On Tuesday 8 July the Bishop of Coventry, Christopher Cocksworth, Episcopal Visitor to CMS (an Acknowledged Community in the Church of England) admitted the first eight of a new order of Church Mission Society Pioneers as Lay Workers in the Church.  It took place in Oxford at the first graduation of students to have completed the CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course.  The initiative is a new way to officially recognise lay workers who are pioneers within the ministerial structures of the Church of England.

Over half of fresh expressions are led by lay people, while 40% have had little or no theological training, according to the report From Anecdote To Evidence - Findings from the Church Growth Research Programme 2011-2013 published in January. Having provided flexible, accredited, ‘on the job’ training since 2010, CMS is now ensuring lay pioneers have the means to be recognised and licensed.

Jonny Baker, director of mission education at CMS, said of this development, “It was exciting not only to recognise the achievements of our students as they graduated, but also to have the additional opportunity of acknowledging the gift their ministry is to the wider Church.  It is often a misunderstood gift as the majority of pioneers are operating at the edges of what we currently know of as church. Yet if we are to creatively to engage with the vast majority of the population who have no connection with church and re-imagine fresh expressions that are more accessible and make sense of our faith in changing times, their work is absolutely vital.”

CMS’s executive leader, Philip Mounstephen, commented, “It’s fantastic that being an acknowledged community of the Church of England allows CMS to train and approve those pioneering in mission in the UK, as well as further afield. It demonstrates how the experience of over 200 years of cross-cultural mission undertaken by us as a community, can be applied to ensure that the gospel is spread and takes root afresh in every time and context.”

Among those who became CMS Pioneers were Andrea Campanale who has pioneered a community in Kingston sharing Christ with spiritual seekers and Katharine Crowsley who started Cook@Chapel,a Fresh Expression of Church in Hanslope near Milton Keynes that encourages young people to develop faith and build community through cooking and sharing a meal together.

Bishop Christopher, Episcopal Visitor to the CMS community, added, “There is a widespread desire to encourage lay ministry across the Church of England, including lay pioneers. Being a CMS Pioneer is a kite mark of quality in training and formation for mission, and so we hope that dioceses will welcome and bishops license CMS Pioneers as trained practitioners who can be trusted to lead in mission beyond the edges of the Church.”  For more stories of pioneering mission go to http://pioneer.cms-org
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