\u201cDiverse ecosystems thrive when different kinds of organisms share life and energy together in a particular place,\u201d said Zscheile, also a professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary. \u201cRather than assume a one-size-fits-all approach for what Christian community should look like, we emphasize a variety of different forms that meet people where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of waiting for families to walk through church doors, faithful innovators build Christian communities where people do life\u2014at gatherings of young families, often called \u201cmessy church,\u201d or through discussions of faith during yoga class, bike rides, and craft nights. These cafe or dinner churches, hiking churches, and more are relatively simple in practice and far more culturally accessible than traditional models, Zscheile said.<\/p>\n
Since the winter of 2019, Zscheile and Luther Seminary\u2019s Dean of Academic Affairs Terri Elton \u201998 M.A., \u201907 Ph.D.<\/strong> have traveled twice to London and Oxford, England, to study a mixed ecology approach called \u201cFresh Expressions.\u201d The Church of England coined the term to describe new forms of church that emerge within contemporary culture to primarily engage those who don\u2019t attend church. Fresh Expressions accounts for 15% of the Fresh Expressions has since become a multidenominational movement that stresses collaboration over competition. It reminds Christian leaders that Jesus was out in the world, often at the edges of society and outside established religious systems.<\/p>\n \u201cInherited congregations can initiate and support Fresh Expressions to bring new learning and vitality to established forms of church,\u201d Zscheile said. \u201cIt\u2019s much easier to embrace a full hospice ward in a hospital when the maternity ward is packed and thriving. While starting new expressions of church is inherently risky, it is far riskier to bet on transformation of an inherited church designed for a different era.\u201d<\/p>\n In February, Zscheile and his colleagues launched a Fresh Expressions Learning Community to train Minnesota clergy and lay leaders in the mixed ecology. This ecumenical gathering of about 36 people from across the state met again in March and will engage in monthly online check-ins until November, when they will gather in person to share outcomes of their Fresh Expressions experiments.<\/p>\n Author and pastor Michael Beck co-leads these sessions with Blair Pogue \u201913 D.Min.<\/strong>, who serves as canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. Beck, serving as director of the Fresh Expressions House of Study and director of re-missioning for Fresh Expressions U.S., is a renowned leader in the movement. He guides a network of Fresh Expressions groups that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, salons, running tracks, burrito joints, and Zoom rooms to connect with God.<\/p>\n Beck told the Minnesota learning community that Fresh Expressions of church thrive within domains of meaning, purpose, and belonging\u2014\u201cin the places and spaces we do life.\u201d He urged participants to be curious and flexible in reaching those who feel neglected, forgotten, and excluded from religion. Just as the body of Christ is broken and given away, Beck said, Christian communities should center on self-donation, not self-preservation.<\/p>\n \u201cInherited church and Fresh Expressions need each other,\u201d he added. \u201cTraditional church is the trunk of the tree, and dog park church, \u2018Burritos and Bibles,\u2019 and yoga church are the branches that reach out and connect with people.\u201d<\/p>\n Beck then shared his introduction to this approach: \u201cMy first appointment after seminary was a rural congregation in a town with no stoplights, no Walmarts, and no Dollar Generals. We had about 12 folks in worship, and the population of the town was only 47, so we weren\u2019t exactly going to become a megachurch,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we started connecting with folks in Diane\u2019s Diner in the next town. The staff there are who Luke would call \u2018persons of peace\u2019\u2014welcomers and people who knew the community. We started developing relationships. Barbecue church started with 12 people, and within a few months, our gathering grew to 30 to 40 people.\u201d<\/p>\n The gatherings at Diane\u2019s were spirit-led and instinctual, he said, and those conversations and relationships informed worship services and programs back at the church building. Beck said he came to learn of other missional experiments and terms like \u201cmixed ecology\u201d and \u201cFresh Expressions\u201d to describe the work.<\/p>\n Beck explained more of his work and background as a \u201cdrug dealer turned pastor\u201d on episode three, season four of Faith+Lead\u2019s Pivot Podcast, which Elton has co-hosted since its inception in May 2020. This year, Elton welcomed Zscheile and Dee Stokes<\/strong>\u2014director of the Seeds Project\u2014 to co-host the fourth season, which is focused on the mixed ecology.<\/p>\n \u201cWe provide lessons and stories from church leaders who are igniting imagination, creating collaborations, launching experiments, and dreaming of new possibilities for God\u2019s church,\u201d Elton said. \u201cThe season focuses on two questions: How might we use the uncertainty and disruption of this time to reimagine church, ministry, and leadership? And how might the Christian faith be a resource for making spiritual sense of current realities and leaning into the future that is emerging?\u201d<\/p>\n In episode seven, the podcast features JD Larson, a church planter and entrepreneur, who serves as co-pastor of North City Church in Minneapolis. In 2022, Larson was a member of Luther Seminary\u2019s second cohort of Seeds Fellows, who embarked on a yearlong experience of shared learning, mutual support, and coaching, all funded through the fellowship. In that time, Larson learned how to deepen and enrich North City\u2019s growing dinner church.<\/p>\n On the podcast, Larson explains how he and his wife and co-pastor, ChristianAnn, developed a thriving mixed ecology within North City. The foundation of the church is a meal-based worship gathering at 5 p.m. on Sundays in Webber Park during warm months and in a community center during colder months.<\/p>\n Everyone is welcome to this community meal that satisfies people who are hungry for food, for community, or both,\u201d Larson said. \u201cYou walk over, and there\u2019s music and small talk, and then you sit with friends or friendly strangers. An MC gets up and welcomes people to the meal and offers a prayer, then we enjoy good food, a really good generous meal. After about 25 minutes, the kids head off to intentional discussion and activities, and To offer deeper connections, the church also coordinates MicroChurch, or monthly gatherings of about eight to 15 people in their homes. It\u2019s like Bible study with a meal and child care. The church also offers a podcast, resources for connecting with God, and a livestream of dinner church online.<\/p>\n Episode 10 of the Pivot Podcast features Seeds Fellow Rosario \u201cRoz\u201d Picardo, whose church plant, Mosaic Church, adopted a declining congregation in Beavercreek, Ohio. By partnering together, Mosaic and St. Andrew United Methodist Church grew into a thriving multigenerational and multiethnic ministry.<\/p>\n Through the process, Picardo and the congregations embraced the adaptability and creative risk of Fresh Expressions while also elevating the values of inherited church: tradition, experience, systems, and ways of being rooted in a community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transformation for both Mosaic and St. Andrew has been remarkable,\u201d he said. \u201cSt. Andrew has helped Mosaic become multigenerational, and St. Andrew now has children in the nursery, younger people, and has become multiethnic. It has been truly awe-inspiring to see a church gain growth since the pandemic. However, this would not be possible if the saints of St. Andrew were unwilling to take the courageous risk of reaching more people with unconventional methods.\u201d<\/p>\n Change does not need to be negative, even if it feels that way at first, Picardo reiterated.<\/p>\n \u201cCongregations\u2019 dreams are within their reach with prayer and action,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes it does not mean drastic change like adoption (of another congregation), but a brave willingness to take steps to be uncomfortable to reach those around them.\u201d<\/p>\n Lou Weber IV seconds that sentiment. The executive pastor of First Church Melbourne, Florida, said churches often overcomplicate outreach. Fresh Expressions, he said, is an attempt to get to the \u201creal bones\u201d of living out faith. Weber said he is drawn to Fresh Expressions because it welcomes anyone to operate in their own context while still being tethered to the historic church.<\/p>\n \u201cIn many circles, Fresh Expressions of church and the traditional church can feel at odds with one another. The truth is, they need one another and are both at their best when in concert,\u201d said Weber, also a graduate of the Seeds Fellowship. \u201cOne of the great voices in Fresh Expressions, Michael Moynagh (of the Church of England), puts it this way: \u2018People will be loved into faith by starting not in a church, but in their own world.\u2019 As a person who grew up outside the church but was warmly welcomed later in life, that has been true for my faith, and my hope is it will continue to be true for many more through Fresh Expressions.\u201d<\/p>\n Weber appreciates Luther Seminary\u2019s work to create space for clergy and lay leaders to explore innovation. He enrolled in the Seeds Fellowship to \u201ctake a step back and look beyond\u201d his own experience. It connected him with others leading the gospel across denominations and across the country. He often reflects on his colleagues and the wisdom, space, and freedom that the Seeds Project provided them to experiment with reimagining ministry.<\/p>\n Montgomery agrees: \u201cOur Seeds cohort invested in each other and deeply listened to each other. We were all in on affirming each other\u2019s work and asking challenging questions to help each other grow.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing with these incredible leaders allowed me to experience a deeper expression of God\u2019s diversity than ever before,\u201d she said. \u201cOur stories were all so different, we were each a different mosaic of intersecting identities and expressions of God\u2019s love, yet our common faith allowed us to dream and hope together.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s those imaginings that fuel all these leaders to invite everyone into faith.<\/p>\n Mixed ecology blends inherited and emerging forms of church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5147,"featured_media":7442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-summer-2023","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nChurch of England\u2019s congregations, engaging a total of about 50,000 people.<\/p>\nMixed ecology in practice<\/h2>\n
![\"Colleen](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/250w_0000_ColleenMontgomery-188x300.jpg\")
Planting the seeds of innovation<\/h2>\n
\nthen the adults engage in a question like, \u2018What has brought you joy this week?\u2019 and then someone gets up and connects a gospel story to everyday life for about 10 to 12 minutes, followed by more discussion.\u201d<\/p>\nMaintaining church values<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/400w_0000_NCCdinner-11-300x188.jpg\")
Read more from Summer 2023<\/h2>\n
\n