Mission Shaped Ministry Course
In Edgehill we are hoping to help our local Societies and Circuits to understand all of this better. We're especially interested in helping you relate the idea of a ‘fresh expression' of church to your own particular situation. Some of the material we are using for this comes from the Fresh Expressions organisation in England, and you can view most of it for yourself on their website, www.freshexpressions.org.uk
How Mission Shaped is your church?
A good place to start with all this is to explore what a ‘mission-shaped church' looks like. This then gives you an opportunity to ask how mission-shaped your own church is and how it might become more so. There is a short programme called ‘moving on in a mission-shaped church' which can be looked at in Church Councils on one evening or over a series of up to 4 evenings. This involves asking a lot of challenging questions and studying what the Bible has to say about Church. If you are interested in learning more about this please contact Louise Wilson email at Edgehill College.
Mission Shaped Ministry Course (Part-time, 1 year) 2008 - 2009
During 2008 - 2009 we ran a part-time, one year training course in Edgehill. This course, mission shaped ministry, was designed by the Fresh Expressions organisation. This is aimed at both individuals and teams who are exploring ideas for fresh expressions. The current course was run as a pilot scheme and is jointly sponsored by the Methodist Home Mission Department and the Church of Ireland Council for Mission. There were 31 participants, ordained and lay, from a variety of church experiences and ranging in age from 20 years old to '50 something'. We meet monthly and explore topics covering three themes: preparation for and planting a fresh expression of church; Christian formation in fresh expression of church; and sustaining fresh expressions of church.
Behind all these explorations of fresh expressions is a desire to understand better the context in which we are all trying to be church - whether as the traditional established church we all know and love or as something new and different.
