Urban Expression Annual Report 2008

2008 has been a transitional year for Urban Expression in a number of ways:

• Towards the end of the previous year we put in place several processes to enable our growing organisation to operate effectively and responsibly. These include an induction process, training and an exit process for team members concluding their period of service with Urban Expression. During 2008 we have been learning how to implement these processes well and eager not to allow an organic and relational agency to become unduly and unnecessarily institutional.
• This has been the first year with paid employees. Jim & Juliet Kilpin have job-shared the coordinating role, taking on the primary responsibility for recruiting, deploying, equipping and networking our church planting teams. This has been made possible by a grant from the Baptist Union of Great Britain and we are encouraged by indications that this grant will continue to be available in future years. It has been very helpful to have extra time available as Urban Expression develops and diversifies.
• There have been important internal discussions about the nature of Urban Expression. Are we or should we become an ‘urban mission order’? How do our values relate to theological and ethical issues? Although wary that such discussions can be distractions from our main mission priorities, they have been necessary and important conversations, in which our values have proved their worth.
• Several conversations are under way investigating the possibility of Urban Expression beginning work in other cities. These are well advanced in Bristol and Birmingham and we anticipate decisions shortly. We are also considering other possibilities, including new partnerships in Manchester and Glasgow, where we already have teams. These conversations, if they lead to work in other cities, represent a shift from our initial focus on East London and will require fresh thinking about how we operate.
• Urban Expression is currently overseeing the development of two other initiatives – Rural Expression (applying the values and strategy of Urban Expression to under-churched areas of rural poverty) and the Incarnate Network (a network of mainly, but not exclusively, Baptist church planters). We anticipate that both will become independent of Urban Expression in the next two years.

Some other encouraging developments during 2008 have been:

• Our first team in Glasgow is now fully operational. The team of eight is involved in community research and building relationships in the Possil area of the city, where they will be planting a new church.
• A third team in Manchester is taking shape. The team leader is already in place and is now recruiting team members to join him in the Victoria Park area.
• Because of the increased geographical spread of our work, during 2008 we introduced an annual team leaders’ day and an annual teams’ day to gather team leaders and team members from Manchester, Glasgow and London together.
• Urban Expression Netherlands is now fully operational, having officially launched in July 2008. Four groups are currently linked together through this initiative.
• We have recently celebrated the launch of the E1 Community Church in Stepney (East London) as a result of the work of our team there over several years.
• We have introduced a new way for people to become involved in Urban Expression as ‘mission partners’. This enables us to recruit those who cannot give three years (our minimum requirement for team members) but who want to work alongside our existing teams.
• The Crucible course is now in its fourth year. Feedback from participants continues to be very encouraging. We are now considering the possibility of teaching the course elsewhere than in Birmingham, where we have been for the past four years.
• The Associates’ network has continued to grow, although more slowly than in previous years, and the annual Associates’ Day in November was once again a very positive occasion.
• We held a very stimulating and well-attended day conference in October on the subject of ‘incarnational mission’, with Michael Frost as our guest speaker.

In terms of infrastructure and finance:

• We have an excellent board of trustees who meet twice a year and three regional steering groups who meet more often to oversee the teams in the three cities where we are working. There have been personnel changes and we express our gratitude to retiring trustees.
• Aside from the Baptist Union grant, we have continued to receive grants from a small number of charitable trusts, although this source of income is likely to continue to diminish as Urban Expression ages. There has been a steady increase in the support provided by regular individual donors, and we are taking steps to encourage further increase during 2009. Funds are adequate for our immediate needs, but additional funding will be required to enable Urban Expression to develop further and seize the opportunities with which we are being presented.