CAPTION: Rev'd Claire Curtis and some of the team from the Exe Valley Mission Community who are involved in pioneer ministry including a pop-up community choir and monthly lunch club
Pioneer Mission Shed Unpacks Mixed Ecology of Church
The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt. Rev’d Dr Mike Harrison, shared his thoughts on what a Mixed Ecology of Church looks like at a Mission Shed gathering on Pioneering on Saturday 8 March in Exeter.
He was a keynote speaker at the event, which also featured a talk by Rev’d Tina Hodgett, leader of the CMS South West Pioneering Hub and Co-founder of Pioneering Parishes.
Mission Shed events are organised by the Diocese of Exeter’s Mission and Ministry team and aim to resource churches for mission in a number of different areas.
During the afternoon there were a number of workshops on rural pioneering, using churchyards for fresh expression gardening projects, using creativity and the Waffle House community enterprise in Axminster.
Rev’d Tina Hodgett leads the South West Pioneer Hub
Bishop Mike is the Church of England’s board member for Fresh Expressions UK, and has previously held roles that have included growing the mission of local parishes, developing missional leadership, pioneer ministry and fresh expressions of church.
He has made developing Mixed Ecology of Church one of his five key priorities for the Diocese of Exeter. It is also one of the key aspects of the Church of England’s vision and strategy. Pioneering is a part of Mixed Ecology.
He said “Pioneering is about reaching the parts that the Church does not normally reach. A pioneer is someone who engages with part of the culture that the church has not reached in ways that enable them to access the faith.”
“Mixed Ecology means different ways of doing and being Church that engage with the different parts of our population. For some people traditional church and time-honoured church will be a way in which their faith can be fostered and they can engage with the Gospel.
“But for others, no matter how well we do traditional church, they simply won’t be engaged by that way of doing church.
“So, Mixed Ecology is essentially an approach which says there’s a place for different ways of doing and being church.”
Bishop Mike listed some examples, including Cafe Church, Messy Church, Bubble Church and Wiggle Worship.
Other local examples include Forest Church, Moor Church and Hygge Church.
He said he was excited by the enthusiasm and energy he had already encountered in the diocese towards Mixed Ecology and fresh expressions of worship, as well as examples of “excellent practice”.
