Life as mission

In 2010, teams of Christians were dispatched to 10 churches across London. Their mission? To bless the church and be its hands and feet in the local community.

From full-time bankers, to mechanics, to teachers, Mission Year is resonating with Christians eager to live a missional lifestyle.

The concept is simple. Teams of five to seven Christians are assigned to a church that has a big vision but lacks the manpower to make it happen.

The teams live together for the year and are responsible for their own finances. Some members serve the church full-time. Others remain in full-time employment and contribute to the team by meeting the living costs.

“What they all have in common is that they wanted to put their faith into action and all feel called to something local,” explains Jessica Davies, London Director of the ACT Network, which oversees Mission Year.

“They all wanted to get involved in a local church that is physically present in the community that it comes from and represents.”

The concept comes from the US but has been adapted by the ACT Network to fit the British context. It addresses the need in young people who may have read Shane Claiborne’s books about Christian living and feel a nudge to do something more local and geographically specific, she says.

“Mission Year gives them the opportunity to do that and not be isolated in it.”

In that sense, anyone can come onboard. Participants have included mission workers returning to the UK after a long time away and wanting to continue on in something similar on home soil. Others were recent graduates new to a big city, new to mission, and just trying to figure out what a missional life looks like.

Andy Walton has been a Mission Year participant since September. For him, Shane Claiborne and Eden in Manchester are huge inspirations, but although he wanted to do something practical with his faith, he was not so sure how that would work.

“Mission Year is a way of trying that kind of lifestyle out without the long-term commitment, it lets people try it out and see if it’s right for them,” he says.

Not surprisingly, the practical aspect is a huge draw for him: “My spiritual understanding is that if we don’t act on what we believe we might as well not bother.”

Most of the partner churches are based in East London. All are in areas of high need. That, coupled with the shared community aspect of Mission Year, means that some of the challenges may be new.

But that’s to be expected, says Andy: “We’ve all gone into this with our eyes open but we deal with the problems as they arise – it’s all part of the deal.”

So far, Andy has helped his host church run the Alpha Course and support locals through its work with London Citizens. He also helps out at Sunday services as part of the welcoming team and, in the run-up to Christmas, was out carol singing.

It’s proving to be a rewarding experience, he says.

“I come from a big church that was doing great work but in a sense you feel like a small cog in a big machine. When you go into a small church you do feel like you’re making a real contribution.

“Mission Year has given me the opportunity to stretch myself in a way I might not have been able to,” he continued.

“It enables you to put into practice some of the things you believe - which is good for your faith.

“Rather than talking about it you are getting out there and doing it.”

What is important is that the teams do not go in with a “Mission Year agenda”. Rather, they are there to complement what the church is already doing.

“We follow the church’s vision, we are not telling people what to do,” Jessica stresses.

At present, Mission Year is rolling in London only but the ACT Network is prayerfully considering its expansion to other cities in the UK.

There is eagerness on both sides. Churches have contacted the network inviting them to their area and the experience among participants has been overwhelmingly positive – Jessica estimates that around 85% of the participants so far have chosen to stay with their host church and continue living with their team.

Although Andy is not long into Mission Year, he’s not ruling out the possibility of staying on if all goes well.

It has been such an encouragement, he says, to see the way local churches of different traditions are working together to address local issues.

More importantly, Andy sees in intentional community the potential to radically change the UK church.

“I would like to think that this sort of thing wouldn’t just be for some Christians but for the vast majority of Christians. The vast majority of Christians could do some kind of intentional community,” he said.

“What that looks like exactly would be for each church to decide but the model of pooling resources, getting stuck into the community, and tackling the problems that the local community faces, and really getting into deep relations with the people in that community, is something that most Christians could do.

“And it could revolutionise the church in this country, helping to prove that it is possible for it to make a big difference.”