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Other signs of official support have further amplified the acceptance of fresh expressions, encouraging more people to start one. In 2004, the Methodist Conference identified fresh ways of being church as one of its five priorities and subsequently appointed the Fresh Ways Working Group to take the agenda forward. A succession of presidents, who serve for a year as head of the church, have actively supported the vision, which is now integral to the church’s official thinking. ‘Venture FX’ is a Methodist scheme to identify 20 people with pioneering gifts who will be funded to start 20 Christian communities among young adults with no Christian heritage. It is a powerful symbol of the church’s commitment to fresh expressions. A high-level group seeks to overcome institutional blockages as they are identified.

The Church of England has introduced a new category of clergy, Ordained Pioneer Ministers, who are like other ministers (they can perform the sacraments, for example) but are called and trained specifically to develop fresh expressions of church. Seventeen had been ordained by 2009, with another 70 in training in 2010 (A Mixed Economy for Mission, 4.6). Fresh expressions have become part of the general curriculum in many ministerial training courses (Croft 2008a, p. 47).

Since 2009, Bishops’ Mission Orders have provided an officially sanctioned route for Church of England practitioners to start churches crossing parish boundaries. Twenty-two were in effect in 19 dioceses by October 2011. A number of Church of England dioceses have created part or full-time posts to advise on fresh expressions. In some cases, funds have been made available to support individual initiatives.