Fresh Expressions 1
Fresh expressions + Missional Opportunities
+Graham Cray
what’s going onall around the country• God’s Spirit is on the move• Christians are trying new things• new types of churches are being
formed• lives are being changed
mission-shaped church“church planting
and fresh expressions of church in a changing contextChurch of England General Synod, February 2004
Edinburgh
Some examples
Menu• Fresh expressions of church
–Why–What–How
Fresh Expressions 5
Why?
Fresh Expressions 6
why fresh expressions?Because this is what the Church does
The church is “missionary by its very nature” and it becomes missionary by attending to each and every context in which it finds itself.Bevans & Schroeder ‘Constants in Context’
Edinburgh
why fresh expressions?Because this is why the Spirit is given• The continuing conversion of the church
to incarnational witness does not mean selling out to the …. cultures that form our context.
• Our conversion is to more faithful witness, to more loving and creative translation of the gospel. …
• God’s Spirit is promised to us for precisely this continuing task …’Darrell Guder ‘The Incarnation and the Church’s Witness’
why fresh expressions?• they are a response to the decline of Christendom
•and major changes in• Western culture
baptismeducationmarriagefestivalsSundaysicknesscrisisbereavement
The mission task:from doorto fontto altar &out to the world
Culture and the rhythm of the year lead people to
the church door
The mission task becomes:• go to where people are• form communities of faith• make disciples there
Culture leads people to many other doors.
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Five shifts in societyChanging
Sundays
Changing relationships
Changing cultures
Less faith knowledge
Religion to spirituality
Church at different times
Church for different networks
Church in different cultures
Church for beginners
Church for disconnected explorers
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Christendom contextSocietyFringeChurch
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Secular pluralism
Church
The Netherlands
Fringe churchgoers(less often but at least 6x yr. ) 3% 1.6m
Open de-churched 5% 2.3m
Closedde-churched 28% 13.7m
Opennon-churched 1% 0.6m
Closednon-churched 32% 15.6m
Unassigned 2% 1.1m
Other religions 6% 3.2m
Regular churchgoers (at least monthly)15% 7.6m
Occasionalchurchgoers(less often but
at least annually) 7% 3.4m
Base: UK All adults aged 16+ (unw. 7069 w. 7000) Population = 49.0m
UK Church attendance and experience segmentation in 2006
why fresh expressions?•Because God is blessing this ministry
Methodist Statistics for Mission for
fresh expressions Fresh Expressions 18
fe growth in Methodism
Fresh Expressions 19
1552 fresh expressions in 2012 In 82% of Circuits
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100
100
200
300
400
500
600
Number of fresh expressions start-ing
Meeting monthly or more
Fresh Expressions 20
Weekly
Fortnightly
Monthly
437
153
952
Total 155245,969 people attending77% are not existing church folk
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When did the fxC start?
Most cases are post Mission-shaped ChurchAll dioceses have seen a rapid increase Dioceses reveal different histories
Six dioceses• Nearly 4000 people have been
involved in the start up of the 361 examples.
• Attendance now at them is over 14,000, plus a fringe.
• For every one person sent, over two and a half others are now there.
• Any church with a growth rate over time, of 250%, deserves notice.
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Six dioceses
• On average, of those who come, 35% are the de-churched.
• It is striking that 42% are from the non-churched.
• No parish church has figures like this; some have virtually none of either.
Canon Dr George Lings
Momentum
• Most of the growth has happened in the last three to four years.
Fresh Expressions 24
What?
Fresh Expressions 25
what is a fresh expression?
• a fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture, established primarily for the benefit of people who do not attend any church– it will come into being through principles of
listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples
– it will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context
A fresh expression of church is
• Missional – it seeks to benefit non-churchgoers
the mission of God“The mission of the Church is the
gift of participating, through the Holy Spirit, in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world.James Torrance
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you… Receive the Holy Spirit.John 20:21f
Edinburgh
A fresh expression of church is
• Missional – it seeks to benefit non-churchgoers
• Contextual – it seeks to fit the context
Context• despite a dominant Western culture,
the key to planting a fresh expression is local context
• what forces shape a locality, whether neighbourhood or network or a combination of the two?
• disciple-making is a process of inculturation, involving the reading of a local culture
One size cannot fit all
Fresh Expressions 32
A fresh expression of church is
• Missional – it seeks to benefit non-churchgoers
• Contextual – it seeks to fit the context
• Formational – it aims to form disciples
Discipleship the key
“When dealing with discipleship, and the related capacity to generate authentic followers of Jesus, we are dealing with that single most crucial factor that will in the end determine the quality of the whole – if we fail at this point then we must fail in all the others. Alan Hirsch
www.freshexpressions.org.uk
A fresh expression of church is
• Missional – it seeks to benefit non-churchgoers
• Contextual – it seeks to fit the context
• Formational – it aims to form disciples
• Ecclesial – it intends to become church
Church is diverse• ‘If ‘church’ is what happens
when people encounter the Risen Jesus and commit themselves to sustaining and deepening that encounter in their encounter with each other, there is plenty of theological room for diversity of rhythm and style.’
• Rowan Williams
Edinburgh
fresh expressions not…• the opposite of ‘stale’• a rebranding of
existing work• a bridge to existing
church• the opposite of
traditional (instead, the complement)
• church-lite
Edinburgh
fresh expressions instead…
• ‘deep church’• taking:
– the right shape– in the right place
• at a price… the comfort and convenience of those who plant it
Edinburgh
How?
A process of discernment
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
Listening• to the Spirit• to the church• to the community or network
Somewhere Else - Liverpool
A process of discernment
loving and
serving
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
Grange Park Church, Northampton
Talking Point
Stepping Stones
Grange Park Church, Northampton
A process of discernment
loving and
serving
buildingcommuni
ty
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
Service, to community, to church
“I did not sit in lounge dreaming up what to do, the community asked.The mission initiatives create the relationships and the relationships form the community.Everyone who has joined the fresh expression has come in this way.Katie Miller, Marlpit, near Norwich
The fruit of discernment
“Pioneering ministry cannot be done to a community by someone who knows what they need, it can only be done with a community by someone who shares their need.”
Angela Shier Jones
Create community• Fresh expressions are often
catechumenate communities at the start:
• comprising people who are exploring faith and are on a journey towards it.
• They need to belong before they can believe.
Fresh Expressions 51
A process of discernment
loving and
serving
buildingcommuni
ty
exploringdisciplesh
ip
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
Intentional“ make the fresh expression itself
about discipleship from beginning to end.
“ aim to provide an experience of Christian community for those with little contact.
“ allow for the long journey people go on as they come from initial attention to openness to respond to the gospel.Paul Moore
Discipleship is contextual
“The church creates the conditions where people can live the Christian life.“Not franchise church planting.“What is God doing among these people in this particular place?
Chris Russell, St Laurence, Reading
Discipleship in fresh expressions
•One to one•Small groups•Courses•Participation in serving teams•A rule of life
Fresh Expressions 125
A process of discernment
loving and
serving
buildingcommuni
ty
exploringdisciplesh
ip
church
takingshape
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
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re-imagining worship
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Staging posts: marked in worship
pattern and creativity• pattern for secure context and
appropriate repetition• creativity for participation and
engagement of the imagination.
A learning environment
• ministry of the word
• creating a learning culture
• multisensory learning
• participative• no unchallengable
experts in an internet age
A process of discernment
loving and
serving
buildingcommuni
ty
exploringdisciplesh
ip
church
takingshape
underpinned by prayer, ongoing listening and relationship with the wider church
listening
do itagai
n
Vital Church Planting Conference 61
Zac’s Place
Resources www.freshexpressions.org.uk
making a difference
Available at freshexpressions.org.uk
mission shaped introsix-session courseintroducing freshexpressions of church
Share bookletsa series of bookletsexploring how tostart and sustaining afresh expression ofchurch
Fresh!an introduction tofresh expressions ofchurch and pioneerministryChurch for everyContextthe theology andpractice of freshexpressions of church
Fresh Expressions 64
Fresh expressions + Missional Opportunities
+Graham Cray