How do you build authentic church community from scratch? In this inspiring episode of the Pivot Podcast, pioneer lay minister Fiona Mayne shares her remarkable journey from financial advisor to church planter, demonstrating how simple, organic steps can create a thriving Christian community. Fiona reveals practical strategies for church community building that anyone can implement—starting with nothing more than a willingness to listen and engage. From hosting community barbecues to creating welcoming café-style gatherings, her approach shows how authentic relationships and community ownership can lead to sustainable church growth.

Discover actionable insights for church community building, including how to create natural entry points for non-church people, ways to empower community members in shaping church culture, and strategies for developing inclusive, intergenerational ministry. Fiona's story challenges traditional church planting models, showing how letting go of control and truly listening to community needs can lead to vibrant, growing faith communities. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to revitalize existing ministry, this episode offers practical wisdom for building church community that genuinely connects with today's world.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Heart of a Holligan: The Story of David Jeal by Paul Alkazraji 
• The Chosen series 
• Church Mission Society Pioneer training

Watch the video version on YouTube at https://youtu.be/4NlZB4pSY1I.

Fiona Mayne: Well, I suppose a lot of young families, but what I really like about it is we've got like old people of 70s and 80s, but then we've got very young families and we've got teenagers. So really the whole spectrum and I just like the fact that everyone sat around like a big family and they somehow just rub along together, you know, and people are all quite positive together and openly talking about any problems or praying about things, supporting each other, helping each other. If somebody needs their cut, grass cut or whatever, or to borrow something or even financially and it just feels like a big family. And I really value that because one of the things I find, especially in this um, world we find ourselves in, is there's a lot of isolated people, and this is a very much a commuter village, and you could just be behind a door and not see anybody. And one of the people who comes see any contact he has with anyone. So obviously he sees as a Wednesday night and a Sunday and he gets fed on a Wednesday night. He gets toast and stuff on a Sunday afternoon. He gets fellowship.

Terri Elton: Welcome to the Pivot podcast, where we explore how the church can faithfully navigate a changing world. I'm Terri Elton, and today I'm joined with my colleague Dwight Zscheile.

Dwight Zscheile: So as many inherited forms of church struggle to connect meaningfully with neighbors in today's world, we need a lot of new Christian communities. That's why we're so excited to welcome today the Reverend Fiona Mayne to the show. Fiona is a pioneer minister in the Church of England and the leader of Haywood Village Church in rural North Somerset. Church planting was probably the last thing Fiona imagined herself doing early in her life, but she's been on an amazing journey of following God's leading. We wanted you to hear her story, in part because the steps she took are simple, organic ones that most anyone can take. So Fiona, welcome to the Pivot podcast.

Fiona Mayne: Oh, thank you very much Dwight. Nice to meet you, Terri as well.

Terri Elton: So, Fiona, I haven't had an encounter with you, but Dwight has told me that you have quite an interesting spiritual journey and that, uh, early in life, you weren't very connected to the Christian faith. So tell us a little bit about your spiritual journey and how you came to faith.

Fiona Mayne: Okay. Well, um, growing up, I wasn't a Christian at all. Um, but the only connection I had was that I went to a Church of England school, so I guess I learned a bit of the basics, but I thought that Jesus and all the stories that we were told, I thought it was like a really sweet fairy story. And I didn't think it had any relation to reality at all. I thought it was really lovely and quite heartwarming, but I didn't realise Jesus was a real person or anything like that. And so I wasn't christened and I wasn't, um, had no connection with church at all. I didn't get married in a church. And so all of my adult life. A lot of my early adult life, I was God wasn't on my radar at all, really. But then, um, I was very busy working as an independent financial advisor. I had young children. One of them was autistic, and life was really quite tough at that time. And at that time, I was looking for something, um, a bit of an outlet, really. And I found this Krav Maga course, which is like a bit like an Israeli martial art course. And I was training doing that, which was a bit of an outlet. And, um, one day I got quite good at that, doing it 3 or 4 times a week and then starting doing instructor training. And one day while I was there, um, at the instructor training course on a Saturday morning, there was this book on the side, and I've still got the book now, which was, um, this book here, I don't know if you can see it's called The Heart of a Hooligan by Dave Gale. And, um, he was the one who was lending us his his hull. Cheers for this Saturday morning. And he had been a football hooligan, and he'd turned his life around and become chaplain of Bristol Rovers. And now he's an Army chaplain as well. Anyway, I wasn't. I had nothing to do with God, but I read this book and I just it brought me to tears. It really brought me to tears. But then I forgot all about it, put it back on my bookshelf for a couple of years, forgot all about it, and then it was just, um, I had a bit of a marriage break up. Things were tough, and, um, I was looking for a place to go on holiday, and somebody recommended going to a Christian hotel. And so I went to this. I phoned them up first and said, I'm not a Christian. Don't talk to me about God. Um, I hope that's okay. And they were like, absolutely, you're very welcome. And I just felt like when I went there that the people were just so welcoming. They didn't force anything on me. And it was while I was there that I had this experience. So I'd been going for a couple of years to different ones. This one was down in Sidmouth and it was in August 2012. And all I can say is that we were sitting round the table at a dinner one night, just like we did many times before, and suddenly I heard my voice saying to everyone around the table, I said something like, it's almost like God's got this heavenly jigsaw puzzle that only he can see. And we're just sort of like the pieces. And he's up, got this higher view. And they were all sort of saying, are you winding us up because we know you're not a Christian? And I said, I don't know. Something's happened. Something's happened, I don't know. And so all I can say is before dinner I was an atheist. And after dinner with the sort of coffee and mints, I was a Christian, and I was sitting round the table with the organiser of the holiday, Steve Byrne. And, um, I actually said to him over coffee, I said, I need to change my job. I need to actually help God and do whatever God wants me to do. And he thought I was winding him up, but he said, no, if you're serious, Fiona, then God will honour that. And so then the next morning, I woke up and I was just looked in the mirror, and I actually liked myself for the first time. I just looked like a completely different person. Everything changed overnight. So my parenting changed. My children noticed it. I gave away all my designer handbags and clothes. Just so many things changed. And, um, but when I got back from holiday, I just really didn't want it to end there and I didn't quite know what to do. And so I remembered this book and I read the book again. It brought me to tears another time. And then I found this thing in the back of the book, which was a prayer to say if you wanted to accept God in your life. And I simply just said the prayer, which was, Dear God, I know that I mess things up on my own. I just ask you now to help me to turn away from my old life, and I thank you that Jesus died on the cross so that I can be forgiven for all the bad stuff I've done. And I just ask you now to fill me with your Holy Spirit. Amen. And that was it. That was it. And so I felt like I needed to find a church. So I emailed him. It was in the back of the book, and he actually took me to a church in Bristol, which isn't that far from Weston super mare. And I went on Alpha there and got baptized. But very soon I felt very missional because I'd been reading all sorts of books like Jackie Pullinger and and I just felt I've got to tell other people because I was oblivious that many other people are oblivious. And it's been like a fire that's been kind of burning inside me ever since, really, to just share the good news. So that was the beginning of the journey.

Dwight Zscheile: That's wonderful. So. So tell us then about what are some next steps in terms of tell us a bit about the context that you live in and kind of your connections there and how you started to build Christian community.

Fiona Mayne: Well, what happened was so obviously after that holiday, you know, I went to this church in Bristol and then they said, you need a church where you live, you need community and Christians where you live. So we all prayed about it one Sunday and then by the Thursday of that week, I'd met a vicar at a local church who was just about to take over. It was about five minutes from my house, and he said he needed to sort of grow the church, and he was having a new role there, and it was all about mission and outreach. And I said, can I help you to grow the church? Because that is just on my heart. And he was absolutely thrilled, as you can imagine. And so I just felt so missional that I put this poster in my window saying community barbecue, all welcome. And 100 people turned up. And basically I introduced them to the church because I knew everyone where I lived and I wasn't a threatening person because, you know, they didn't really know me as a Christian. But at that barbecue, I introduced the church people to the other people. And it started. Then I started to be the coordinator at the church and sort of helping with youth groups and had a home group. And then I started to feel called to Haywood Village specifically, which is only two minutes from where I was living before in the car. and I just felt God kept taking me over there. I'd be walking my dog. And he like over, over this place, which was I had no connection with it before. And I kept thinking, why do I keep finding myself at Haywood Village? I don't, I don't understand. But it was almost like because this new housing estate had been built and there was just nothing there, that I had this heart for bringing community and bringing God there. Really. So, um, the local church had a bit of a remit for outreach, and I sort of told them we shared together the vision, and we started off just very simply with carols around a Christmas tree. There was only about a few houses there back in 2014. So it was a long time ago and we were just sort of had a little fire and a little pit, and we literally just had carols and chocolates and things and gave them around, knocked on people's doors. They didn't have any wifi or any street lights. It was just like a building site, really. And then we'd sort of gather people together for key festival times like Easter and Christmas. So it would be the carols, and then it would be like an Easter fun day or something, and I organized things like community walks and all sorts of things like that, and basically just spent time with people locally in the community and just asking them what they wanted. And they said predominantly, they said a place to gather, and they were all very community minded because it was a new place. So that's really encouraging. And so I asked the school, which was the only other building there apart from this pub, right at the other end. So I asked if we could use their space together, and I set up a pop up cafe called Take Five. It was just one afternoon a week, but it got very big, so we had about 100 people coming. It was just mad with like dressing up and Lego and crafts and all sorts of different things going on. And then the people came to that and they said, so why are you doing this? And we said, well, we're Christians and we want to build like a community. We want to serve the community. And then they said, well, where is the church at Haywood Village? And we said, well, there isn't a church, but if you if there was a church here, what would you want it to be like? And they said, well, we'd like it to be just like this, but, um, we could ask questions about godliness, so it'd be like a cafe, but we could ask you things about your faith. Um, and so we started Tea and Toast Church. So it was really very similar to the pop up other thing, take five, but it was just with a Christian content very similar to Alpha. So we started that in 2017, and I actually moved house in 2018 just off my own back. Nobody sort of told me to or sorted it out. I just felt called to move and that meant I could do so much more. So I started Alpha in my home because it was quite a big house. And then, um, the people who came to Alpha, they wanted more. So we said, well, what would that look like? And handed it back to them again, obviously with a big blank sheet of paper and sharpies. But obviously it has to be. I said to them, it has to have Christian content. It's not just going to be a social club, you know, it's got to be, have integrity. And so they got very enthusiastic. They said they wanted something mid-week, something where they could a bit like the early acts church where they could come together in relationship, speak about their week, ask each other questions, read the Bible, pray. So we started rooted. They came up with a name and it was always over a meal. Initially it was at my house, but now it's too big, so it's in the school. Once we have our building, it will be in the building. And we ran out at my house several times and in the school and through this process, eventually I got ordained, but it was more like a thing along the way. It wasn't really. It happened afterwards, really. It caught up with everything. And then we started Weekly church because people wanted it more than once a month. It started off once a month and it's just grown and grown, really. And we managed to get a plot of land to actually build a permanent building, which will be like a cafe style, because the whole thing is all about hospitality and just gathering the community, really. So we're sort of in the throes of the building project at the moment. There's quite a lot going on.

Terri Elton: So I'm really curious, um, how the organic nature, which I know. Dwight, you already said this. You already teed it up. But the way that you listened, you did something when people wanted more. You said, well, what would you want? And it sounded like there was a real openness to both the ideas and the ownership. Say more about that.

Fiona Mayne: And you have to be quite careful. I mean, I see my role a bit like when you go on holiday somewhere that you've never been before and you want to introduce to be introduced to the local culture. But if you just went on your own, you might be a bit lost. So I see that I'm a bit of a bridge between the Christians and non-Christians or whatever, or the church and and so therefore I wanted to know what they wanted, not what I wanted. It's like, how are they going to connect with it? So it was really, you know, and I spent a lot of time out where people are. I'm not just spending time waiting in a dusty church for people to come to me. I'm out, you know, in the pubs or in the gym or wherever it is, just talking to people and just taking my faith wherever I go, like whether I'm walking up a mountain or whatever it is. But the thing about handing over the control, it was a little bit frightening because obviously I had to make sure it was authentic. And so some of the people were wanting to steer me like, oh, I know, let's just have a social club. I said, what you're describing is like a nightclub. Like, that's nothing to do with what I want to get involved with. That's great, but I'm out, you know? But a lot of people, they were genuine, but it's just trying to keep them on track and sort of facilitate it, really. I think that's my role because of my business background as well. But you still have to try and keep everyone on track. It's a constant process because obviously if you're in a space that doesn't have a crust and it doesn't have stained glass windows, it's very easy to forget all about God and just do social club, you know? Um, but I've learned quite a lot along the way because I was, um, at CMS Church Mission Society and, you know, just about the variety of different ways of doing church and being authentic. So that's been amazing.

Dwight Zscheile: So tell us a little bit about now, kind of when the church gathers. What does it look like? When do you gather and do you still do a cafe style church or tell us give us a glimpse of it?

Fiona Mayne: Well, God's always given me the thing that it will be just like the early church in acts. Even when it scales up bigger and bigger, it's always going to be round tables, intergenerational. There's no youth going off in different rooms. Everyone's together. So, um, we have a midweek on a Wednesday evening where we, um, everybody will just turns up at half an hour before different people cook. And so it's just like a meal. Like a family meal, really, but different. It depends how many people are there. I've got about 30 people at the moment in our church. And so people are just, um, come and join in. So people are preparing food, people are washing up afterwards. is quite communal. It reminds me of like a Christmas Day feel to it, really. And people say you've just come, that they feel like they've been there all their life because I don't know what it is about it, but it might be that I get everybody to do something, even if it's just putting out a chair or something, so I don't do it for them. I think I learnt that quite early on when I just did everything, and it was all done when they got there, um, to get people to do it with me, not not doing it for them. So that's what it looks like on a Wednesday night. We have Grace, we have the meal, and then we sometimes read a Bible passage, or sometimes it could be that we're working through a film, like we were looking at the chosen series and discussing that at one point, and, um, and obviously prayer. And then on a Sunday afternoon, the tea and toast. It's a bit more formal in that I'm standing up rather than sitting around the table with the others, and we have worship band when we can get one, which we always need more worship people. Um, and that's um, but it's not sort of very structured. It's very much more like alpha or introductory, and I always try not to use any Christian jargon at all. Things like being saved and things or whatever, any sort of Christian jargon. I always explain everything, I explain communion, I always pitch it like I'm talking to an 11 year old sort of child, really, but not in a patronizing way. But so it seems to work for adults and children, and people don't feel awkward if they don't understand. Um, so I'd say it's probably alpha level. And then people who want something deeper, they can always go to a church in the morning. But my role and what God's called me to do is for introductory for people who don't know God. So I'm never going to be going into deep theological things because I want to gather people in who don't know Jesus kind of quite non-threatening. I talk them through the whole thing. I talk them through like this. Last Sunday, when we had communion, I explained what it is, why we're doing it. Tell them all the things that I could think of that might make them nervous. Tell them they don't have to do it, or they can do it, or that it's non-alcoholic so children can do it, you know, um, try and, uh, and we've got another one that we do around the mill, which we had to get special authority from the bishop so we could sit around and do it like an actual meal, like in acts, which was amazing. Um, as part of the meal. So that that was really special. And then I try and think what questions they might have and try and preempt that. So if somebody new, I get them to come a bit early and talk them through what might happen and, um, try and keep things not too long. And then we have discussion time at both the Wednesday night and the Sunday. A lot of it's about discussion time and relationship building I think is so key. And I ended up doing my dissertation all about discipleship in the end, because I was sort of thinking, it's such a big subject. I've learnt quite a lot along the way. It's been amazing.

Terri Elton: So I love that your theological education came later, after you've already had another career and you were starting to do this, what do you think your experience as an independent financial adviser or your previous experiences before you did this, how did they help inform your approach here?

Fiona Mayne: Well, I do think that God uses everything. Nothing's ever wasted and you can see all the pieces. I mean, because I'm managing the building project, all the financial thing has been invaluable. The marketing side of things that I've learned from all that helps me to see things from other people's points of view and to be quite business like. Obviously, churches aren't businesses, but the more business like you can be, I think people kind of get it a bit more if it's a bit done professionally, if you know what I mean. Um, and just all the experiences along the way about using people's gifts and talents, um, and just encouraging people, which you do when you're in a business environment, when you're working with people, when you're managing people, you bring out the best in them and encourage them and help them and, um, delegate and things like that. So it's all useful skills, really, and, you know, managing a budget and, um, trying to empower people and take away the worries to let them just get on with the thing that they're good at and say, don't worry about the big picture. You know, I can deal with that, but you go and do that home group because you're really good at that. And don't worry about all the other things, you know. I'll take that. And I'm just not fazed by big numbers because of being an independent financial adviser. I don't think some people would just find it overwhelming. Um, you know, having to raise money or deal with all the spreadsheets or whatever it is. But I think all these gifts also, my son being autistic has helped me with like, empathy in terms of understanding how people might be feeling. I don't know if that seems to help, and I've got quite a lot of people with special needs who come to our service, because the way I approach it, I suppose I just maybe can empathise with all those different things they might be thinking or whatever, I don't know, but we definitely have quite a high proportion of people with different special needs. So.

Dwight Zscheile: Well tell us a little bit more about who does come. Like who? Like tell who lives in Haywood Village.

S4: And well, there's.

Fiona Mayne: A lot of young families. But what I really like about it is we've got like old people of 70s and 80s, but then we've got very young families and we've got teenagers. So really the whole spectrum and I just like the fact that everyone sat around like a big family and they somehow just rub along together, you know? Um, people are all quite positive together, um, openly talking about any problems or praying about things, supporting each other, helping each other if somebody needs their grass cut or whatever, or to borrow something or even financially. And it just feels like a big family. And I really value that because one of the things I find, especially in this um, world we find ourselves in, is there's a lot of isolated people, and this is a very much a commuter village, and you could just be behind a door and not see anybody. And one of the people who comes see any contact he has with anyone. So obviously he sees as a Wednesday night and a Sunday and he gets fed on a Wednesday night. He gets toast and stuff. On a Sunday afternoon He gets fellowship. We we all throughout Covid we shocked for him. And the only people that he saw. Um so it's really quite nice but I just think I want to do it on a bigger scale. And I think God's calling me to have this building so we can do it much bigger and, um, just spread God's love and point people to Jesus. Really. And we've got this amazing plot of land, which is right at the end of this long road called the runway, because it used to be a place where the RAF locking, which was where the the planes used to take off from. And so the vision God's given me is this amazing building. And it looks a bit like a lighthouse because it's right at the end of the runway drawing people along. And I've had sort of a vision of every, every aspect of it. And this has been going on since 2014, and we've got the architect plans and everything, but it was just absolutely incredible when the salespeople, persimmon said that we could have the land for a nominal pound, we just couldn't believe it. But I knew it was an answer to prayer. But But we've got quite a lot on our hands to actually, you know, do all the fundraising and the next steps. And I could probably do with more help of more people, you know, with different skills and things to come alongside. But it has been very, very encouraging and encouraging what God's been doing.

Terri Elton: So what do you hope this, this project will do? Like as you as you begin to see it and engage people in it and then hear these responses like things make being affordable, people showing up with different gifts, what do you see the long term impact that this, this building and this project will have?

Fiona Mayne: Just amazing. By bringing people together and on a bigger scale, that we can tell more people about Jesus, because we were a bit invisible here because we didn't have a building. So yes, we have a flyer on the gate at the school, but I just think doing things on a bigger scale, for example, it can be used all week. At the moment the school is being used as a school, so we can't really get access to it and just the amount of people we can help. We want to have all sorts of lunches and different things for people, and bring all the lonely people together and all sorts of different groups. So using it like toddler groups and all the usual things. But the main thing is just that it would have a real presence and bring the community together. And there isn't really a space like that here at all, and just be able to inspire other people to go off and do other things that God's calling them to do and show them how it's possible. Just inspire them that you can just start with nothing, and you don't need some big financial thing or some somebody to tell you what to do. You just wait for God to call you to do it.

Dwight Zscheile: So it sounds like this building won't look necessarily like a traditional church building. Give us a bit of an image for it. And if I if I recall correctly, you've got some maybe some space that you'll use like lease out for other nonprofits or things like that. So the business model is a bit different as well, right?

Fiona Mayne: It's basically going to be a multi-purpose building and it will be called Hayward. Hayward Hub, home of Hayward Village Church. So it will be very much a community building, but the church will run it, but it will have like a management committee, just so there's stability and everything. But the rooms will be hireable, there'll be different spaces and some of the walls can go back and be, you know, come and be used for multi-purpose and there will be a proper kitchen so we can do proper meals for people. Cafe space. There'll be an upstairs. It's sort of like a balcony bit. So when you've got a really massive service, you know, people at the top can look over the top onto the service. The whole thing is about being multi-purpose. So you can, you know, just keep setting up in different ways really, and just be at the absolute heart of the community because there's nothing else apart from the school. And there's a pub right down the other end, which is a mile down the other way, and just that people can be in and out of there all week, and just by being in there, somehow they'll be connected to Jesus because so much will be going on. You know, they might come in to get something like a mobile library or something, or we say many different things going on in their food bank, whatever. And suddenly they'll just hear Toronto's music coming down the stairs or something, or somebody will just say something, or they'll have a chat over a coffee, and there'll be a lot of Christian volunteers working there, and I just feel it'll just be an amazing impact. And then all those people will go off and do other things. And just the impact of that really would be amazing. It's just been a vision since 2014 that God has really put on my heart. It's been amazing. And other people have sort of come on board with that, which is really lovely. So yeah, it's encouraging. It is encouraging. And I've been very inspired by Ali Boulton, who was a pioneer minister in Swindon, and she came to my church just before 2014, and she just did a talk about, um, starting a church plant, and she did something on a new housing estate, and she made it sound so doable. And she just said, oh, just put some welcome packs through people's doors or whatever, gather some people together. And I just thought, that sounds that doesn't sound too difficult, you know. And she's been quite an inspiration just to get me started, really, that it's not rocket science, it's just gather a few people together. All about relationship really as well.

Terri Elton: That's awesome. Sometimes we don't want to know what all the things are, right? But how do how how were you encouraged or developed as a leader? And how are you developing others as you think? Because there's a lot of leaders, it sounds like needed to carry this out.

Fiona Mayne: I was encouraged by my sending church. They I didn't even have an idea about planting a church. I didn't even know what that would. You know, that wasn't an idea I'd ever even heard of. You know, I didn't even know. It was like a thing you could go and do, like, a franchise kind of thing, but whatever. But, um, they encouraged me. They spotted gifts in me very early on just because I was so excited. I had all this energy. I wanted to tell people about Jesus. So they'd have been mad not to use that in a, um. And they let me. So the vicar there just let me run Alpha. And it was on a large scale for two years. He just let me do the whole thing. He just. Yeah. Um, I'd only been on one alpha for myself. I had no experience, but I just quickly went on a course and just took it on really. So I learnt on the job. It was like building the bridge as you're walking on it, a bit like in lockdown when we were trying to do the online services, but so and so that's been really good and they've really helped and they've been very supportive, like praying. And they gave us some initial finance, just a small amount, but just by encouraging and standing by us really, it's just been amazing. And I just try and encourage other people. So let them do things that they feel comfortable with. So there's a young person in our church who, um, does some public speaking. He's very good, and he's been with us since he was very, very young and just around about 2014, really. And now he's much older. So he's doing a lot more public speaking, and he's on our committee with our building project. And that's quite a big thing for somebody who's under 18, you know, to be involved in some really high level discussions. Um, so I don't it doesn't bother me about age or background. Everybody just can come and use their skills. Obviously we've got musicians, we've got people who are particularly good at discussion groups, good people for catering, and some people might need a bit more support. So I've got people who are very good at maybe going and researching something, but they don't really want to stand up at the front. And so that's still very, you know, lots of different valuable skills. And also I have a bit of a thing where I can kind of see what people are good at without them having to tell me. I can kind of spot it somehow. So that's that's really helpful. And sometimes we have like a day where we do a thing about a focus on spiritual gifts and talents and we sort of encourage each other, which is really nice. It's not just coming from me. Somebody else will say, oh, I noticed you're very good at prayer or something to somebody else. So that's been really good. But yeah, I want to sort of do myself out of a job and just everybody to be amazing at what they do, and they're all really, really brilliant.

Terri Elton: So what I love about that is two things. You're seeing people as they are and, and I think inviting them to participate. I think at least here in the States, we sometimes hold back and rather than invite in or accompany them, like you said, move a chair around, right. You know, just start really small and then get ownership in this, and then people will lean in.

Fiona Mayne: One thing I do a lot of is I have a lot of non-Christians who come to my church, and it's absolutely amazing. I don't know what happens, but like my son, for example, um, he does the visuals every week. He's there twice a week. And then this, um, other people just seem to do things and then they get more involved. So they might just help me one year at a christingle because they say, oh, I need help with this piece of thing, and I know you've got one in your house. You know, I just I'm not afraid of asking for help. And then they say, oh, is there anything else I can do? And I say, well, you're very good at it. Do you want to help me with the website? And then it just gets a bit more and more, and then suddenly they find they happen to be there on harvest service because they're helping me with the thing or whatever, and then they seem to come every week. I don't really know what happens, but so it seems to be my goddaughter comes as well. And she's not a Christian. And my son. So they're both there. Um, and it's just we had some people come who were carers for other people because I told you we had a lot of special needs people. So one lady came who was a carer and she ended up, she wants to get baptized because she just came as a carer, but she just found Jesus. So we just want to be that place where people feel that they can come. And she said, no other place would have worked for me because you all answered my questions. You made me feel comfortable. We could just have a meal. It was informal. I didn't feel judged. And so it's just meeting the right people in the right place for them, I suppose. But just the informal relationship building seems to work.

Dwight Zscheile: Well, I love that that deep kind of presence in the community, listening and then just forming community itself. Like people's first experience of the church is actually a place to belong and connect rather than trying to get them, for instance, into some kind of worship experience that might seem very strange or foreign or some kind of program like, you know, it's much more organic in that sense.

Fiona Mayne: And I think just you never quite know when they cross the line, but something just happens and suddenly they find themselves, you know, they've crossed the line and they have become a Christian. Sometimes it's really gradual and they don't even pinpoint when it happened. But it's very interesting. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Dwight Zscheile: Well, Fiona, thank you so much for sharing this story with us. I find it quite inspiring, and I'm hoping that many of our listeners and viewers will as well, because, um, you know, what you've done just seems like things that anyone could do, right? It's not necessarily, you know, like a really crazy out of the box, but it is actually quite out of the box and in some wonderful ways. And that out of the box move is actually just meeting people where they are. And that's what so many churches are struggling to do. So. So thank you for inspiring us with this story.

S4: Oh, it's.

Fiona Mayne: Really my pleasure. Absolute pleasure.

Terri Elton: And I want to thank our audience for joining us for this, another episode of the Pivot podcast. You can us help us spread the word about pivot by liking or subscribing to the YouTube channel or to any place that you listen to podcasts. It really does help us in our work.

Dwight Zscheile: And finally, the best compliment you can give us is to share. Pivot with a friend. Until next time, this is Dwight and Terri signing off. See you next week.

Faith+Lead voiceover: The Pivot Podcast is a production of Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead. Faith+Lead is an ecosystem of theological resources and training designed to equip Christian disciples and leaders to follow God into a faithful future. Learn more at faithlead.org.