Pioneer ministry in England: a pioneer priest’s perspective

IN 2001 some friends and I began to pray together. We had identified a need in the local church Primary School that our children attended. Many parents we chatted to every day in the playground were in difficult situations, with few people apart from the authorities to turn to.

We didn’t imagine we could solve their problems, but we did see ourselves as Christ’s representatives in the ‘marketplace’ to which we went twice a day. We invited those we knew and their friends to a regular Friday breakfast.

In 2006, as numbers at our breakfasts grew, we began to see what God was already doing amongst us. And we wondered together how we might draw others into our friendship group. We knew that something needed to be done because through years of praying together, we knew each other and our community very well. We knew the heartbeat, what made it tick, what kind of ‘champions’ were needed.

* Full article available in printed copies.

Sue Butler

Is an ordained pioneer in the Church of England, currently engaged in a PhD project on the work described in her article.