Re:Source - My Experience
Andy Goodacre : UK/Germany [12.05]

At the time I was on the Re:Source course, I was involved in planting a youth / student congregation within an existing Anglican church, (St Saviours, Guildford), and we were seeing about 150 students and young adults coming to our main gatherings every Sunday afternoon, and meeting in cell groups during the week.

In the time which has passed since being on the Re:Source course, I have moved on from Guildford, and from the project I was then working on. I am now working on the staff team of a pioneering, visionary church in Marburg, Germany, which is involved in planting new churches in different parts of Europe (East Berlin, Jerusalem), and has a key role in seeking to influence the German State Church to affirm and allow space for new expressions of church and community within its existing framework.

For me, being on Re:Source was really helpful on a number of different levels. I benefited loads, from the teaching and input we received, which covered a broad range of formats, styles, and subjects. Some of the teaching was really down-to-earth and practical, with real-life examples, while other sessions were visionary and inspirational, yet nevertheless connected with the church and the world as they currently are. All the sessions were conducted by practioners, people doing the stuff, on the ground, and as such their examples, and the other stories and case studies which they used to illustrate their teaching, were particularly helpful in opening my eyes to what could be, and to the hope there really is for the church of the future, when we apply our God-given freedom and creativity to the process of church planting and developing and designing new expressions of church.

The course was also enriched through the breadth of denominational background / churchmanship of both the students and of those facilitating, teaching and mentoring on the course. Seeing the common vision and calling, and the common joys and the struggles of different individuals, involved in different projects, in very different contexts, also served to highlight the fact that God outworks his timeless, constant purposes through individual, distinctive people, with their own unique gifts and experiences.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the opportunity to rub shoulders with, and talk at length with older, wiser, more-experienced leaders, visionaries, pioneers, and church planters really made a huge difference for me personally. While I am no longer involved in the project I was involved in while I was on the Re:Source course, the inspiration, the vision and the wisdom I gleaned from spending time with the individual members of the team running Re:Source truly served to further shape my own sense of calling and future direction, particularly in terms of renewal and church planting within the established church in Europe.

ReSource - CREATING CHURCH IN THE EMERGING CULTURE

ReSource is for people who are experimenting with new forms of church with young people, students and young adults. We've come together again to run a new course, which starts in January. For more details see brochure. If you're interested in becoming part of ReSource we'd love to hear from you. You can contact us through the website www.resourcechurchplanting.com