Fresh Expressions of need or opportunity
The Fresh Expressions Initiative is very much flavour of the month in significant parts of the Church of England and the Methodist Church at the present time. Other denominations and other parts of the UK are also showing growing interest but to what extent is this initiative relevant to those concerned with worship and witness in rural areas?
Fresh Expressions has been keenly endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the Methodist Conference. It builds upon a report in the Church of England entitled Mission Shaped Church and there are three things that might be said to summarise its ethos. Firstly, it is about expressions of church that have
Research suggests that currently no more than 10% of the UK population attend church at least once a month. Another 10% attend at least once a year. 40% have had little or no contact with church (the un- churched). The remaining 40% are described as de-
cultural relevance. Secondly it has an awareness that mission needs to be at the heart of any church. Thirdly, it emphasises that in today’s culture people move around and develop networks of relationships beyond the place where they live. While not denying the current parochial system, it suggests that “church where we live” should mean something more than just where our home is.
churched. They have been in the past, found it an unhelpful experience and voted with
their feet. Half of the de- churched had such a bad experience that they are very unlikely to step inside a church again.
While these statistics have not been tested in rural areas it is my opinion that they may very well indicate a similar pattern in most villages. Generally, the numbers attending most village churches and the age groups
represented would suggest a failure to engage with the majority of the local population. We could therefore conclude that fresh expressions of church are needed as inherited patterns appear to gradually fail. Included in rural population figures is the growing and changing proportion of people who now live in our villages but whose roots are in urban communities. It is probably this section of the population that are most in need of a more relevant and effective form of church.
But in smaller communities that form most of our rural
settlements societal values and attitudes may limit the
opportunity. There is usually a strong tie between the
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rural church life
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