Day: 13 February 2012

New report: fresh expressions in deprived communities

Church Urban Fund has published a study on poverty and fresh expressions – Emerging Forms of Church in Deprived Communities (2012).

Working in deprived areas, many Christians have often tried to set up initiatives and projects that support people materially and also seek to connect people to God and the wider church. Church Urban Fund commissioned the study by the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology (OxCEPT) into how this was being worked out.

The report, by Helen Cameron of OxCEPT, looks at the key issues facing emerging forms of church in deprived communities. Six groups were involved in the research:

  • The Garden CafĂ©, Newham, London;

  • The Lighthouse, Bristol;

  • Oaks, Skelmersdale;

  • Hull Youth for Christ;

  • The Ark, Hull;

  • Paul and Barney's Place, Quinton.

Six key themes were identified:

Faith in white working class culture.

To what extent are the groups supposed to accept the culture within which they work and show the gospel through it? Is there a role for challenging the culture or is that to impose values taken from a more prosperous lifestyle?

Indigenous versus incoming Christians.

How permeable are the boundaries of these communities? Can they accept incoming leaders or is it essential to develop local leadership?

Mission as presence and empowerment.

Long-term presence in these communities was essential to establish credibility but all these groups moved beyond presence to engage people in conversations about the meaning and value of their lives.

Relationships with parish and diocese.

The initiatives had varied relationships with local parishes, depending on the style and attitude of the local vicar and the expectations of local congregations.

Supporting appropriate models of leadership.

Leadership was often team based, with a much more blurred sense between lay and ordained. How can the traditional church leader model be integrated into a much more informal and complex scenario without damaging the local leadership team?

The reality of reflective practice.

All groups valued the catalyst of an outside facilitator. However many struggled to spend time on action/reflection due to work and time pressures. In stretched and stressful areas, how are people able to free up time to recharge, reflect and learn from their work?

The report is available as a free download from the Church Urban Fund website.

L’Oasis Christian Fellowship

L'Oasis - Peter MasseyBased in Provence, L'Oasis Christian Fellowship, Lorgues, serves the predominantly elderly ex-pat community. Peter Massey explains how it started.

In 2OOO, after a badly needed holiday in Provence, we had a real sense that God was calling us to France to provide a place of shelter and rest; a place for people to spiritually charge their batteries. It seemed such a crazy idea but shortly after returning to Ireland where we lived, I was made redundant. As a result we started to explore the possibility that God was saying something to us.

Watch Peter explaining how L'Oasis began.

The dream was that we try and find a house with space for people to come and stay and that our home was to be open to people from all denominations and none and be an oasis of calm in a beautiful and restful part of the South of France. Needless to say there were many difficulties and hurdles on the journey and it was tempting at times to give up, but God always stepped in and opened doors.

Becoming accepted by the local church was difficult at first. There was an understandable wariness of us as 'these people from Ireland who had just parachuted into the area wanting to start a sort of church'. This was complicated by the fact I am an Anglican minister but eventually we were welcomed and now our ministry has been accepted by the Diocese in Europe and that has helped.

We first learnt about fresh expressions in 2006 and this gave us a real sense of belonging, not just to the church, but to something new and exciting that seemed to understand and reflect our own experience and walk with God.

L'Oasis - eatingOur Sunday worship is based around Communion but is informal in character and is always followed by a shared meal which, in true Provencal style, may go on till 5 or 6pm as people share fellowship together and catch up on each others lives. We meet twice a month, once in our own home in Arc-en-Provence (or in the garden in the warm summer months) and once in a local chapel which is part of a retirement home where we are made very welcome.

When we came to France, we were unaware of the vast numbers of retired ex-pats who either live or have second homes here. There are many needs within this elderly and vulnerable group of people and a third of our fellowship is widowed. Loneliness, low self-esteem and lack of mobility are all growing problems but God has blessed our fellowship with many gifted people of all ages and our Sunday club for the children is growing as well.

L'Oasis - meetingL'Oasis comes under the ARK association – this exists to assist the English-speaking communities of the Var in areas of pastoral care where there may be need of compassionate care or personal support. We work both independently and alongside other agencies who share a similar concern for the welfare and well being of the resident ex-patriot community in this part of France. The ARK is established as a French Association which has a similar status to a UK charity. It is guided by a steering group of professional and dedicated people who live and work in this part of France and share the concerns for the needs of the community. This work is endorsed and encouraged by the British Consulate in Marseilles, the Anglican Diocese in Europe and the British Association.

L'Oasis - kidsIt is an unusual but rewarding 'mission field' and the potential is enormous for communities such as ours to be fostered throughout the south of France, and that is part of our vision. Our focus is on encouraging fellowship and sharing the gospel through action and pastoral care; to be a place of healing and growth and simply offer ourselves and our home for the Lord to use. We seek to be church without walls, Christ-centred, people-focused and Spirit-led.