Bulletin 117 Date : 14th Nov 2007
Fresh Expressions Vision Day On November 3rd, Melbourne Methodist Church kindly and ably hosted the Fresh Expressions Vision Day. This was organised jointly by the Nottingham and Derby Methodist District and the Anglican Diocese of Derby with help from Anglican colleagues in the Southwell and Nottingham Diocese.  I am particularly grateful to Rev. Dennis Smith, Mark Dale and the team at Melbourne for their commitment and expertise on the day. We should not forget that their early morning prayer meeting, which convenes every Wednesday at 6:30am, had been prayerfully preparing us for the day.
 The day was led by Tim Lea, the leader of ‘The Bridge’ at Hinckley and Rachel Jordan of CPAS. Both speakers were enthusiastic and engaged brilliantly with the gathered audience. The church was laid out café-style so that attendees could discuss and work together on the various assignments which were set for us. The day started with worship led by the Melbourne Worship Group and then flowed naturally as Tim and Rachel presented to us the theory and practice of Fresh Expressions of Church. Three workshops were held in the afternoon, one on Evangelism (Rachel), another on Sustaining a Fresh Expression (Tim) and a third on Exploring and Creating Opportunities for Fresh Expressions by (Tim Mitchell and myself).
I was encouraged by the mix of people attending. Some were already involved in the leadership of a Fresh Expression while others had a keen interest or were exploring the possibility of starting one.
What is a Fresh Expression?
- A fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church
- It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples
- It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context
These key statements were explored in a number of ways using DVD examples of existing Fresh Expressions and practical experience unpacked by Tim and Rachel.
The day ended with a Question Time where the panel comprised Rev. Terry Nowell (Methodist Church Nottingham and Derby District), Tim Lea, Rachel Jordan, Canon Nigel Rooms (Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham) - from left to right in the picture at the top.
Another valuable lesson was found in the process of creating a Fresh Expression:-
- Listening to and Following God’s Call
- Loving Service
- Forming Community
- Disciple-making
- Worship
- Mature Church
So often we fall down by starting with a specific style of worship. This can simply attract existing Christians who like that style. Instead we should let the worship evolve naturally from those who come, having been attracted by the loving service offered by the founders.
One of the telling facts we have to face in the UK is that 33% of the population are people who used to go to church but for a variety of reasons have stopped. A similar percentage have no contact with church at all. Fresh Expressions is a movement which explores the reasoning behind this and seeks to address it. |
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