personal Development
The Rector is keen to support whoever is appointed in finding opportunity for personal development through participation in training, conferences, retreats, private study etc.

Terms and Conditions
· Period of appointment - 7 years
· Full Stipend
· Accommodation - Saxlingham Rectory, an attractive 4 bed. property near to the church and village centre
· Expenses will be paid in full

You are warmly welcome to make an informal exploratory visit in July/August before applying for this post: Contact The Rev’d Sally Gaze (Team Rector), The Rectory, Church Road, Newton Flotman, Norwich. NR15 1QB. tel 01508 470762 e-mail: sally@tasvalley.org ww.tasvalley.org

Applications by end August. Interviews will be held on Monday 15th September 2008

The The Fresh Expressions Share Guide is now live online and looks like a fantastic resource.

I’ve started a facebook group as a hub for the emerging conversation about starting small missional communities/cell planting/whatever else you call it.

You’ll need to be a registered on facebook to use it, but that’s very quick. I know some people loathe facebook (I both love and hate it), but it was by far the quickest way to get something started. Hopefully the conversation might develop to a point where it makes it worth creating something more substantial of facebook.

CMS, Cell UK and Dream are all already involved in this kind of thinking, often just using different jargon, so this could be an exciting place for creative conversation. The more different voices there to share thinking, stories, ideas and issues the better….

Laurence Singlehurst is the director of Cell UK. He reflects here on an emerging vision for “cell planting”.

Occasionally, we all have moments when something comes together. For me it is a case of God speaking to us and what He is saying being highlighted through circumstances that reinforce His voice. We often then have a ‘chance’ conversation and know that it is really significant.

A number of years ago a cell church leader took me to his village and shared with me his dream that in his village of 1000 he can have his big wing, his corporate expression of church. Then in the smaller villages around plant a cell, sending out or empowering two existing people who already live there. In so doing he would put, as it were, a missional mandate around their existing relationships and plant cells and then his corporate wing would support through coaching and encouragement what was happening. As he shared the vision somehow deep inside I knew that this was not just a local thing but one day this would be a new way to galvanise and enthuse the cell movement. I think that day has now arrived.

We had a very exiting day recently when we gathered people who had seen cells planted either in a geographical area or through a particular people group. As I imagined there are a number of situations where cell groups are being planted and here is a story from one initiative:

I am leading a cell plant that has been happening now for a year with good results so far. We are looking to reach out together to the council estate where we live. We have seen 4 people come to faith. We have done fun days, set up youth clubs, done joinery, bricklaying and plastering courses, bbq’s, X factor nights to build relationships.

We now meet as a cell every fortnight – the core group – the in between weeks we do a social where we invite as many people as possible, and also do intentional discipleship with those on the edge of our community on the other week of our four-weekly cycle. Our vision is to have a cell group on every road on our estate. Each person in the core group in cell acts as a street pastor to their road and has the potential to be a cell leader in their own right.

Longer term we see that we will continue as a core group and meet in secondary cells in the in between weeks. We also recognize that lots of people in our community are not ready for cell straight away – we encourage them to go through Alpha and also the Freedom in Christ course whilst doing some intentional discipleship every 4 weeks.

Joe Pienaar, St Chads Church, Romiley

As we think of this idea of planting cell groups many of you might already be thinking that you have done something like this in your own setting and if so we would love to hear about it. Some of you may have planted groups through Alpha courses where the small groups continued on as a new cell.

The challenge as I see it is to hear what God is saying to us and then run with it. Many of our groups will grow in the time honoured way as new people are added in and multiplication occurs. However I think something different is also happening and groups are being planted in lots of different ways. So take a moment to come before God and see if He speaks to you as I think He is speaking to me to see cells planted as a means of kingdom growth. I look forward to hearing the stories of what God is doing amongst you.

Excellent talk here by Mike Frost on what it really means to be the “missional” church

(ht the forgotten ways)

One of the most helpful insights into team/cell dynamics is knowing the typical cycle that groups go through. There are various versions, the most popular being ‘forming: storming: norming: peforming’. It certainly helps me to know that ‘storming’ is an important and inevitable part of the process rather than a sign of failure (storming is the honeymoon ends, and we stop become disillusioned, simply because we’re not maintaining the illusion of pretending to be nice to each other all the time.

I’ve also found the Belbin team roles which, I teach on regularly, really useful.

Over the past eighteen months though, I’ve found an even more helpful framework from a gem of a book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. It’s a ‘must read’ for anyone leading a team/cell/missional community.

It’s a management/business book which comes in the form of a simple fictional (and slightly cheesy) story through which he gives a framework for understanding five issues that most often hold teams back. Each ‘dysfunction’ is caused by a failure to address the previous one.

They are
1. Lack of trust: We’re working together but I don’t share anything vulnerable of myself in the process.
2. Lack of conflict: We don’t genuinely say what we think as issues are discussed, feeling free to disagree vigorously.
3. Lack of ownership: Because I didn’t express my reservations, I don’t fully buy into the process and decisions.
4. Lack of accountability: We don’t hold one another accountable to follow through on the things we are each responsible for.
5. Lack of commitment to team results: To use a football analogy (painfully current!) a player finishes a match elated that he scored a hat-trick even though his team lots 4-3.

Lencioni’s writing here and in some of his other books on conflict as something not just good but essential is particularly helpful. (In Death by Meeting for example he reckons that lack of the right sort of conflict is the reason most meetings are boring).

Go buy.

by David Keen

From the end of 2008, construction work will begin in 2 of 3 new estates planned around the edge of Yeovil. These 3 ‘Key Sites’ will each house 1500-2,000 people. Each will be a brand new community, with a primary school and some community facilities. These estates are part of the planned expansion of Yeovil which will add 300 new houses a year to our town over the next 20 years.

At present our churches are concentrated in the centre of the town, and along various main routes. But increasingly, areas of Yeovil are growing up that have no local church. We face a ‘doughnut’ scenario, with Yeovil ringed by a circle of neighbourhoods with no local Christian witness or presence.

Leaders from 9 local churches, representing 6 denominations and streams, have agreed to work together to establish a Christian presence on these estates. We are not talking church buildings, but rather the presence of a community of mission-minded disciples. That, after all, is what the church is supposed to be.

As they move house, many people are open to new friendships and a new approach to life. At the same time, there can be loneliness and a desire for community and a sense of place. All the means that the new estates will be a fruitful place for mission, and will need a Christian presence to help them grow as healthy, stable communities.

Our vision is to see teams/cells of Christians moving in to each estate, as they are built, to be the nucleus of a new Christian community for each new neighbourhood:

-We are looking for mission team members now….
-Who can start training and praying together in 2008…
-Who can start moving in from 2009…..
Who can love their new neighbours, listen to God, and live as disciples in the new estates, embodying the reality of the life of Jesus as a community of normal people.

The ideal figure would be one Christian household per 100 new dwellings – i.e. teams of 6-8 people/households on each estate, which would come together over the 5-6 years the estates are built.

We will be using the ‘Mission Shaped Ministry’ course, which is running in Taunton from February 2007. This will help potential team members think through what is involved, learn together about church planting and culture, and give a period for discerning calling and gifts.

Other resources are coming from the local Methodist circuit, who may be able to put a significant amount of money, generated through the sale of houses and redundant chapels, into buying 2 houses on the estates. These could be used as interim community centres, to house specialist workers, or as community houses.

Each estate will have a new primary school, and we are working to get 2 of these designated as church schools. In the third estate, there will be a community centre. This would mean that there is a decent sized public meeting space on each estate.

We’re fully aware that planting onto estates this small isn’t something that normally happens. Most stories of church plants in new housing areas are into neighbourhoods of 5,000 or so. However, Yeovil isn’t going to grow that quickly, and we need to find a way to reach these medium sized new communities as they arise. With that in mind, we are not setting out to ‘church plant’. The ‘mission cells’ (we’re still not really sure what to call them!) will be given support, resources and training, but will be encouraged to develop naturally in their own setting. We may end up with something looking like a ‘normal’ church, or with something completely different – whatever it is, it must be a form of Christian community, discipleship, worship and mission which is shaped by the context.

Finally, since 2 of the new estates are on Greenfield sites in neighbouring rural benefices, it may be appropriate to use the new Bishops Mission Orders in at least one of these, to give the time and space for the new venture to grow and find its own shape.

Participating Churches
-Anglican (4 parishes/benefices)
-Methodist
-URC
-Yeovil Community Church
-Birchfield Church (Independent Evangelical)

David is leading this exciting initiative as ‘Anglican Deanery missioner’, a half-time post specifically tasked with leading the response to housing development in the area. He would love to hear from anyone who has been involved in similar work, or who might be interested in being part of the team. David blogs at http://davidkeen.blogspot.com.

by Jonny Baker
In small mission communities or cells part of the adventure is finding ways to pray and fuel one another’s faith. But many of the ways of worshipping in a larger congregation simply don’t translate. Hopefully through Anglican Cell UK we can share ideas and resources for prayer, worship and spirituality that do work well in smaller groups.

Conversation, sharing bread and wine round the meal table, listening to a music track, informal prayer, taking part in a simple creative activity or ritual, using liturgies, drawing on the practices of contemplative prayer, watching a video on a tv, and pinching ideas from alternative worship groups are some of the things I’ve found work well. Unless you have a particularly musical group, singing always seems to dive bomb in a small group!

Proost is a small creative company that I set up about ten years ago with two friends. It began as a record label but this summer we gave it a total revamp branching out into publishing short movies and books as well as music. And we have shifted so that the content is all downloadable from a new web site.

There’s lots that could work really well in a small group. The movies are short films of 3-4 minutes. Follow Jesus’ journey into the wilderness with Si Smith’s 40 or Jesus’ journey to the cross with Jon Birch’s manga style Twelve Stations animation. The quality of the artistry is superb and several have an appeal that runs across all ages. The latest addition (we add new content each month) is 25 comic pages telling the Christmas story with accompanying digital advent calendar and cardboard cut out models for each day of advent. These are great fun.

The Pocket Liturgies series capture the liturgies of communities such as Grace in London or Sanctuary in Bath and lots of the prayers and reflections will translate well. Mark Berry in Telford has written one of the books Navigatio, all of which has come out of their small group gatherings round the meal table on a Thursday night.

There is a media player integrated into the proost web site so that you can listen to samples of all music tracks and watch clips from all the movies. The content is now fully downloadable. You can access it and buy it when you see something you like but the simplest way is to subscribe. It’s incredible value at £60 a year which gives you access to all the back catalogue as well as new downloadable content which will be added each month.

When you subscribe, enter the coupon code PRSUBACUK and you will receive a 10% discount!
Visit proost at www.proost.co.uk

Sally Gaze is organising a Norfolk cell training day with Paul Bayes (National Mission and Evangelism advisor) on 26th Jan 08. You can download the flyer and booking form here as a Word doc or contact Sally for more info.

Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin is a fascinating and challenging book on a number of levels.

At first glance, it’s yet another book on discipling men. Larkin tells his own story of growing up as a preacher’s kid and then his serious sexual addiction while in church leadership himself. He’s a good story teller, who’s style reminded me of Donald Millar in Blue Like Jazz. He isn’t one of the stories of someone who was found out and “fell” publicly, but rather he gave up ministry as his addiction became more and more desperate. Eventually he found himself at an AA type group, aimed at recovery from sex addiction, where his healing began. In the process he discovered levels of community, spirituality and openness amongst his fellow recovering addicts that had been utterly lacking in his experience of church.

The journey leads to Larkin and others setting up the ‘Samson Society’, which is explicitly Christian and for any men, not just addicts, who are willing to courageously face their own issues together. They seek to become more like Jesus, as they recognise that they tend to be “loners, wanderers, liars, judges and strongmen”.

There are parts of the book and the Samson society which are very tied into American Evangelical culture, but there are others that are challenge and even subvert it.

Three in particular…

1. It deeply questions the assumptions of Western individualism, where my personal “quiet time/devotional” is the basic building block of discipleship.
2. As the Samson society grows and multiplies it goes for a totally decentralised (starfish) form of leadership and control. Along with many others I’ve been fascinated by the starfish idea in recent months and this is the clearest example I’ve come across so far in a Christian movement.
3. Larkin powerfully exposes the temptation for church members to want to see their leader/pastor as their “father” and the ways that many of us collude with that.

I’d very strongly recommend reading the book. Like any book it has its own cultural baggage, but it challenged parts of me that other books didn’t reach. It certainly asks some big questions and offers some powerful insights that the cell movement can benefit from.

Richard White