The Church Mission Society has just seen the most students ever graduate from its Pioneer Mission Leadership Training programme. A total of 24 students left with a range of university awards in theology, ministry and mission at a ceremony at CMS headquarters just outside Oxford.

But what are 'pioneer' leaders, and why is the movement growing?

'Pioneer' was first used to officially describe the ministry that was going on at the edges of traditional church in the Church of England's 2004 Mission Shaped Church report. The report highlighted the ways Christians were engaging with people outside the usual reach of church and suggested this represented a significant hope for the future.

It also recognised that different gifts and skills were needed to start something new, as opposed to growing and maintaining an existing established congregation. The report recommended creating a new designation, the Ordained Pioneer Minister (OPM), as well as a new training pathway that would nurture and resource this pioneer gift.

Anglican theological colleges were soon offering a new pioneer track. But it was essentially the same training offered to all ordinands, with an additional session or two on pioneering. A few years in, it was acknowledged that this was not meeting the expectations of either those training as pioneers or the needs of the Church of England.

Consequently, CMS was approached to devise specialist training in cross-cultural mission and launched its Pioneer Mission Leadership training in 2010.As one of the oldest missionary sending agencies, this seemed a natural fit – particularly as about 30 years previously CMS had come to realise that the greatest missionary challenge was now on its own doorstep. In response, it was applying learning from more than 200 years of taking the gospel to other cultures around the world, to the sub-cultures of the UK and Western Europe.

According to CMS director of mission education Jonny Baker: 'The course gives pioneers a supportive learning community – a place to belong, as well as equipping and empowering them to initiate and follow through with mission projects that have a wider impact on the church and society.'

It's not just Anglican pioneers that train with CMS. Students also include Baptists, Methodists and Pentecostals.Among those graduating this year is Janice Hamilton who is being ordained into the Church of England as a deacon in Gloucester Diocese.She is involved in a community regeneration project in Sedbury, Gloucestershire, to refurbish a disused youth club. Organisers hope this initiative will draw the local community together. Overall, the project will cost £55,000 and the team has launched a crowdfunding initiative as well as seeking funding from local sources.

Lay pioneer Libby Hawkness-Smith lives in Oxfordshire and heads up Journey On, a community for people with learning difficulties such as autism. Libby says: 'Like so much of society the Church can be unintentionally patronising for people with autism, but a lot of people want to be challenged, they just need someone to help them build up to a challenge.'

Claire Elwood, another graduate, is involved in Tea and Toast, an outreach initiative to students in Nottingham's city centre. Every Friday night after the clubs have shut, the team offers revellers hot drinks, friendship and support to those in distress, and if the situation allows it, they take the opportunity to share their faith.

From September CMS will be offering two new courses, one in Pioneering Youth Work and another for pioneers working in children's and family ministry. These will draw on the expertise of the Oxford Centre for Youth Ministry and Streetspace, part of Frontier Youth Trust.As well as the courses being run from its base in Oxford, CMS is now setting up hubs in other locations around the country. The first hub, St Cedd's Centre in Romford, is a partnership between CMS and Chelmsford Diocese and has just successfully completed its first year, training 14 pioneers.

CMS's pioneer training has also been a catalyst for supporting those engaged in mission in other church streams and networks. On 18th July CMS hosted a day conference, in collaboration with Methodist Pioneering Pathways, on Pioneering on Estates and New Housing Developments. More than a hundred practitioners gathered to hear stories of mission, share learning and consider some of the political and theological issues that are raised by their ministry.

Government figures show that in England around 150,000 new homes are built every year. While this is still not sufficient to meet the demand, it represents a huge opportunity for the hurch to engage with people outside the boundaries of established church, as brand new communities are being formed.

Ben Norton, whose ministry is on a new housing estate in Hull, says of his experience there: 'I believe we have to create the space for trust to be established.People have to trust us before they can begin to trust in the promises of God. We have to start with people rather than programmes or services.'

As Jonny Baker says: 'Mission Pioneers are giving the Church a glimpse of the future, where mission will not be delivered solely by large para-church organisations, but increasingly through agile, innovative and creative pioneers, witnessing love in action.'