Church of England?
The Church of England is a partner in Fresh Expressions and has officially endorsed the move towards a mixed economy church (i.e. fresh expressions alongside more traditional or inherited forms of church) and fresh expressions of church are being encouraged at every level.
Nationally, a new toolkit of policies has been developed to help with developing ministry and recognizing new communities.
Guidelines on ordained pioneer ministry were agreed by the House of Bishops in 2006 and many have since then been ordained and deployed.
Guidelines on encouraging lay pioneer ministry were agreed in 2007 and are being implemented in many dioceses. The provision of suitable training in every area for ordained and lay teams is one of the main recommendations of this report. Organisations such as Church Army and CMS are providing training for lay pioneers.
A new mission measure came into operation in 2008 which created a device called a Bishop's Mission Order: a legal way of recognizing a fresh expression which crosses parish or diocesan boundaries.
A major research project into fresh expressions in the Church of England is in progress. You can read about the first results in our Anglican research news article and view the full details on our research page.
The Methodist Church
The Methodist Church is a partner in Fresh Expresions and fresh expressions of church are being developed in almost all districts. £70 million in Circuit Advance Funds is now available for mission based projects. A book changing church for a changing world has been published with lots of stories and some challenging questions.
In July 2007, Conference set up a group to actively support work in developing fresh ways of being church.
One student minister is currently training on an (informal) 'pioneer ministry' training track; policy on this is being developed and there are more pioneers to come.
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a partner in Fresh Expressions, but has only recently joined the partnership and is currently undertaking an audit of what is already happening within the United Reformed Church.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a partner in Fresh Expressions and is involved in vision days and mission shaped ministry across the UK.
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland are a partner in Fresh Expressions.
The Congregational Federation
The Congregational Federation is a partner in Fresh Expressions and began to take fresh expressions of church seriously in 2005 when a few pioneers broke free of traditional models with the experimental concepts of café church in Bristol and Herstmonceaux. The Federation is committed to seeing the Fresh Expressions initiative as a contextualised way of engaging in mission in local communities within the partnership of the wider church.
Ground Level
The Ground Level Network of churches is a partner in Fresh Expressions and is very involved in mission shaped ministry and was instrumental in devising it. The network has been involved in vision days and setting up mission shaped intro. Two members of Ground Level serve on the Fresh Expressions board and team.
The Baptist Church
The Baptist Church is developing new ways of being church alongside Urban Expression. It is partnering Fresh Expressions in some regions in running the mission shaped ministry course and msm online.