Emmanuel Bristol celebrated the New Year by becoming the first BMO in the Diocese of Bristol on 1st January 2011.
In under four years, Emmanuel has grown from a group of about 50 people sent out from Christ Church Clifton to become a community of faith comprising 180 adults and 40 children. About a third of its members are new believers or had not been part of a church in recent years.
Emmanuel's community life centres around meeting on Sunday afternoons for worship, teaching, discussion groups and tea in Redmaids School, Westbury-on-Trym.
Revd Mike Cain, who has led Emmanuel from the beginning, said:
On the journey to this point two things have stood out for me. The first has been the great support we have received from local churches which has reminded me that no church is an island.
And the second has been the way that starting afresh has reminded me that church is basically simple. People often ask me what the key to our growth has been, as though we have come up with some cunning new strategy. But the truth is that we have just gone back to church basics – we have prayed, proclaimed the good news and then given people time and space to get on with living it out in love. The whole adventure has restored my confidence in God's power to change lives through His gospel.
A Bishop's Mission Order (BMO) is a new legal structure introduced by the Church of England for church communities that do not fit in to the parish structures, normally to allow for fresh expressions and church plants.
Emmanuel's BMO was made after a process of exploration and consultation which lasted a year. Emmanuel itself has registered as a company limited by guarantee and as a charity. It has been supported by Bristol West and City Deanery and has good relationships with the parish in which it meets.