What is Faithful Innovation, and What are New Christian Communities?
What is Faithful Innovation, and What are New Christian Communities?
Discipleship is at the root of both the Faithful Innovation process and the New Christian Communities the Episcopal Church in Minnesota is cultivating. By discipleship I mean having a relationship with Jesus and deepening that relationship daily through prayer, meditating on scripture, discerning the Holy Spirit’s leading, and showing up in the world as Jesus’ trustworthy follower. Discipleship also involves obedience to the God who has created and redeemed us. Neither Faithful Innovation nor new Christian communities are something new or trendy; both focus on the basics of the Christian faith. As John Mark Comer said recently at a Practicing the Way conference, “the future is ancient.”
The foundation of the Faithful Innovation process is spiritual practices grounded in listening. Church teams spend eight months listening to God by spending time dwelling in scripture, listening to other church members share their spiritual stories, and listening to their church and residential neighborhoods. During neighborhood walks participants walk slowly with others, seeing things they haven’t noticed before, and wondering what the Holy Spirit might be up to in the lives of the people who live, work, or play in a specific place. Based on what teams hear and are curious about during the listening practices, they design small, low-cost experiments to learn more about what the Holy Spirit might be up to in the lives of their neighbors. Experiments have included providing strips of cloth or paper at neighborhood festivals on which neighbors can share prayer requests, developing a relationship with a local police department, and offering food, drinks, and friendship to passers-by on a local trail.
At the end of eight months participating teams meet one last time to share what they’ve heard, tried, and learned. In this time of dizzying change it’s important for church members not only to try new experiments, but also to make time to reflect together on what they’ve done and learned from “success” as well as “failure.” Sharing learnings with other congregational teams is important and energizing – as a diocese we are part of something larger than our individual congregations. Faithful Innovation is a simple
process Episcopal Christians can use repeatedly when they are facing tough challenges and don’t know what to do. They can Listen, Act, and Reflect.
Faithful Innovation spiritually enlivens members of faith communities and can lay the groundwork for New Christian Communities. New Christian Communities (NCCs) consist of teams of Episcopalians who want to learn how to join up with neighbors who don’t go to church. NCCs are a way to share the Gospel and treasures of our Episcopal Christian tradition with new generations. They are also a wonderful way for traditional churches to learn more about what speaks to those outside the church. The Bishop’s hope is that eventually all of our traditional congregations will have a relationship with a NCC.
“New Christian Communities” is a broad label encompassing everything from Good Courage Farm in Hutchinson, to Messy Church in Excelsior, to Laundry Love in St. Cloud. In the U.S. and U.K. New Christian Communities (also referred to as Fresh Expressions or New Worshipping Communities) include everything from a gathering for dads called “Who Let the Dads Out?” to pop up cafes at schools and new housing developments, to a cooking class for teens that includes sitting down for a meal together and an opportunity to put prayers in a mixing bowl. The label New Christian Communities can be a bit of a misnomer. Not all of these communities are or will become Christian. They are focused primarily on listening to and loving neighbors, and learning to sharing the transformative Gospel of Jesus with those who are spiritually curious.
On Saturday, January 25 from 10 am to 3 pm at St. Mark’s Cathedral (with a backup snow date of February 1), the Rev. Dr. Michael Moynagh, an Anglican priest and the theologian of the Fresh Expressions movement in the UK, will share more about these communities, and how Minnesota Episcopalians can learn to share the Gospel of Jesus with spiritually curious neighbors. The offering is free, but if you want lunch and handouts please RSVP to Blair Pogue at blair.p@episcopalmn.org (and also let her know if you have any dietary restrictions).
If your faith community is interested in learning more about or participating in a Faithful Innovation process, please contact Blair at the email listed above. The next process begins on April 12, 2025, and the three mandatory trainings are on the following Saturdays: April 12, August 2, and November 8.