Churches Encouraged to Lend an Ear for Mission

A new guide published today urges churches to become 'multi-listeners', tuning both ears to God, to their local communities, and to wider society when they are planning new activities.

Listening for Mission is the third in a series of pioneering practical guides, written to inspire and support those thinking of starting a 'Fresh Expression' - a joint venture of the Church of England and the Methodist Church to develop contemporary forms of church alongside more traditional ones.

Congregations up and down the country have joined the Fresh Expression movement including one congregation in Essex that uses skateboards and BMX bikes to help young people express their faith, and a café church in Staffordshire designed to help churches reach out into the 'coffee culture' of the town.

Through the 16-page Listening for Mission, churches will be supported in conducting initial research into the real needs of the community they are seeking to serve as well as more in-depth listening tools to capture the experiences, all as part of process called '360-degree listening'.

The booklet is designed for use by church councils, deanery synods, circuit meetings or house groups, and includes a set of relevant Bible studies written to bring a scriptural perspective to the process of discerning God's will within local settings.

It is designed for use alongside 'expressions: the DVD' and the booklet 'Starting a Fresh Expression', both also published by Church House Publishing.

The Revd Steven Croft, Archbishops' Missioner - a role created to encourage evangelism across the Church, especially through Fresh Expressions - believes that the small guide punches above its weight: "Listening isn't always easy, but needn't be complicated. To listen to God and to other people we need to set aside our own ideas for a time and prepare to be radically changed by what we hear.

"Only by being open to such a shift of understanding will we 'get in the right zone' for forging new ways of bringing God's message to the widest range of people today," he concludes.