The General Secretary of the Methodist Church, Revd Dr Martyn Atkins has said Methodism's partnership with Fresh Expressions has been positive and productive.
Welcoming the latest statistics on attendance and membership and writing in his annual report to the 2013 Methodist Conference, he said,
The impact of the Fresh Expressions organisation, and fresh expressions more generally, upon Methodism today is profound. Naturally ecumenical, and producing some fresh expressions of church that positively challenge all partner denominations in many respects, Methodism is clearly benefitting from this partnership.
He was grateful despite the
context of decline made plain by the headline figures of our annual 'count' (e.g. c3000 loss of membership; c11000 reduction in attendance at worship across the week in 2012 compared with 2011)
because
the information coming from our Statistics for Mission in respect of fresh expressions of church is hugely encouraging.
He went on to say:
At least 1,550 'Methodist' fresh expressions are meeting monthly or more frequently, attended by c46,000 people and supported by the efforts of c8,000 volunteers. The large majority of fresh expressions are led by local preachers and lay officers rather than ministers or paid employees. Significantly, three quarters of the fresh expressions have begun in the last four years. There are fresh expressions registered from every District in the Connexion representing over 80% of our circuits. There are early signs too that our highly regarded pioneering ministry project, VentureFX, is beginning to bear fruit and produce valuable learning.