Mission starts with a small seed and sees a huge tree grow – we have heard that story and we know that we still can’t make a tree grow.  Only God can grow a tree.  So we start with listening and prayer and our connection to God.

If you have been around Cumbria in the past decade or more you will be aware of the pioneering and Fresh Expressions work we have been engaged in. We have been and remain committed to the values of growing things from the ground up – of listening to context, journeying with God and people, and of seeking the development of mission in all contexts – fresh, new, beautifully ancient, traditional – in every part of the garden to use a metaphor we are fond of in Cumbria.

Revitalisation in mission simply means seeing new life emerge, from refreshing services with creativity and new challenge on Sundays, inviting neighbours and community to be part of them afresh, to gathering in new spaces around the love of Jesus, to asking questions of ourselves about how we faithfully improvise around the truths of our faith in a troubled world.  We hope and pray that we will see significant numbers gather in our current congregations and see and plan for church plants and new worshipping communities in every style and tradition, to the glory of God.

Practically this means resources, networks and training and supporting each other as we continue to learn these lessons well together.  Please look into these on this website and get in touch where we can continue to learn. But unless we pray, these are just plans, and so we call all of us to pray, and to continue to seek out opportunities to listen to God as we pray for each of our communities.