177. Exploring New Forms of Church, with Shannon Kiser, Director of Coaching and Training at Fresh Expressions

Shannon Kiser is Director of Training and Coaching for Fresh Expressions North America and one of the pastors at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, Virginia.

In this episode, we have a great conversation about how she and the congregation she pastors have experimented with new forms of church, as well as what they've learned in that process.  We also discuss how the Church Leadership Institute’s Adaptive Church Leadership Cohort can help you lean into the kind of experimentation that’s necessary when following the Holy Spirit into whatever new expressions of church you’re being led toward. 


THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Shannon Kiser is Director of Training and Coaching for Fresh Expressions North America and one of the pastors at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, Virginia.
• Fresh Expressions and the Church Leadership Institute together are trying to make sense of what it means to be a vital witness in the 21st century.
• Fresh Expressions is a movement that comes out of the UK where a traditional and heritage church was experimenting with what it looks like to engage in some experimental missions on the edges while still valuing the inherited church.
• Shannon Kiser says, according to Fresh Expressions, we don’t have to give up what we love and cherish about the inherited church to also experiment on the edges.
• Shannon Kiser describes how her church began experimenting with new ways of doing ministry, including opening a coffee shop for the community.
• A Fresh Expressions kind of ministry as Shannon describes can be messy.  The church doesn’t get to control the narrative.
• When things get messy, it’s important to be clear on your values so you know when to say yes and when to say no to opportunities that emerge.
• According to Shannon Kiser, it is possible for you to connect with a changing culture and yet still live out some of the rhythms and depth of the inherited church that feeds you.
• Churches have to cultivate a culture that is more ripe for experimentation, which then creates the field where new and fresh expressions of ministry can more easily grow.
• Fresh Expressions teaches as very simple journey.  It involves:
• Listening to your neighbors
• Loving our serving your neighbors based on what you have learned
• Building community with your neighbors
• Allow a new form of church to emerge
• Shannon Kiser explains how the Church Leadership Institutes Adaptive Capacity Cohort help churches engage this process.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Books mentioned:
  • Canoeing the Mountains, by Tod Bolsinger
• Freash Expressions:
  • www.freshexpressions.com
• Church Leadership Institute
  • Adaptive Church Leadership Cohort

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