Introducing Melanie Carroll – District Mission Enabler & NPNP Lead

Hi, I’m Melanie — the District’s new Mission Enabler and New Places for New People Lead. I live in Waddington, near Lincoln, and I’m a lay pioneer who has spent well over a decade exploring what church and mission might look like beyond the usual patterns.

I’ve led Lincoln Forest Church at Whisby Nature Park since 2016, and more recently Wild Church and Contemplative Fire here in Waddington. My latest adventure is Lego and Let God: a monthly evening of bricks, coffee and space to be together. It’s a simple idea, but it reflects something I’ve learned through pioneering: mission doesn’t always begin with a plan to start a church. Sometimes it begins by creating a place where people can come, build something, talk, be themselves — and perhaps discover that God is already there.

I know pioneering is only one side of this role and I’m just as excited to work with established churches thinking about and exploring what mission might look like in their context.— whether that’s naming what’s already working, wrestling with what’s not, or simply just having someone to think out loud with.

I don’t arrive with a plan to hand down, as a qualified coach and spiritual director, listening well is at the heart of how I work. I’m here to come alongside churches, circuits and communities, bringing what I’ve learned through pioneering as well as years of working with, in, and alongside established churches, and helping you explore what the next step might be, in a way that makes sense for you.

So if there’s an idea – no matter how large or small, a question, a conversation, or something you can’t quite put into words yet, I'd love to hear about it. It doesn’t have to be a fully formed plan, because sometimes that’s where the really interesting things start!