Fresh expressions are any of a number of new church groups that have developed within the Church of England since 1990. These believe that 21st century British society is very different from the society when most British churches were formed and that traditional expressions of church have become largely irrelevant to much of the British population. Fresh expressions churches are characterised by lack of formal adherence to traditional patterns of church life, language and meeting places.
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This new movement attempts to make the Christian message relevant to people who are not already part of a church. While 70% of the British population said they were Christian in the 2001 census less than 15% of the population say they attend church on a regular basis (TEARFund research 2007). Members of such groups seek to redefine what it is to be church and aim to create new ways of connecting with the communities in which they live. The 2007 statistical returns from the Church of England reveal that several tens of thousands of people are involved in such groups attached to the Church of England.[1]
Fresh expressions of church have been created for, among others, skateboard and BMX culture in Essex, cafe culture in Kidsgrove, artists and creatives in London[ www.moot.uk.net], university students in Southampton, surfers in Cornwall, Asian people in Birmingham, people living in the city centre of Manchester[www.sanctus1.co.uk] and children in Portsmouth.
In September 2005 the Church of England and the Methodist Church recognised this movement by setting up an organisation, 'Fresh Expressions' (capitalised), to monitor and encourage fresh expressions in those denominations. Fresh Expressions has a core team of 15 people and is led by Archbishop's missioner, the Rt Revd Graham Cray, former Bishop of Maidstone.
The development of the ecumenical Fresh Expressions initiative is based on the Mission-shaped Church report of the General Synod of the Church of England in 2004 (Church House Publishing ISBN0-7151-4013-2). The Methodist side of the movement is recorded in Changing Church for a Changing World (Methodist Publishing House ISBN ). The United Reformed Church, the Congregational Federation and Ground Level Network are also formal partners.
Fresh Expressions (capitalised) is differentiated from fresh expressions (lowercase). The capitalised version refers to the initiative. In lowercase fresh expressions refers to a large number of new initiatives.
Fresh Expressions defines a fresh expression as:
"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."
Fresh Expressions have yet to respond to a number of methodological critiques. It is unlikely that the cultural location of the church signified by organisational aspects and reference points is the only reason for church decline. The church like any other organisation, is a complex environment with many relevant factors.[2] According to leadership theory, a gifted leader can often make the difference between success and failure;[3] the success of an enterprise like this may therefore be related to the quality of leadership, rather than a new technique. The usefulness of such an enterprise as a model is therefore threatened, as it is necessary for a model to focus in particular and precise ways.[4] The nature of a Fresh Expressions project can be more about form than substance, and clarification of the key spiritual features in spiritual formation can be weak.[5] Attention should focus on the weakness of what is expressed, rather than the "freshness" of its expression.[5] Greater methodological insight will assist its effectiveness as usefully pioneering work.
Critics of fresh expressions say that fresh expressions are just entertainment, that they lack what they consider essential aspects of church, such as sacraments, or proper church structures and that they pander to modern western culture.
Fresh expressions of church which do not fit normal church patterns raise theological and ecclesiological issues for many Christians. What is 'church'? How do these 'fresh expressions' relate to existing churches? What is the place of the sacraments in fresh expressions?
There has been much discussion about whether fresh expressions are forms of emerging church or emerging churches are forms of fresh expressions. A growing consensus suggests that the more pioneering forms of Fresh Expressions, such as Sanctus 1 or Moot are Emerging Churches. However, those Fresh Expressions of Church that are mission-shaped but operate out of existing traditional churches tend to have traditional understandings of ecclesiology so are not forms of Emerging Church.