The recent module of the CMS Certificate in Pioneer Mission course used the metaphor of cooking with local ingredients to explore ways of sharing the gospel and creating acts of worship that have a local and familiar flavour.
Taking inspiration from the idea of cooking with food that’s produced locally to avoid air miles, respect the seasons, and become more in tune with our own environment, the students considered how the use of local beliefs, myths, or heroes in telling the gospel story can bring Jesus closer to the people who live in the area – taking the well-known and accepted cultural aspects of life in a place to help carry the gospel message.
At lunchtime students who had travelled from Somerset, Avon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Dorset made wraps with ingredients they’d sourced locally. At the end of the day they designed chefs hats to remind them of key learning points.
Student Jo Newton said, ‘It was a great weekend. I learned that theology is a meal we all create every day within the context of our church, our community and the Gospel, not a gourmet experience for the select few.'
This was the first time students from the three partner Dioceses of the Southwest Region Hub came together in one geographical space. Following two previous cohorts of the CMS Certificate in Bath and Wells, the Diocese partnered in January 2022 with Salisbury and Truro to form the Southwest Region Hub now hosting 25 students pioneering in different contexts, including pilates, wild swimming, art, youth, and the Bristol business community.
We were blessed with stunning weather and two amazing venues in the Yeovil area: Yeovil Community Church and the Open Pathway Retreat Centre run by former student and Reader, Christy Casley.
The Pioneer Network Developer for the Diocese of Truro, Lindsey Morgan-Lundie, was thrilled with the Sunday activities: ‘The Sunday morning was a delight. It started with an agape meal shared in the most creative of ways outdoors in the sunshine. Then we explored the art of reflective practice in a very practical hands-on way as the students journeyed around the beautiful garden. It was wonderful to experience the learning with them and it was facilitated fantastically by the two tutors.’