e-xpressions February 2011 | Fresh Expressions

Welcome

Welcome to the February 2011 edition of e-xpressions. Stories and updates on our website this month include:

Side Door;
Reside;
The Beacon;
Crossnet - update (an update to the story of Crossnet);
Goth Church, Coventry - update (an update to the story of Goth Church, Coventry);
Kairos, Harrogate;
Ashburton Methodist Church;
Messy Church at Parkstone URC;
Messy Church in the Loughborough Circuit.

New audio on our site includes the story of Divine Divas and an interview with Pete Atkins about the new rural round table. You can now listen to all of our latest audio and material from our on demand page (and you can still subscribe to our podcast feed to get it sent straight to your computer or other audio device).

What's it all for?

'Fresh expressions' is a shortened form of 'fresh expressions of church', but why all the fuss about church in the first place, isn't it enough just to trust Jesus as Saviour? Or, on the other hand, isn't all the focus on church a distraction from the real business, the work of God's Kingdom in the world? Doesn't church have too bad a public image, with sexual abuse scandals and all the internal and denominational divisions? The answers to these questions, in order, are 'No', 'No' and 'Yes but'.

No, it isn't enough just to believe in Jesus as Saviour. It is essential for each of us, but it is not enough if we have any interest at all in what we have been saved for. The Church is God's redeemed people, not God's redeemed collection of individuals. Nor is belonging to the Church a matter of individual choice or preference. Because we are Christians we are part of the Church. Church is not something we 'go to' or 'don't go to'. It is what we are part of through baptism and it is about the whole of our lives as God's community. Our belonging is 'for better or worse'. We are interdependent within one another, when we don't participate we rob our fellow Christians and lose out ourselves. The privilege of forgiveness, through Christ's cross, includes the privilege and responsibilities of a new community.

No, the Church is not a distraction from the kingdom of God. In both Old and New Testaments the people of God have a central role in God's action to restore his rebellious and broken creation. We are restored in Christ to our calling as stewards of creation. In the language used in formal theological agreements between some denominations, the church is 'a sign, instrument and foretaste' of God's kingdom. It is a sign – it points beyond itself to God's kingdom (the Church is never just about the Church). It is an instrument or agent of God's kingdom. God works through the Church, and people enter God's kingdom through it. It is to be the community where people see an imperfect taste of that kingdom in advance, both in its life as a Christian community, and in its ministry to the surrounding community.

Yes, some aspects of the history and current life of the Church are a scandal. It has always been so, requiring repentance and change. But God never gives up on his people, because he never gives up on his world, and he has no alternative plan. It began with twelve unpromising people and so it continues. There are scandals of division and disagreement, just as there are scandals of disgraceful behaviour. But there is also the scandal of churches that have lost touch with their communities, and with their missionary calling; churches with amnesia who have forgotten what, and therefore who they are for. To address that scandal we need fresh expressions of church within a mixed economy.

+Graham

Graham writes regularly in the Church of England Newspaper - you can read his contributions each month on the Bishop Graham in the CEN page of our website. This month, Graham draws out The new from the old.

Resources

With our next DVD published in May, we've now made available every story from our first two DVDs to download - perfect for showing at events in presentations.

The first DVD has a half-hour feature telling fourteen stories of church being done in different ways. A longer version of each of the fourteen stories is also available.

The second DVD has four features on church in different contexts, plus five 'talking head' discussion starters and a modern parable.

All the clips are available in both .wmv and .mov formats and can be previewed before purchase. The longer features are £5 each and the stories and discussion starters just £3 per clip. You can buy each one from our shop.

Don't forget, you can still order physical copies of both DVDs from our shop for just £14.99 each.

Unchurched young men

Do you have any genuinely unchurched young men in your fresh expression? Norman Ivison is doing some research into what factors might make fresh expressions of church more acceptable to unchurched men aged 18-35.

He'd love to hear from you if you have on norman.ivison@freshexpressions.org.uk.

For the purposes if this research, unchurched means no significant experience of church either as a child or adult until they joined your fresh expression. This excludes those who have transferred from other churches or fresh expressions.

Traffic light

The Guide contains a new section, called Starting and growing, which does exactly what the title says. It contains extensive advice on what you might want to do to start or grow a fresh expression of church, including real life examples and practical suggestions.

The first page, appropriately, is called How do we start? and is followed by five further pages:

These pages are intended as aids to conversations in your ministry. If you have further wisdom or advice to share, please leave comments at the bottom of the pages. Everyone's experience counts as we add to our pool of understanding.

Changing the landscape: making the mixed economy work

Tickets are selling fast for our national day conference in Oxford on 6th May 2011 exploring how the mixed economy can thrive in deaneries, circuits and synods.

Hosted by Stephen Lindridge and Graham Cray, with a keynote address from Rowan Williams and interviews with practitioners, pioneers and those working them, the day will also include plenty of round table discussion and the latest Fresh Expressions learning, thinking and resources. 24-7 Prayer will surround the day with a reflective prayer environment and lunch and refreshments will be provided.

The day is for Christians of all denominations and streams - or none - for pioneers and practitioners, missioners, area deans, circuit superintendents, synod members and anybody else with an interest in fresh expressions or mission-shaped thinking.

You can find out more and book tickets online now.

Training, jobs and events

Our programme of vision days for 2011 is under way and our next opportunities to invite people to an exciting and challenging introduction to fresh expressions and mission-shaped thinking are in Middlesbrough (12th March), Aberdeen (19th March) and Poole (26th March).

Bookings for mission shaped ministry courses in Exeter (May) and Cumbria and North Lancashire (September) are now being taken, with several other locations about to be announced - book online now.

You can find other events, training opportunities and jobs on our training and events and jobs pages. If you know of more, please let us know on resources@freshexpressions.org.uk.

And finally

We love hearing from you via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Share and email and your comments help to shape what we do. In particular, if you've got a particular question you'd like Graham to bend his mind to in a future e-xpressions, let us know via one of the methods above or on resources@freshexpressions.org.uk.

Have a good month,

The Fresh Expressions team.