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The Pioneer Disciple

Learning new and relevant ways of expressing Christian faith and community
All over Britain, Christians are finding fresh ways of making the gospel relevant to people in their communities. The Pioneer Disciple is a one year part-time course which aims to equip people to shape the life of the church in new ways.

Who is it for?
• People who want to be part of mission-shaped churches
• Christians who feel they need to rediscover the true meaning of God’s mission in the world
• Those who have lost confidence in the church and its future, and want to find that confidence again
• People who have drifted away from traditional church, as well as regular church-goers
• Local church leaders who want to explore different ways of ‘being the church’ in our cultural setting
• People in rural settings, as well as people in towns
• Members of any denomination

What will we learn?
• The Christian calling to share in God’s mission
• Listening to today’s cultural context while also listening to God on their behalf
• The nature and purpose of the Church
• The qualities and characteristics of Christian discipleship
• The nature of Christian leadership
• Growing new Christians and making disciples
• How to begin and sustain a Fresh Expression of church

What are its key features?
• Spread over one year, to form a significant learning experience
• Learning through reflection on your context and your Christian journey
• Connected to spirituality, prayer and worship
• Leads to an ongoing learning community supporting each other in Christian mission

Current and future offerings of the course
The Pioneer Disciple is being offered in Ottery St Mary and in Shiphay (Torbay) during 2009-10. Further east, condensed courses are presently running in Bath and in Wells, starting June/July 2009 and concluding before Christmas.

The next courses in Devon will be in the Okehampton area starting soon after Easter 2010 (leaflet here and here), and in the Plymouth area starting in September 2010.

In Okehampton the six-week mission shaped introduction course will also be offered from November 2009, giving a flavour of the major issues; download a flyer here.

How to Get Further Information
To register your interest in taking part in a future Pioneer Disciple course, please download and fill in the relevant registration form and send it to the address indicated there (see 'Further Info' column on this page). For a detailed description of the teaching syllabus of The Pioneer Disciple, click here.

You can contact The Pioneer Disciple's administrator, Mrs Ann Pantrey, at:
• pioneer.disciple@exeter.anglican.org
• 01837 55830
All snail-mail correspondence to: Revd David Muir, The Rectory, South Tawton EX20 2LQ.

For a general colour flyer containing basic information on the course, download it from the 'Further Info' column on this page. Further copies of the Okehampton leaflet and a promotional presentation on CD can be obtained from Ann Pantrey, contact details above.

To discuss the nature of the programme, contact
• Revd David Muir, 01837 840867, 07854 845067, david.muir@exeter.anglican.org
• Revd Dave Martin, 01752 604096, 07973 523459, dave.martin@methodist.org.uk

Links
• For some basic information on pioneer styles or 'fresh expressions' of church and why we need them, see the Pioneer Primer.
• For a short video introduction to the national mission shaped ministry course,
go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGF0fFWZJHQ
• For a short video showing why a rural area like Okehampton is pursuing the pioneer agenda, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPilHOYEKeU

Background to the Course
Fresh Expressions is an initiative of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York supported by the Methodist Council and working in partnership with a range of other bodies and churches. This national initiative has developed the mission shaped ministry (msm) training course, based on a course developed in Lincolnshire by Anglican Church Planting Initiatives and the Ground Level Network.

In Devon, the msm course has been adapted by the local Anglican and Methodist structures, to become The Pioneer Disciple. This adaptation of the course aims to train whole teams of people for involvement in ‘pioneer’ Christian work, rather than focusing on training leaders. It also welcomes those who wish to learn how traditional church can act in more missional ways.

A similar adaptation of the course is offered in Somerset, in partnership with the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and entitled Changing Lives for Mission. The course also forms the training element of the Nightchurch project at Exeter Cathedral.


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Added: 25 October 2009