Characteristics of a Pioneer Minister

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Pioneering ministry is extremely rewarding with huge challenges. Below are some of the characteristics that we consider support the work of a Pioneer Minister and will be looking for evidence of them in your personal and work life thus far. In addition to these, we will also be looking for what you consider your current gifts, calling and passions to help us identify the right person. The characteristics sought are:

1. Visionary
Pioneer Mission Leaders will be people who are able to see possibilities which others often may not recognise. They will seek to discern what God is doing and shape their work and aims accordingly so that they can pursue a God-given vision. They will be willing to adopt an approach which involves ‘holy risk,’ and will naturally begin with people and community rather than taking church as their starting point. We will be looking for people who are able to think ‘outside the box,’ who can share vision effectively and who can inspire and encourage others to be visionary.

2. Team builder and leader
We will be looking, not only for those who can take a lead in starting up new Christian communities and activities, but who are also able to inspire and encourage others to share in that task with them. They will be able to lead a team as well as being able to function as part of a team and be an asset to the teams they belong to. Pioneers will be able to help others to discern their gifts and offer them suitable encouragement and training so that those gifts can be appropriately used as part of a team.

3. Collaborator
It is important that Pioneer Mission Leaders are able to share their vision and their dreams with others and to collaborate as a natural way of working. They will help others to feel a sense of ownership of the project and to feel valued as their contribution and skills are drawn in to its development. They will routinely consult with and involve those in the local church community and the wider community, and will work ecumenically wherever possible. They will share experience with others involved with fresh expressions work locally and beyond.

4. Relationship builder
We will be looking for people who have excellent relationship skills and who are able to form open and healthy relationships with others, and encourage others to form good relationships also. They will naturally seek to get to know others personally and to build relationships of integrity and trust, acknowledging and respecting appropriate boundaries. They will have a Godly love and compassion towards others and will seek to respond to their expressed needs and concerns.

5. Initiator

Pioneers are people who are self-starters, intrinsically motivated, and able to initiate a project or community of people, often building from nothing. They are highly motivated, have qualities of persistence and commitment and are able to see a project come to birth despite obstacles and setbacks. We will be looking for people who are creative, innovative and imaginative and who also have the ability to be reflective about their work. We would normally expect that prospective Pioneer Mission Leaders have already demonstrated their ability to initiate a fresh expression of church by having done so, or by having initiated a comparable innovative project. They will have the ability to plan strategically and manage the process of beginning a project from scratch.