Bishop Graham Cray today reminds the Church of England of its historic calling to proclaim the Christian faith "afresh" in each generation and to establish fresh communities of faith in ways which are culturally appropriate for today.
Bishop Cray, until recently Bishop of Maidstone, is now Archbishops' Missioner and Leader of the Fresh Expression Team. He is preparing for the first autumn in his new post as he travels the country facilitating and encouraging renewed mission and outreach.
In a message to all Church of England dioceses today, Bishop Cray observes that "communities are more complex and diverse and one shape of church can no longer fit all".
In a sober reminder of the task facing the Church in Britain, Dr Cray says: "if we include children and young people, it is now the majority of the population who have had no regular involvement with the Christian church".
He writes; "Every bishop, priest and deacon has publicly committed themselves to 'the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures' and to proclaiming it 'afresh' in this generation. Today, this involves establishing fresh communities of faith as well as sharing the good news in culturally appropriate ways through our existing ones".
Bishop Cray was the author of the highly popular and widely debated report Mission-shaped Church and has spent much of his ministry engaged in looking at models of ministry and outreach engaging with cultural change.
The ecumenical (Christian churches working together) working of churches is a key aspect to developing new communities: "This is partly achieved by good ecumenical relationships. We can support the efforts of other denominations to reach people the Church of England cannot. But the large numbers of people who 'used' to go to church come from all denominations. The same challenge faces all churches, which is why the Fresh Expressions team has been ecumenical from the beginning".
Emphasising the provision of training and development as part of his Fresh Expressions remit, Bishop Cray added: "We exist to enable dioceses and districts to plant fresh expressions of church. We offer training, resources, support and connection with other practitioners. We are available to help, but the work of mission can only be done locally."
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