Being Missional Today

A group from Chester Diocese, representing church, chaplaincy, charity and cathedral travelled to Coventry for Being Missional Today, an exciting festival of ideas on missional thinking with a focus on disruption, liminality and reconciliation (10 June 2025).

This was so much more than a few talks about mission. At the heart of the conference lay the transformative potential of dialogue and experiential learning. Sponsored by Reconciliation Initiatives, the Church Urban Fund and the Iona Community, Coventry Cathedral made a stunning setting, the very fabric of which has reconciliation at its heart, reflected in the Dean’s welcome.

One member of our group said, “As I spent time in that space, the spirit of reconciliation was tangible and the very act of being present in that space led me to reflect on all those conflicts which are present, in the world, the church, the community and within my inner self.”

The first conversation between the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani and Revd Dr Al Barrett, Rector of Hodge Hill, Birmingham set the tone and shape for the day. They held a frank and open dialogue challenging ideas of mission that risk looking like our agency rather than God’s initiative and questioning how we might measure fruit rather than numbers.

Throughout the day there was a choice of seminars, and we journeyed together as we listened to and engaged in conversations about how we might live missionally in a world that is challenging in so many ways. Each seminar had two speakers in conversation with each other, a host/time keeper and an opportunity to discuss in small groups what struck us most and what questions arose.

One of our group went to a very thought-provoking seminar with Peniel Rajkumar and Victoria Turner on ‘Rethinking Power, Reimagining Partnership’. They spoke about the need to ‘re-weave the mat of mission’ in ways that are rigorous in addressing the harmful and unjust legacies of colonialism and seek to more fully redistribute power within our global, national and local missional contexts. In response. The member of our group who went was left with the question: “What would it mean for me to ‘open to God’s disruption’ and to be led to places and spaces where I learn to be a good guest and to receive the gift of the outsider?”

In another session entitled 'Multiplicity of Gifts but One Spirit: Diversity and Ecclesiology' with Harvey Kwiyani and Sharon Prentis, one of our group heard people’s stories of migration, both good and bad. They were reminded that we have a migrant God and migration is hard-wired into the Christian story. They then reflected on what hospitality looks like, considering the example of the desert mothers and fathers.

“Hospitality involves giving away power to the guest.” This definition of hospitality from Malawi had a big impact on the member of our group who commented, “This is a far cry from offering tea and biscuits after the Sunday service, hospitality should be sacrificial and thus sacramental.”

Other seminars included how we might rethink the Church’s mission from the outside, in; realising God’s reign through community engagement; disruption as healing; reparations and avoiding three deadly sins; reflections on Pope Francis’ quote “we are not living in an era of change but a change of an era”; thinking about class, solidarity and mission in a Magnificat-shaped church; reconciliation as mission; and even a crafty cafe and discovering mission with LEGO©. The exploration of various trains of thought was valuable because it stimulated the ability to look at our local contexts differently and to reimagine how we respond.

There was a final plenary and act of worship to conclude the day. One group member said, “The attraction of the day personally was a yearning to think about what mission might look like in the parish with which I am connected and in my role. There is still much to reflect on and I am looking forward to reading and reflecting upon 'Being Interrupted' by Al Barrett and Ruth Harley and pondering the questions raised up by this invigorating conference.”

Another was struck by the massive Jesus looking on from the east end of Coventry Cathedral in Graham Sutherland’s stunning Christ in glory: “Everything we were talking about in all our different sessions came back to Jesus and the kingdom he came to bring in. It was great to be reminded of the missional imperative on all of us to work with him to see lives transformed. So often that starts with an open and honest conversation like the ones we were privileged to witness today.”

Group members:

Ruth Bull (Community Missioner, Transforming Lives Together)

Tina Lightfoot (Priest Vicar, Chester Cathedral)

Nigel James (Reader, St John the Evangelist, Great Sutton)

Gill Reeve (Senior Chaplain, University of Chester)

Anthony Lees-Smith (Canon Missioner, Chester Cathedral)

Anthony Lees-Smith is Canon Missioner at Chester Cathedral