Welcome to Soul Survivor and Momentum festivalgoers!
Comparatively few young people, and even fewer young adults, understand church. About a third of everyone aged 16 and over in the UK has never had any significant link to any church, let alone gone to one regularly. Add the 15s and under and the proportion gets much higher. Most younger people don't really know what church is. The best clue most have got comes from the TV – Ned Flanders, Dot Cotton, Father Ted and the Vicar of Dibley - and the last two only if they watch repeats! They've never been, but they 'know' its boring – except for providing a good laugh.
But church is a community of people who are the Body of Christ – Jesus made visible – in their local neighbourhoods and networks. Church is the way people are meant to be able to see and then meet Jesus. So it's shameful to make him appear boring. All of us who belong to a church have a responsibility to make it the best possible portrayal of Jesus. For our friends and neighbours.
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Read the story of Barney and Judes, a café-style fresh expression of church. |
But the distance between church culture and everyday culture can be really big. Not everyone can be reached by the churches, congregations and youth fellowships we have now. We need to plant some new ones as well, closer to the culture and everyday lives of many of those with whom traditional church has no connection.
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Read Graham Cray's article from Youthwork magazine: Youth congregations: right or wrong? |
If you belong to a lively, relevant church, you are privileged, and maybe you have a responsibility to help create church for some of the majority, who have never been, but 'know' that it's boring!
Fresh Expressions, led by Bishop Graham Cray, the chair of the Soul Survivor Trust, helps churches plant new congregations - fresh expressions of church - to reach the people who remain unreached by our existing churches, and for whom the culture of more traditional church is a step too far. We work nationally with the Anglican, Methodist, United Reformed and Congregational churches, but locally we work with anyone who wants to learn about a changing church for a changing culture.
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Read the story of Bare Soul, a fresh expression of church meeting in a bar. Read the story of Tubestation, a fresh expression of church for a surfing community. Read the story of Sorted, a fresh expression of church amongst a skateboarding community. Read the story of Presence, a multi-faceted fresh expression of church. |
The Holy Spirit has been inspiring Christians to plant hundreds of these over the last few years. Fresh expressions come in all shapes and sizes. Some are specifically for young people, other are focused on an activity – surfing, mountain biking, skateboarding – others engage a particular community, or neighbourhood, or school, where few people are part of church, some are café style, some cell based, some have a very simple format, others use all sorts of technology. There is no standard model.
On this site you can find lots of stories, ideas and resources to inspire you and hopefully equip you to reach your generation.
Graham Cray, July 2011
Resources
expressions: making a difference: 28 stories of fresh expressions of church.
Share booklets: a series of booklets encouraging you to think about the basics of fresh expressions.
mission shaped intro: a free downloadable six-session course introducing fresh expressions of church.
mission shaped ministry: our one-year learning journey equipping you to plant and lead fresh expressions of church.
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