I recently visited the exhibition ‘A Second Life’, a retrospective of Dame Tracey Emin’s art from her extraordinary 40 year career. I expected to be challenged, I expected an eclectic mix of media and creativity. I’m not sure I expected to see Jesus.
But there he was – a striking painting of the crucifixion in Emin’s raw style. Reading up on her interaction with Jesus, I discovered that she paints a crucifixion scene every Easter as a meditation on mortality. She’s even said, “I paint crucifixions and then paint something completely different over them. Only I know there’s a crucifixion underneath.”
The following week, I was watching Love is Blind UK, a reality show where couples ‘date’ on opposite sides of a screen but can decide to get married on their conversations alone. Right at the beginning of the process, in the women’s dormitory, one of the contestants led the group in a prayer – hands held in a circle. I wasn’t expecting that either!
The truth is, God is at work everywhere. Not in ways we might expect, not always in ways we are comfortable with, but always at work.
As followers of Jesus, our first call is to carefully listen and look to see what God is up to and respond to that. In the gospel of John, Jesus said ‘I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.’ (John 5:19) We should do the same.
In all our training, we work with church teams to think about what God is up to in their communities, and to consider what they could do in response. We look at where people naturally gather and think about how the church could be a presence there. We consider who else is at work for the common good in a neighbourhood and how the church could partner, or support that work. We think about what new worshipping communities the church may need to create in order to reach people that won’t connect with their main worship service, due to scheduling, cultural differences, or social circumstances (amongst other things!).
If you are looking to grow your church, or have noticed a group of people you’re struggling to connect with in your area, and are thinking about starting something new – why not get in touch? We’d love to help! Use the yellow form below to reach out to us.
You can read on to discover the stories of pioneers that CCX has worked with, encouraging them to listen and respond to God’s call as they developed new worshipping communities for those beyond the walls of the church.
We help the Church reach new people in new and renewed ways with the love of Jesus Christ. If you want to participate in one of our courses or partner with us, we’d love to hear from you. Fill in this form and we’ll be in touch.
Rosie Horridge is a lay pioneer minister whose experience of church changed significantly after the birth of her first child. Hear how this challenge inspired Rosie to establish Baby Days, a space for new mothers to explore the spirituality of pregnancy, birth and motherhood.
Aleka Gutzmore is a lay pioneer minister based at All Saints & Holy Trinity in Dalston, London. Her call to pioneering has been one of ‘keeping things simple’, of discovering those places outside of church where her gifts and talents can naturally shine as she shares the good news of Jesus Christ.
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