Fresh and diverse expressions of church

“A fresh expression is a form of church established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church” ( Bishop Graham Cray)

There is nothing new about fresh expressions! It is how the Christian faith spread from a small group of believers in Jerusalem throughout the whole world. What is new is the pace at which our culture is changing and fragmenting. For us at MBC - a thriving and growing church - it is perhaps hard to grasp that we now live in a post-Christian culture. Over one third of adults in our country and the majority of youth and children have had no connections with church and have very little understanding of the Christian faith. They do not know that God loves them. They do not know that Jesus is Lord of all.

The gospel holds true for all cultures and all times, but it must always be clothed in a form which is relevant and comprehensible. This is why our MBC Vision 2012 is so exciting. Establishing a network of diverse and fresh expressions of church will enable us to share the good news of Jesus afresh in our neighbourhoods, so that individual lives and whole communities can be transformed through his love.

Acts tells us that Jesus’ followers were not told to develop a strategic plan, but to wait for the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. So, rather than build a task-focused team, we invite you to become one of the PALS:

- Pioneers
- Ambassadors
- Learners
- Servants

Together we seek to hear God’s plan for a network of fresh expressions, as we explore practically and prayerfully how this might look. Anyone can be a PAL. Our hope is that one day being a member of MBC and being part of Fresh Expressions will be one and the same thing. The vision for 2012 challenges us all to embrace the development of fresh and diverse expressions of church, so that we can “change the heart of our communities from within”. It is a journey we are all invited to embark on. One on which everyone is welcome to explore and learn what contribution God has planned for them as we focus on truly becoming a “ missional church”.

bryan jane Fresh Expressions is led by Bryan and Jane Court

This ongoing journey of exploration can be followed on the fresh expressions blog –
www.mbc-fresh-expressions.isonthemove.com

You can read about other fresh expressions around the country at www.freshexpressions.org.uk

Article printed from www.minchbc.org.uk at 17:11 on 07 September 2010