The Guide

The Guide contains how-to-do-it advice on starting, developing and sustaining fresh expressions of church based on shared experiences.
More about The Guide

Browse The Guide

Tag Cloud (what is this?)

See all the tags

Home › FAQ › Question 3 - Are fresh expressions really church?

Question 3 - Are fresh expressions really church?

Fresh expressions can grow into mature church and some do that more quickly than others.

Church can be understood as what happens when people gather round Jesus. Archbishop Rowan Williams has described church as '...what happens when people encounter the Risen Jesus and commit themselves to sustaining and deepening that encounter in their encounter with each other...'

A diagram of a four-faced pyramid, made up of equilateral triangles - the four points of the pyramid represent the UP, IN, OUT and OF aspects of churchWhat happens when people gather round Jesus has been described in Mission-shaped Church in terms of four dimensions:

  • UP (in worship to God);
  • IN (in fellowship with one another);
  • OUT (in mission to the world); and
  • OF (belonging to the whole church throughout the world and through time).

These correspond to the four historic marks of the church in the Nicene Creed: one, holy, catholic and apostolic. (The four-faced pyramid diagram on this page was conceived by George Lings.)

Are fresh expressions proper church?

Mission-shaped Church: Church planting and fresh expressions of church in a changing context (Church House Publishing, 2004, ISBN 978-071514013-2)

 

Comments