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#74: Fresh Expressions: How to Start New Christian Communities

See how the Spirit is inspiring UK lay leaders to create innovative Christian communities in a low-engagement landscape.

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Looking for new ways to share the Gospel with your neighbors? Watch this pivot podcast episode to learn about simple ways the Spirit of God is raising up, calling and sending leaders–especially lay leaders–to cultivate new forms of Christian community that meet people where they are in daily life.

In today’s episode, we’re going to cross the pond to the UK to learn from hopeful seeds of new life that are emerging within a context where there is a long Christendom legacy but only 8% of the current population is actively engaged with church of any kind. Be encouraged with hope-filled stories of emerging communities of faith reaching people in local neighborhoods and helping people discover the difference that Jesus makes. If you want to learn where Christian communities are being started by lay leaders, watch this entire episode about fresh expressions of church being started in the UK.

Show Notes

Featuring

Sally Gaze
Guest in Pivot Podcast

Sally has been the Archdeacon of Rural Mission since 2019. She is the Director of ‘Growing in God in the Countryside’, a six-year initiative jointly funded by the Church Commissioners and the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. An important part of the project was the beginning of the Suffolk Fresh Expressions Community, known as ‘Lightwave.’

Lightwave is a Christian community, meeting in small groups, predominantly in rural areas and working closely with local parish churches. The name comes from the idea of light waves being the way in which light spreads into dark places. Lightwave is committed to shining the light of Jesus through Christian witness and practical service: Our groups are especially involved in combatting isolation and poverty, engaging in youth work, care for creation, and agricultural chaplaincy.

Sally has a long-term passion for rural mission and is involved in a number of initiatives at a national level. Before moving to Suffolk, Sally was the team Rector of the Tas Valley Team Ministry, in the Norwich Diocese for 15 very happy years. For part of this time she was also the Facilitator of Fresh Expressions of Church. She is author of ‘Mission Shaped and Rural’ (CHP).

Hosts

Faith+Lead Headshot of The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary.
Dwight Zscheile
Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress Press 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011), editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012), and co-editor (with Ed Olsworth-Peter) of The Starter’s Way: Leading New Contextual Christian Communities (Church Publishing, 2025).

A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.

Faith+Lead Headshot of Dr. Alicia Granholm, Senior Director of Faith+Lead.
Alicia Granholm
Senior Director, Faith+Lead, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

Dr. Alicia Granholm is senior director of Faith+Lead at Luther Seminary and a leadership and church consultant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She helps pastors and leaders engage culture to make a lasting impact. For nearly two decades, she has trained, equipped, and empowered followers of Jesus to engage their local communities by contextualizing the Gospel and its application. Alicia compassionately crosses cultural boundaries having lived, studied, traveled, and served in 25 countries on six continents. Alicia has a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, Global Consulting (Regent University), M.Div. (Bethel Seminary), and M.A. in Teaching (University of St. Thomas).

About Pivot Podcast

Join us on Pivot Podcast, where we journey beyond church-as-usual to discover how God is reshaping ministry for today’s world.

Each week, we dive into conversations with innovative leaders and practitioners who are navigating four game-changing pivots: shifting from quick fixes to deep listening, from membership to discipleship, from rigid models to creative ministry ecosystems, and from clergy-centered leadership to unleashing everyone’s gifts.

Whether you’re a member of the clergy seeking fresh inspiration or a volunteer stepping into new leadership territory, Pivot Podcast equips you with the insights and practical wisdom to follow Jesus into a faithful future.

Through their work with diverse cohorts of preachers, they’ve discovered that the most compelling sermons aren’t necessarily the most polished – they’re the ones where preachers have learned to listen deeply to both God and their congregations. Learn practical tools for gathering meaningful feedback, understand why vulnerability matters more than ever in preaching, and discover how shifting from evaluation to understanding can deepen your sermon’s impact. Plus, hear why reimagining God’s agency in preaching might be the key to unlocking more powerful proclamation.

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Featuring

Sally Gaze
Guest in Pivot Podcast

Sally has been the Archdeacon of Rural Mission since 2019. She is the Director of ‘Growing in God in the Countryside’, a six-year initiative jointly funded by the Church Commissioners and the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. An important part of the project was the beginning of the Suffolk Fresh Expressions Community, known as ‘Lightwave.’

Lightwave is a Christian community, meeting in small groups, predominantly in rural areas and working closely with local parish churches. The name comes from the idea of light waves being the way in which light spreads into dark places. Lightwave is committed to shining the light of Jesus through Christian witness and practical service: Our groups are especially involved in combatting isolation and poverty, engaging in youth work, care for creation, and agricultural chaplaincy.

Sally has a long-term passion for rural mission and is involved in a number of initiatives at a national level. Before moving to Suffolk, Sally was the team Rector of the Tas Valley Team Ministry, in the Norwich Diocese for 15 very happy years. For part of this time she was also the Facilitator of Fresh Expressions of Church. She is author of ‘Mission Shaped and Rural’ (CHP).

Hosts

Faith+Lead Headshot of The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary.
Dwight Zscheile
Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress Press 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011), editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012), and co-editor (with Ed Olsworth-Peter) of The Starter’s Way: Leading New Contextual Christian Communities (Church Publishing, 2025).

A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.

Faith+Lead Headshot of Dr. Alicia Granholm, Senior Director of Faith+Lead.
Alicia Granholm
Senior Director, Faith+Lead, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

Dr. Alicia Granholm is senior director of Faith+Lead at Luther Seminary and a leadership and church consultant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She helps pastors and leaders engage culture to make a lasting impact. For nearly two decades, she has trained, equipped, and empowered followers of Jesus to engage their local communities by contextualizing the Gospel and its application. Alicia compassionately crosses cultural boundaries having lived, studied, traveled, and served in 25 countries on six continents. Alicia has a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, Global Consulting (Regent University), M.Div. (Bethel Seminary), and M.A. in Teaching (University of St. Thomas).