Bishop Graham Cray, Archbishops' Missioner and leader of the Fresh Expressions team, sees the planting of several thousand fresh expressions of church as one of the major achievements of Archbishop Rowan's time in office. As the Archbishop addresses the movement for the final time in that role on November 22 in London, Bishop Graham says it is an ideal moment to take stock of what has been achieved and what lies ahead.
The Fresh Expressions day conference – running from 11am to 4pm on Thursday at HTB – is called 'Following the missionary Spirit', because, in the years since the Mission-shaped Church report was published in 2004, the Holy Spirit has been leading the church in new approaches to mission. It has been an experience of 'seeing what God is doing and joining in'. In effect we have been given a gift of the Holy Spirit, a charism. My predecessor Steven Croft called it 'building ecclesial communities out of contextual mission': the planting of fresh expressions of church, be they new congregations or full church plants, appropriate to their context, to draw into Christian discipleship those who are not active followers of Jesus or part of any church.
That is the purpose of the charism, but what is its nature? What constitutes the gift we are being given?
It is a gift of faith. Ordinary local Christians have been taking small cross-cultural risks, for the sake of Christ. They have been stepping out of their comfort zone, out of familiar patterns of church life to plant something new, for those untouched by these familiar patterns. They have been empowered to take a risk of faith. This lies at the heart of the gift of the Spirit for mission, through which we are empowered as witness beyond our familiar setting (Acts 1.8)
It is an incarnational gift, a gift for contextual mission. We are learning to follow the Spirit as, by his power, Christ's body takes appropriate local shape. It is a gift for contextual mission, a gift for our times and for each locality:
- for our times because both our national culture, and the relationship between church and culture have been changing fast;
- for each locality because we are taking more seriously the uniqueness and complexity of each context.
It is a gift of discernment and of missional imagination. We learn to listen as we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us. The fresh expression takes shape as we listen and serve. We are unlikely to know what it will finally look like when we begin.
It is a gift of diversity. The Holy Spirit gives varieties of gifts (1 Corinthians 12.4-6). One size does not fit all. A recent study of two dioceses revealed 19 different models of fresh expression in each. Some models appear frequently, as is appropriate for a branded society. The reason for diversity is appropriateness to context, not the uniqueness of the model.
It is a traditioned gift. At its heart is our call to proclaim the gospel afresh in this generation. It is not a rewriting of the claims of Christ to make them more amenable to a consumer age, but a more faithful embodiment of the historic gospel for our times. Fresh expressions are an integral part of the Church's mixed economy approach to mission. It is a gift which honours inherited church approaches for their faithfulness to the gospel and seeks to complement them by equivalent faithfulness.
It is a vocational gift. It cannot be exercised without pioneers, those who take the lead in the small and large cross cultural steps which are the inescapable starting point of any fresh expression. One of the most striking features of this movement has been the number of new leaders it has generated. There are Ordained Pioneer Ministers and Methodist VentureFX Pioneers, but the number of these is dwarfed by the hundreds of lay leaders in expressions who were not in any form of leadership before.
It is an ecumenical gift. This involves the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, the Congregational Federation and the Church of Scotland, with other conversations taking place. This is a unity which God blesses because it is a unity in weakness, as we all have to learn new approaches to mission in a changing world, and choose to learn together.
It has proved to be an international gift. Requests have come from many parts of the world. The Fresh Expressions mission shaped ministry course is now being taught or planned in Australia, Barbados, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.
Finally it is a gift of hope. It demonstrates the life of the Spirit through the church, showing that the Church in Britain can grow; that it is not condemned to inevitable decline because of the average age of many of its congregations. The Holy Spirit is restoring faith in the power of the gospel here and now!
The future then is a matter of keeping faith with the missionary Spirit and of remaining open to whatever new riches might be revealed in this gift. It is also a call to perseverance as we maintain our commitment to the re-evangelization of our land. To serve the churches, this call and commitment will see the Fresh Expressions team continue to network the pioneers, gather the learning, publish the stories, and provide the training needed.
* 'Following the missionary Spirit – going forward with fresh expressions' will take place at HTB, Brompton Road on 22 November from 11am to 4pm (arrivals from 10am). Contributors include Martyn Atkins (General Secretary, Methodist Church), Val Morrison (Moderator of the General Assembly, United Reformed Church) and Graham Cray. Places cost £15 (including lunch and refreshments).