Nov 10, 2017 | LC/CoP, Stories
One of the training options that we offer to churches is our
Learning Communities. These are generally 4 immersions spaced out over 2 years and are an intensive way of getting teaching, process time and strategic planning for church leaders and their teams. The Tunbridge Wells Learning Community have just finished their 3rd immersion and Sean Dooley sent us this story about how they’ve been raising other leaders up to run LCs themselves.
“One of the great things about the Tunbridge Wells LC is that it has been the vehicle for Frontier Leader Training. We are clearly modelling to all the participants on the LC the taking of LC leaders around the discipleship square (see diagram). We deliberately point out to the participants on the LC that, for example, ‘Andy Strajnic is now doing L3 as a LC leader on this third immersion. Please encourage and support him.’
We call it Frontier Leader Training because we are taking a select group of people who have not only internalised missional discipleship, but are living it and have the anointing to coach others in it. Our hope is that they will be the guys that will develop missional discipleship training for other church leaders in their relational networks, using the 3DM material. In other words, that they would be leaders on the frontier of training church leaders in mission and discipleship. In turn doing what I have done with them – training other Frontier Leaders. In fact, Phil Stokes is doing that as I write!
I
spoke to Paul Maconochie (Director of 3DM USA) recently and he reminded me that getting a movement going requires doing the same things, in the same way, over and over, until people ‘get it’ and begin to run with it themselves. The guys we are training are leaders on the frontier of making that happen in our nation and that is no overstatement. There are still thousands of churches in our nation that have not even begun to ask the right questions about what is wrong with the church, let alone begun to search for the answers. There is still massive scope for Learning Communities.
Those currently on Frontier Leaders Training are Andy Strajnic, Phil Stokes, Nic Bradshaw and Richard Glazier.”
Sean Dooley
Apr 26, 2017 | Stories
Here is a great bit of story from a church which has been involved in Learning Communities and how they’ve seen growth in their church and development of new missional communities.
“I had in mind to thank you properly for all the support you give to the wider church and particularly the help to us as a church. It has been invaluable and we see the kingdom advancing through your endeavours – Thank you so much; we see you as a real gift from God to the church.
Despite not attending the latest round of learning communities we are making steady progress with our missional communities. As you know, we decided not to go for the big bang and started with two pilots. We now have 3 MC’s and plans for a 4th and maybe a 5th. The pleasing thing is that each one has started ‘bottom up’ with people approaching the leadership. Inspiring stories are starting to come and it is exciting:
– We have one group for the ‘more mature’ and have an event this Friday to which we expect about 20 ‘not yet believers’ from nearby sheltered accommodation where we have been given an open door to go in and out.
– We run a group for families with children with disabilities and special needs. This is proving a real blessing for families and we are even getting people referred to this group from outside – amazing.
– We have started a third called ‘Cafe of Hope’ for all the contacts and friends we make through the cafe.
– For our next one, which is in embryo, we have a vision statement and leader for ‘Life cycle’, based upon the men’s cycling group but with a wider remit.
Thank you, once again, for your help.”
Oct 5, 2016 | Stories
At the Liverpool and UK Learning Community back in May the participating groups were each invited to put a bid together and pitch it to the Kx Dragons. The winners were:
£1000 for Journey Communities, Bicester Bicycle promoting a new community coffee shop. “£1,000 to buy a coffee trike, as well as the equipment and product needed, to go throughout our estate meeting our neighbours, offering free coffee, and telling them about the new coffee shop.”
£500 for Wirral Christian Centre Church, “‘Night Church’ for Birkenhead. This would be a safe and welcoming Christian space of spiritual enquiry and encounter.”
£250 for Salvation Army, Stonycroft community meal for a recently formed community.
Here is an update from all the projects involved:
1st place: Journey Communities, Bicester
“As we pitched, we used the money to buy a coffee trike. We had to invest a few hundred more to complete the project, but we couldn’t have done it without the Dragons. So, again, huge
thanks to them for their generosity.
We used it back in July at a school fete, but then waited for the shop to begin constructions before we took it out again. Last weekend we took it out around our neighbourhood and had
numerous conversations with people about the new coffee shop, served them free coffee, and even had two people ask for jobs. We plan to go out a lot more in the next few weeks as we
continue to promote the shop and meet our neighbours.”
2nd Place: Wirral Christian Centre Church
“As part of our development toward a sustainable Night Church, I’ve had conversations with the Wirral Street Pastors coordinator, who is supportive and keen to partner with us. I’ve also had
conversations regarding a launch venue, which is ready to go. Our youth pastor has also worked with some of our youth team and some of our 1619s to develop an ‘After Hours’ youth venue for those who are transitioning out of youth clubs and need a space/community for the next stage of life. This launches September, and will be a bridging community for launching the Night Church.
Lastly, I’ve a meeting with some of our student and young adults in a week, when we’ll get planning to launch the Night Church, so will keep you posted. ”
3rd place: Salvation Army, Stonycroft
I’m pleased to say we spent the money we won from the Dragons’ Den on Saturday, going out for a meal with the group of recovering addicts we went to a place called the Brink in town which is a dry restaurant and bar everyone had a great time”
Want to find out more about Kx learning communities? Click here.
Jun 10, 2016 | Dragon's Den, Kx News, LC/CoP
At the fourth gathering of the Liverpool and UK Learning Communities last month we held a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition where each team got to pitch to a group of Frontline Church business owners to take a share in a pot of money for a missional endeavour. Here are the reports from the winning teams about what they’re going to spend the money on!
Journey Communities, Bicester
“Our church, Journey Communities, is opening a specialty coffee shop as a business as mission. FLTR Coffee will be at the heart of one of the residential neighbourhoods in Bicester. At the core of this new coffee shop is a missional community with a vision for people to encounter life on earth as it is in heaven, and journey towards full life through relationships with God, his extended family, and their neighbours.
Construction for the unit where FLTR Coffee will be located begins soon. We want to capitalise on the moment it is being built and get the word out to the locals. We plan to use the £1,000 to buy a coffee trike, as well as the equipment and product needed, to go throughout our estate meeting our neighbours, offering free coffee, and telling them about the new coffee shop. 
A coffee trike will also allow us to promote the new shop at other local events leading up to its opening and be used to serve as another source of income that we can reinvest back into Kingdom mission.” –
Jeff Lothamer, Minister, Journey Communities
Stoneycroft Salvation Army
“Thank you so much for the award of £250 for The Meeting Place. The Meeting Place is our church’s first missional community. Its missional vision is: To be a community where people in recovery from addiction can make friends and meet with the God who transforms and heals and reach out in love and faith to others in recovery.
This MC has been running for 8 months now and during this time we have averaged around 18 – 20 men and women coming to every meeting. During this time it has been amazing to see how relationships have been developing, but one thing that has become apparent to us is the lack of safe social space for people in recovery to access. This is mainly because of the fact that alcohol is available in so many social spaces and the issue that most people in recovery find it difficult to make the time for safe social space because of attending AA support meetings nearly every day. Also due to the chaotic lives of many of the attendees, they are not able to organise something by themselves, at least at this point in their journeys.
We feel that we are currently in a season of breakthrough with this group, and we know that with this investment we will be drawn in to a season of blessing as the group starts to grow more organically as community is truly formed amongst the members. We will be looking at arranging a day trip away and a meal for group members in settings that will help them to relax and enjoy time together outside of more structured meetings. Our prayer is that this time together will not only enable the members of The Meeting Place to experience social time but also that relationships will be deepened, and that people will come to know the Lord in a deeper way as experience his lavish and free generosity.
In regards to the future, we plan on this being a kick start to us taking the initiative to finding more creative ways to bless the community, and we are going to seek to forge further links with our nearby Salvation Army hostel and other agencies that might want to partner with us in giving a much neglected and marginalised people group a fresh start to a life of dignity and hope.” – Territorial Envoys Craig and Gemma Gaudion, Church Leaders, Stoneycroft Salvation Army
Wirral Christian Centre Church
“The dream is see Christian young people energised as a community to make a substantial and sustainable difference among 17-30s in Birkenhead. For the young people of Wirral Christian Centre in particular to be doing life together not solely for their own benefit, but to be growing as disciples who make disciples, radically changing the culture of the town and enabling young adults to journey into amazing futures with God.
So, the plan is to enable the existing young adults community of the church to plan and to pray into being a ‘Night Church’ for Birkenhead. This would be a safe and welcoming Christian space of spiritual enquiry and encounter, which would serve and transform the night-time environment in the heart of the town. Starting one Friday a month (in partnership with the existing Street Pastors teams, and potentially with business owners we already know) we would develop a venue with a cafe space, a prayer space and a live music space – all designed to value those out during the night (and be a safe space for the vulnerable), and help them to explore what life with God could look like for them. This incredible and gracious grant would go towards equipping the ‘Night Church’ spaces (we have visited the pioneering space in Chester, and they have offered to consult with us on development), providing for running costs, and promoting the venture throughout the night-time economy of Birkenhead. We envisage this healthy rhythm of mission as an expression of a growing and vibrant community of young adults at WCC, and across the town…who knows what could be next as God’s kingdom comes in new and exciting ways to Birkenhead!” – Revd Greg Epton, Lead Pastor, Wirral Christian Centre Church
