Month: August 2015

Changing the landscape: making the mixed economy work (Ian Adams)

Ian AdamsIan Adams tells us about changing the landscape: making the mixed economy work.

I love it whenever I discover traditional and evolving streams of church

  • seeing each other as partners in the same amazing calling, diving into the flow of God's reshaping of the world in the way of Jesus;

  • seeking out insights, imagination and wisdom from the other;

  • practising generosity in spirit and in resources to each other;

  • honouring each other's paths and distinctiveness;

  • recognising our own weaknesses and idiosyncrasies while looking for the best in each other;

  • and inspiring each other to engagement in mission with the world, as it is, where we are.

So I'm really looking forward to the Fresh Expressions day conference Changing the landscape: making the mixed economy work in Oxford on Friday 6 May. It will be great to hear stories and experiences from people working imaginatively in both conventional and innovative settings – and it's good and appropriate that this is not just a 'from the front' event. There will be spaces for everyone to get involved in the conversation.

I'm also looking forward to hearing how some of those with the widest overview sense the mixed economy is progressing and how it could develop – people like Stephen Lindridge, Fresh Expressions' Connexional Missioner for the Methodist Church; Archbishops' Missioner and leader of the Fresh Expressions team, Graham Cray; and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams who – of course – first coined the phrase 'mixed economy'.

I'm hoping that it will be a great opportunity to ask some of the tougher questions of ourselves, like:

This is not just a 'from the front' event – there will be spaces for everyone to get involved in the conversation

  • can the mixed economy really work on the ground, particularly when financial resources are being squeezed?

  • how are both streams of church continuing to engage with people from little or no faith background?

  • can we provide light and freeing frameworks that give lay people the confidence and support to start and sustain new communities and projects?

  • how is the mixed economy enabling us to make a real difference in society in these demanding times?

Great opportunities, demanding questions. So it's vital that the conference will be not only just (or even mainly) about our words, but also a place of stillness and prayer where we can be open to the presence of God-who-is-close. 24-7 Prayer will facilitate this by providing a continuous prayer environment. Something else to look forward to.

Better isn’t always bigger (Ed Bahler)

Ed BahlerEd Bahler argues that bigger isn't always better.

It's a time for resolutions and fresh starts. But it's more than a new year, it's a new day.

There's fresh thinking everywhere. In our economy in the United States, we have shifted from spending to constraint. And constraint is the buzzword for ministry as well. It's no longer about building bigger church buildings and trusting people will come to them. It's about:

  • becoming Christ-centered;

  • life transformation in his image;

  • planting new, organic faith communities.

It's about growth but not about big.

In fact, the brightest students coming out of college are no longer interested in being mentored by the biggest and fastest growing churches. The talented ones are passionate about planting their own fresh expression of church in cinemas, school cafeterias, coffee shops, pubs, warehouses and retail units in shopping malls.

It's about becoming missionaries in our own communities and going to them rather than expecting them to come to us. And that's why church construction now includes refitting old warehouses, shop fronts, and old, outdated or abandoned church facilities.

In our design and building company, God has laid on our hearts a passion to understand and align the following four ministry dynamics:

  • evolving culture

  • relevant ministry

  • empowering leadership

  • intentional facilities

It's no longer about building bigger church buildings and trusting people will come to them

What's fuelling this passion? In the USA, church facilities consume 40% of a typical church budget, yet we know very little about how facilities impact ministry or help us connect ministry with the rapidly shifting culture. Furthermore, spending on church facilities has risen from 3.5 billion dollars to over 8 billion dollars in the past 15 years while – in spite of this – church attendance has actually decreased from 49% to 47% of the population.

Alignment of the four ministry dynamics is necessary for changing these statistics because it ensures that a clear message will be provided from the leadership, trust will flow through the congregation, and healthy collaboration will minimise headwind in ministry.

In an effort to further encourage this process of alignment, we are also launching a 'Church Planting Incubator', making our conference and meeting rooms available to budding faith communities. We pray that all the different churches and church projects we're involved in will be places where culture, ministry, leadership and facilities come together.

What is a sprout for? (Paul Dunstan)

Paul Dunstan with sproutsPaul Dunstan asks what a sprout is for.

The tinsel has been packed away for another year and I have a confession. I don't wish it could be Christmas every day. One reason is… sprouts. Hardly anybody admits to liking them, but many seem to think they should tackle at least one during the festive season. Perhaps we feel they will counterbalance our overindulgence in nice things. Who knows? Maybe they really are good for us.

I see several parallels between sprouts and church. First, both appeal to a small minority of people. Second, just as some people nevertheless gird their loins and force themselves to indulge in a sprout – maybe even look forward to it as a once-a-year exotic (or quixotic) experience – so some people brace themselves for a Christmas church service. Third, some of those find it wasn't as bad an experience as they expected and decide they might not wait until next Christmas before they try it again. Fourth, some cooks try to lure us to sprouts by adding all sorts of things – bacon, chestnuts, even anchovies – to make them more palatable. You might call them fresh expressions of sprout. Do you see where I'm going?

One of my frustrations (and maybe yours) about fresh expressions of church is that I've seen – as a practitioner and as a companion of several fresh expressions – that we still aren't reaching the unchurched in any substantial way. In many cases we cater for existing churchgoers and Christians who want something that inherited church isn't providing.

Let's be honest: in practice what tends to happen with many fresh expressions is that we take something people like doing and try to sneak church into it. People like drinking coffee and eating pastries so we let them do that and we try to slot in a bit of church. They like walking so we let them do that and we try to slot in a bit of church. They like doing crafts and games so we let them do that and we try to slot in a bit of church.

However, what we don't see clearly enough is that the unchurched people generally want coffee or walking or craft or games and can't see why we want to spoil it by including a religious 'bit'. Cue the sprout analogy … you can make sprouts more appealing by adding bits of bacon, but (the bacon-lover wants to know) why spoil a perfectly good sandwich by putting sprouts in it? Why spoil a nice trip to the café by putting church in it?

And we do know this, I think, though we don't like to admit it. Why else are so many fresh expressions attendees so reluctant or unsuccessful when it comes to inviting unchurched people along?

Let's be honest: in practice what tends to happen with many fresh expressions is that we take something people like doing and try to sneak church into it

I think the basic problem (knowledge of which will help us see a solution) comes if we try to market something that's unmarketable: the church. Unchurched people have already made up their minds about church. They aren't interested. Otherwise they wouldn't be unchurched. They won't change their minds if we add a well brewed coffee into the mix or set up so many craft activities that you can hardly see the religion – any more than I would alter my opinion about sprouts if you slipped just the tiniest sliver of one into my bacon sandwich.

And are we supposed to be in the marketing business anyway? Surely, our first calling is not to draw people into church (fresh or inherited), but to proclaim Jesus Christ and the good news of his kingdom, his life, death and resurrection. Of course, making disciples has a corporate dimension and takes place in community – church – and for that we need fresh expressions of church more than ever.

I don't have a trendy solution to offer. I don't think we need one. I know that when we are being what we are supposed to be, we keep God-in-Jesus as the focus, and not the church, and that we can rely on him to draw people to himself. That means enabling and encouraging disciples to be more Jesus-focused and equipped to share him, in word and deed. It means seeing people as they are in relation to Christ rather than how they are in relation to the church. And it means trusting him to build his church rather than attempting to do it for him. Maybe, when we learn that he created sprouts and loves them, we will learn to love them, too. Wouldn't that be a miracle?

So where are we, ten years on? (David Muir)

David MuirDavid Muir asks where we are, ten years on from the end of the decade of evangelism.

We are already ten years into the new millennium, ten years since the end of the Decade of Evangelism in which church attendance declined at an even faster rate than in the previous decade, ten years since we tried to turn all that around. Fresh Expressions has been a central plank in that, embraced extensively by the mainstream church. So where are we up to?

We seem to have made headway in the debate about 'bums on seats', although the numbers game continues with mid-week attendance figures (as well as Sundays) now coming under the spotlight.  But the people being counted are, in many quarters, simply vehicles for counting something else – money, or at least the potential for it.

How can we keep funding the big post-Christendom ship we call The Church, without a humiliating 'restructuring' that radically reappraises what a 21st century British Christian community needs to look like? We in the Anglican Church still have bishops with chauffeurs and clergy in big houses, and there is no appetite for changing much of that. Some of the enthusiasm for fresh expressions of church comes from anxiety about the church's present finances. If we are struggling for money and our present membership is dying out, perhaps we can grow ourselves out of trouble…

The truth is that the 21st Century church has inherited a very expensive model of church life. When the rich and powerful of our land put their money where their mouth was (and they did), this model served us rather well. But with its paid professional leadership and thousands of historic buildings in every corner of the land, it has been creaking at its financial seams for a century and more. We need to explore some very different models, ones that don't rely on the idea of 'Christendom' for their financial viability. Fresh expressions of church must not be regarded as 'saviour siblings'. We must not create them to resolve the sickness of unviable Christendom assumptions about how to be the church. They are new children in the Christian family, and it is not their responsibility to balance the overall family finances.

Can fresh expressions survive without Christendom styles of funding?

The institution of the church is very aware that the whole Fresh Expressions movement continues to be subsidised by inherited forms of church which themselves are struggling to survive. It is important to ask hard economic questions of our newest expressions of corporate Christian faith. In particular, are they significantly 'leaner' than our inherited models and assumptions, and so can they survive without Christendom styles of funding? We could learn lessons from the secular charitable and campaigning sector. The Avaaz movement for instance is a web campaigning community which aims to 'bring people-powered politics to decision-making worldwide'. It has a global membership of 6.6m and is funded through modest online donations with no corporate sponsor or government backer.

The ongoing funding for the British Fresh Expressions movement will be back up for grabs in the next few years. We may not feel ready for it, but perhaps it's time to grow up, leave some of the comforts of home behind, and find independent ways to survive. In campaigning for parity of ministry provision with the rest of the church, we can easily lumber ourselves with the same Christendom assumptions about funding the church that is presently dragging the Titanic down. The danger is that the Fresh Expressions ship will also go down.

Church with boots on (Phil Wood)

Phil WoodPhil Wood discusses church with boots on.

I've always been a keen walker, enjoying hiking, rambling, birdwatching and prayer-walking. I'm sure I never thought when I was a child growing up in Bury as I made my way over Turton, Holcombe Hill and Knowle Moor (now home to a forest of wind turbines) that it might be possible to enjoy a pastime I love – and do church at the same time.

There already are organisations for Christian walkers, but here's an idea with a difference – not an ecumenical 'fellowship' made up of Christians who walk in their spare time but a church that walks! Imagine a congregation where the essential elements of church take place on the move.

Maybe this is a 'fresh expression' but that's not to say it hasn't been done before. As I began to talk to a few people about my crazy idea I found others on the same wavelength. Rebecca Seaton's work on a Cumbrian 'walking church' especially caught my eye.

From the beginning of the biblical story, an often highly creative tension has existed between nomads and settlers.  Equally, in the New Testament there is a thrilling picture of disciples at home and on the road linked together by the practice of hospitality. Methodists have always been associated with the image of a rider and not a walker, but there are plenty of relevant examples.

Anyone who knows something of the history of Cliff College will hear clear echoes of Samuel Chadwick's trekking Methodist friars in the present proposal. Within my own Anabaptist setting, a 'walking church' has particular resonance. Five hundred years of martyrdom, migration and marginality have blasted the experience of the open road into the consciousness of the tradition.

Walking church – imagine a congregation where the essential elements of church take place on the move

Around 20% of the UK population is involved in walking as a leisure activity. In large areas of Britain there are more people out walking on a Sunday than going to worship. 'Walking church' offers a way to establish church within walking networks without surgically removing people from their culture.

These are early days for 'walking church' and there are all kinds of practicalities to be considered, not least what to do about the weather, but I'm itching to get my boots on the path in 2011. Right now I'm gathering responses and preparing to relocate to London in January.  The aim is to launch 'walking church' next year, but before then there's lots of work to be done and shoe leather to burn.

Give us the skills to be entrepreneurs (Pete Hillman)

Pete HillmanPete Hillman is asking for the skills for us to be entrepreneurs.

We are living through a period of great social upheaval where the church is being asked to engage with the government's Big Society initiative as one of the parts of the community best placed to bring this vision to fruition. We will leave aside the rights and wrongs of this strategy for now. Instead I want to reflect on what training and development should be provided by institutions preparing people for public ministry – and especially ministry in the context of fresh expressions.

The Legacy XS Youth Centre and Skatepark, including the Legacy XS youth congregation, opened its doors to the public in Benfleet six years ago. It is developed and run by a very small team of volunteers and a core group of paid staff. To this extent I think Legacy could be seen as being a prime example of what the Prime Minister would like to see in action throughout every community in the UK. Our youth work provision in the community has grown to outstrip that of the County Youth Service in our borough and is able to deliver this at a fraction of the cost. As such, Legacy is studied as an example of social entrepreneurship in the local specialist Business and Enterprise College.

I have no doubt that the vital role of service provision to the community is one that has always been central to the church's mission to the world. It might perhaps be argued that its loss, through the increasing march of the welfare state, has left the church without a sense of purpose and led to our maintenance models of church life.

But if my assessment of the situation is correct and the church is being called into a much more social entrepreneurial role in this generation, one of the most urgent questions centres on what skills are needed for stepping into this role in the community? We are all aware that finance is an ongoing challenge in any new initiative and so I would argue that – as well as the core skills of pastoral care, Ministry of Word and Sacraments and whichever other things we would wish to see included – we must add to the list some skills essential for the creation of income and the successful operation of a well-run organisation.

If we are going to see genuinely creative initiatives breaking out across the church in the context of the communities we serve, then pioneers with an entrepreneurial flare, equipped with the technical skills to develop these projects, are going to be essential

For example, I am certain that theological college or course syllabuses, and indeed Continuing Ministerial Development programmes, should provide training on writing a business plan and professional presentation skills – not merely 'How to use PowerPoint', but how to ensure well-produced printed documents and the means of best presenting key financial information to lay people or decision makers. There must be workshops on how to complete funding applications, something which would seem to be applicable to those running fresh or traditional expressions of church. Modules covering the creation and management of budgets, providing models and software tools would also be very useful.

Then, of course, there are the more specialist yet generally applicable things such as how to set up a charity and Health and Safety at Work, including risk assessments, safe systems of work and first aid provision. The wider church is seen to be doing reasonably well now in tackling such issues as child protection, but in many of the other areas I have mentioned, our knowledge is woefully inadequate. Anyone who is going to engage in entrepreneurial activity, and I firmly believe that all churches taking the area of mission seriously should be, will need at least an understanding of some of these issues – even if it's just where they can go to obtain advice and support.

I am sure that anyone trying to put together a training programme will ask where the space is to be found in the curriculum for such things, and this is a valid question.  However, I have to say that without space being found for their inclusion I am unsure that we will be able to maintain the existing contexts in which we minister – let alone create new initiatives. There seems little doubt that if we are going to see genuinely creative initiatives breaking out across the church in the context of the communities we serve, then pioneers with an entrepreneurial flare, equipped with the technical skills to develop these projects, are going to be essential. As the church, we need to be celebrating the success of these projects as well as making practical provision for the equipping of such individuals – be they lay or ordained.

Fresh expressions – Aussie style (Steve Taylor)

Steve TaylorSteve Taylor describes fresh expressions, Aussie style.

Here in South Australia as a Uniting Church, we've had a fair few overseas folk talk to us about fresh expressions and new forms of church. It's one thing to hear from international visitors; it's another to have a genuinely local conversation. So the fresh expressions task force organised 'Putting legs on the local fresh expressions of church' as an attempt to gather around an ongoing local conversation. The event was to some extent based around UK Fresh Expressions vision days but with a specific South Australian flavour.

The day kicked off with an hour introducing concepts and thinking around fresh expressions. This included discussing the 'Who?', 'What?', 'When?', 'Where?', 'Why?', 'How?', and what fresh expressions mean in light of Uniting Church.

About 25 people attended the event at Christ Church, Wayville, which was billed as a day for strategists, wonderers, sponsors and dreamers. One person drove six hours from the Eyre Peninsula to be there (it is Australia after all!). Others drove two hours from Murray Bridge or an hour from Strathalybn.

We then broke for lunch. All participants had been invited to bring local produce to share. This was a stunning success with lots of creative local flavours being offered, among them free range eggs, olives, citrus tarts and doughnuts.

It's one thing to have overseas folk talk to us about fresh expressions and new forms of church; it's another to have a genuinely local conversation

We then listened to three local fresh expressions of church tell their stories.

  • Eco-church, nine years old, meeting outdoors with a commitment to the body in worship and a desire to bless the city and think ecologically.

  • A yet-to-go public group wanting to plant a faith community in a local school, currently meeting to pray, to experiment, and to spend time being human within their local community.

  • The Esther Project, using story and alternative worship to engage the arts community.

Again, a wonderful reminder that there is some fine local 'produce' in fresh expressions. It also reminded us of the uniqueness that is fresh expressions and the ups and downs as well as the importance of experimentation and being open to change.

This was followed by time in groups to explore more of what we had heard. There were three types of conversation: the stakeholders, the dreamers, the doers, talked about what they would like to say to each other in light of fresh expressions.

Getting back together once again, we were nourished by the reminder of the diversity that is in the body of Christ and the need for us to value the vital roles of different people.

We then finished in worship led by a fourth local fresh expression: Candlelight Reflections. They had created a beautiful space for music, reflection and meditation.

Plenty more to do, but this was an enjoyable beginning.

Hidden and visible? Contemplative Fire South Downs (Tessa Holland)

Tessa HollandThis contemplative ministry is twofold, involving the hidden area of prayer and the more visible task of trying to nurture community locally. Tessa Holland, who lives in Sussex as a contemplative-in-action, tells us more.

The last three years have seen a huge sea-change in my life from a curacy in traditional village parish ministry to a contemplative pioneer presence in a semi-rural area. We haven't moved house, but the landscape of mission and ministry is entirely different, with its own particular mix of challenge and opportunity.

This ministry is primarily hidden and solitary which is both enriching and, at times, difficult. The usual landmarks are not present. There is no church building, no set services, no congregation and no public role. When I left parish ministry with the blessing of general license, it was like setting out into uncharted territory. Gradually there have emerged cairns and way-markers for the journey. The Contemplative Fire Rhythm of Life of contemplative, creative and compassionate practice offers a trellis for daily life which grounds me locally and also connects me in prayer and practice to my fellow companions around the country.

Being home-based with family also provides an earthed environment and rhythm of physical work in the house and garden. I have at last stepped wholeheartedly into the hidden work of listening in prayer, Scripture and creation as work that I have been given to do with much to learn! Earlier this year on silent retreat, I was struck by the monastery enclosure which enables the nuns to live and breathe a life of prayer. This brought home to me a call to step more deeply into prayer as that which gives breath to the whole; I was also struck by the paradox of how enclosure enables deep engagement with the creative activity of God in the world.

We have discovered the hard way that doing less and staying local enables us to be more authentically present to place and people – there is a temptation, and often an expectation, to be seen to be doing

This work of prayer feeds a shared visible ministry of creative and compassionate action, which seeks to enable and nurture the Contemplative Fire community locally. We meet occasionally with other Companions from across the area for mutual listening and learning, usually around a meal. We are attentive to the cultural thirst for meaning, stillness and silence, and seek to avoid the prescriptive, authoritarian or activist styles of some religious practice. Gatherings for the Eucharist involve creating liturgy together and each month, we also offer early Saturday morning sessions on contemplative praxis, in a small farmyard church up the road on the Downs. A wide range of people come, travelling in from across the region, including those hungry for stillness and those who are 'spiritual but not religious', drawn by a mystical perspective of Christ. Spiritual Direction and monthly Quiet Garden days are also on offer at our home.

In the midst of all this there are things being learned and questions being asked. Firstly, we have discovered the hard way that doing less and staying local enables us to be more authentically present to place and people. Secondly, there is a temptation, and often an expectation, to be seen to be doing. It really feels necessary and important that that as a community we honour, as primary, the call to the deep work of silence, prayer and contemplative practice – staying counter-cultural and at the edge.

Another challenge is that relating as a whole community takes an investment of time and commitment. We recognise that small cell groups work for some people, but not for others; within community we have a wide range of personal callings– one size does not fit all! So, how do we enable people to be part of Contemplative Fire in a way that is life-giving to them and to community? This isn't only about turning up at things! Should there be a set time of discernment before somebody becomes a Companion, maybe followed by a personal decision and promise to be renewed periodically? These are all potential growth points which we are wrestling with.

There are other questions too – about leadership and gifts, order and priesthood. In this edge place, out of the limelight, we are, as part of the wider Contemplative Fire community, seeking to live the answers and to be an authentic and mutual local community of presence, hidden and visible, active in the way of Christ.

Fresh expressions: fishing nets or safety nets? (Matt Stone)

Matt StoneMatt Stone asks whether fresh expressions of church are fishing nets or safety nets.

A key question for fresh expressions is: who comes? Are fresh expressions actually being fishing nets and reaching the unchurched, or are they merely safety nets, picking up disenchanted and bored churchgoers? As part of my MA dissertation, published this month by Grove Books, I looked at six varied fresh expressions in the south-east of England and asked exactly these questions. Here's a snapshot of some of my findings.

In keeping with Tearfund's 2007 Report 'Churchgoing in the UK', which suggest that 19% of women attend church at least monthly, compared with only 11% of men, the majority of those who attended the surveyed fresh expressions were female. Considering that women are much more likely to be 'open dechurched' and men 'closed unchurched', it is clear that there is still a serious missional challenge in reaching men for Christ.

The age profile of those attending the fresh expressions was mixed. One might expect a higher proportion of under 30s, but with the exception of the two fresh expressions intentionally aimed at these age groups, this did not appear to be the case. The largest age cohorts were 30-44 and 45-59, and the smallest was 75+. This is in contrast to Tearfund's wider church attendance figures which suggest that one in four over sixties go to church regularly, whilst only one in eight 35-44 year-olds do so.

The overwhelming majority attended at least monthly. At each of the expressions there were between one and three people who were there for the first time, making up 5-33% of attendance. There are no comparable figures for general churchgoing, but given the size of most of the expressions studied, they probably had a much higher proportion of first time visitors than an average church. In terms of length of attendance, respondents' results were mixed.

Are fresh expressions fishing nets (reaching the unchurched) or merely safety nets (picking up disenchanted and bored churchgoers)?

Over 87% of those surveyed in every expression, and 100% in three of the expressions, had attended a church before. Hence, they were primarily churched or dechurched, rather than unchurched. However, it should be noted that at one fresh expression in particular, first time attendees were not encouraged to complete questionnaires, and only three did so. One of the leaders there counted nine completely new attendees, and 35 individuals who were not from that church. Whilst some of these may be from other churches, or are dechurched, we cannot ignore the possibility that a proportion were previously unchurched.

Nonetheless, whilst this fresh expression had the highest proportion of unchurched, all but two (11%) of its other respondents did attend another church too. In contrast, 30-43% of churched/dechurched respondents at all of the other expressions except one did not. Consequently, for a significant minority of those who attend, it is their only contact with a church.

Overall, the research threw up a mixture of good news and challenging news. It became clear that the fresh expressions surveyed were performing an important role for those who attended: whether they were bored churchgoers, dechurched or unchurched. However, it also became clear that very few unchurched people were being reached by some of the fresh expressions, raising further questions for how fresh expressions can reach those still untouched by a Christian community.

The faith of Generation Y (Sally Nash)

Sally NashSally Nash explores the faith of Generation Y.

In many churches it is Generation Y (those born from 1982 onwards) that is missing. For the last five years I have been involved in a project with Sylvia Collins-Mayo and Bob Mayo researching the faith of young people attending Christian youth and community work which may be of interest to fresh expressions.

The young people in the study invested their everyday faith in a secular trinity of family, friends and their own self. In these relationships they found their meaning, hope and purpose. We call this 'immanent faith'. Immanent faith was generally good enough to get by – and most of the young people were therefore indifferent to Christianity. Inevitably, however, there were times when immanent faith broke down – family members got sick, friendships fell apart, etc.

Under these circumstances our young people (including infrequent churchgoers) often made do with a faded cultural memory of Christianity gleaned from family, school and wider culture to help them get through their difficulties and restore their immanent faith. This was expressed most clearly in young people's accounts of praying. The young people were also interested in what Christianity might have to say about death and the afterlife, and what it had to say about ethics and living a 'good life'. Authenticity was their guiding principle for both belief and behaviour.

Possible responses

For infrequent churchgoers, the lack of hostility towards Christianity opens out opportunities to tell the Christian story and share its traditions, provided this is done in a way that is led by young people and the issues they face. Ethics can offer a transition point into the faith. 'Does it work?' is a key question for young people, more so than 'Is it true?'

'Does it work?' is a key question for young people, more so than 'Is it true?'

Adopting a 'sacralised' approach to youth work by providing opportunities for prayer and occasions to discuss and make sense of difficulties and death through the Christian tradition – its symbols, stories, rituals and buildings – would seem to be an obvious lead to follow up. The close relationships young people had with their families suggest there is scope for intergenerational engagement.

We see the book The Faith of Generation Y as continuing a dialogue on how to be church with Generation Y and look forward to hearing the stories. (See Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Bob Mayo, Sally Nash with Chris Cocksworth, The Faith of Generation Y, CHP, 2010 for a full write-up of the findings.)