Lausanne World Pulse – Fresh Expressions of Church in England

By Steven Croft

 
It is no longer enough to sit in church and invite people to join
us. We need to go where people are.

For many years, Christians in the United Kingdom have been starting new initiatives. On the one hand, these initiatives are a response to the love of God; on the other hand, they are a response to the growing distance between society and church. It is no longer enough to sit in church and invite people to come and join us. We need to go where people are, to listen and serve and shape community in new ways. As Christians have done this, these new initiatives have led to new communities of Christians meeting on different days of the week, in different places, learning to be church together.

Mission-Shaped Church
 In 2004, the Church of England published the report “Mission-Shaped Church.” The report coined a new term to describe these communities: fresh expressions of church. The Church of England is now well on its way to becoming what the Archbishop of Canterbury has called a mixed economy church: traditional parishes alongside fresh expressions of church. The Church is not attempting to create new congregations at the expense of traditional congregations; it is hoping to create new congregations alongside them.

One of the most interesting parts of my job as a team leader in this effort is discovering these stories and sharing them with the rest of the Church. The most effective way to do this is through short DVD clips. So far, we have produced two (available from Church House Publishing).

DVD 1 tells fourteen stories of typical fresh expressions of church. For example,

  • In Stoke on Trent, a group of Methodists have opened a café on High Street for church in the coffee culture.
  • In Portsmouth, a church which has very few children attending Sunday service has begun a monthly, midweek, all-age gathering based around arts and crafts and a meal together. It rejoices in the title of “Messy Church” and has inspired a host of similar projects across the country.
  • In Essex, a small urban church had the faith to partner with the local authority and raised money for a skate park. There is now a thriving youth congregation at its heart.
  • In Liverpool, the Methodist church had withdrawn from the city centre. As the regeneration of the city began, the church sent Barbara Glasson. She walked the streets for one year, listening. Out of that listening emerged a new Christian community—Somewhere Else—based around baking bread together. She now leads seminars called “Baking a church.”

Many of these new initiatives are modest in terms of resources but high in terms passion and energy. A small number involve high investment in either buildings or staff. The Church of England employs about two hundred people full-time to plant or establish these new communities; this number is rising each month. 

Steven Croft is team leader of Fresh Expressions, a new initiative established in England by the Archbishops and the Methodist Council. He works with colleagues across both churches to encourage new forms of church for a changing culture.