The Story and the Vision
Somewhere around 2002 an idea was conceived in the minds and hearts of Crossnet's origional pioneers to do church differently - to put themselves in a place outside the field of normal parish duties and to learn again from first principles how to be a community of disciples involved in mission in the new century. Dreams lead to letters, letters to meetings, meetings to discussions, and discussions to a formal invitation to initiate the project. So on the 1st September 2004 Crossnet was launched. A month later in a ceremony at the Bar Med on the Bristol waterfront, Mike Hill, the Bishop of Bristol, licensed and commissioned Nick and Lucy Crawley, Richard and Joe Fothergill and Charlie and Ali Groves to establish Crossnet as a Network Mission Church - a Fresh Expression of Church, operating within the context of the Mission-shaped Church report that had been passed by General Synod in February that year.
The story since then has been one of joys and struggles. Crosnet has outgrown the living room where its first meetings were held, and has morphed through a series of transitions and phases. The work is very seasonal, and the ministry has ebbed and flowed over the years. Often we have learned more about what not to do than what to do, but the vision is becoming clearer. The best place to start understanding Crossnet is Jesus' final command to his followers; "Go and make disciples..." Mathew 28:19-20. Discipleship is our main focus along with the mission that comes from it.
Our Values
- We focus on the "Word" (the Bible) and the Holy Spirit; this is the start and origin of everything.
- Our response is Discipleship, defined by Jesus himself in three leading statements;
- "If you hold to my teaching you are truly my desciples" - John 8:31
- "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" - John 13:35
- "This is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples" - John 15:8
So we teach the Bible publicly, we study it privately, and we encourage each other to obey what Jesus taught.
We are learning to do this in the following ways;
- We try and practice hospitality
- We are learning to be a community
- We are developing a ministry to those who are poor and deprived
- We are learning how to tell people about Jesus and the Gospel
We are involved in "Discipleship Coaching" for our members. Much of our work is individually based, or in small groups. We are actively pioneering new forms and methods of discipling.
Since we started over 120 people have become committed members of Crossnet, and the most encouraging this is that relatively a very high proportion of these are now, or have for a while since leaving Crossnet, been in some form of specific full time Christian ministry.
Our ministry is focused and involves sacrifice and dedication, and we invite all who are interested to join us on this journey to know Jesus and to make him known.