Fresh Expressions is an international, cross-denominational movement within Christianity that seeks to develop new forms of church in collaboration with existing congregations. Its aim is to engage individuals who have never participated in church or who have left traditional church settings. Rather than focusing on conventional Sunday morning services, Fresh Expressions emphasizes forming faith communities in locations where people naturally gather within contemporary culture. According to the FX Denominational Partners (2006), "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".
History
The Fresh Expressions movement began in the United Kingdom in 2004 following the release of the Mission Shaped Church report by the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. This report, commissioned by the
General Synod
The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion
The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...
and initiated by Archbishop
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...
, documented how churches and Christian communities had been developing alternative approaches to church life in response to societal shifts in the UK since the 1990s. Despite overall declines in church attendance, the report noted the emergence of "fresh expressions" of church that were engaging people in new ways. It also offered recommendations to support the continued development of these alternative forms of church.
The initiative was established as a partnership between the Church of England and the
Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
, with leadership from Bishop
Steven Croft and Reverend Peter Pillinger. Over time, the partnership expanded to include other Christian traditions and organizations, including the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
, the
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...
, the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
, and
Baptists Together
Baptists Together, formally the Baptist Union of Great Britain, is a Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didcot.
Hist ...
.
Fresh Expressions now collaborates with denominations, regional church bodies, congregations, and ministry leaders to provide vision and training for the development of new faith communities.
Today, Fresh Expressions works with denominations, regional church bodies, individual congregations, and ministry leaders to provide vision and actionable training. The movement has spawned thousands of new faith communities and has taken root in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States of America.
According to George Lings in ''Day of Small Things'', Fresh Expressions represents a significant contribution to ecclesial innovation within the Church of England.
Fresh expression values
Fresh expressions can take a variety of forms, but several defining characteristics help distinguish them as part of the movement. These include being ''missional'', ''contextual'', ''ecclesial'', and ''formational''.
Missional
Fresh expressions are designed to engage individuals who do not currently attend church. They are not intended to be extensions of existing church programs, but rather new forms of church that emerge in collaboration with people outside traditional church structures.
Contextual
Each fresh expression is developed within and shaped by the specific cultural and social context of the community it serves. It seeks to communicate Christianity in ways that are meaningful and relevant to the particular group it engages. These communities may form in diverse settings and in various environments such as public spaces, housing developments, or university campuses. Some are tailored to specific populations, including bikers, artists, or people experiencing homelessness.
Ecclesial
Fresh expressions aim to function as church for those they reach, rather than as ministries of an existing church. While they may be connected to established churches or denominations, their intention is to form autonomous worshiping communities that are recognized as valid expressions of church.
Formational
Fresh expressions are committed to the spiritual formation and discipleship of their members. Although the methods and expressions of discipleship may differ depending on the context, the goal remains to nurture individuals in their growth as Christians.
Criticism
Canon Dr. John Dunnill of
St George's Cathedral, Perth
St George's Cathedral is the principal Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church in the city of Perth, Western Australia, and the cathedra, mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. It is located on St Georges Terrace, Perth, St Georg ...
says that a Fresh Expressions project can sometimes be more about form than substance.
[J. Dunnill "The Mission-Shaped Church and the Formation of Disciples" ''St Marks Review'' (2006) No 200 p.34] Alison Milbank has argued that aiming to be independent congregations in this way undermines existing authority structures within the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
system.
Andrew Davison and Milbank further criticised Fresh Expressions from a broadly
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
perspective for separating themselves from geographical parishes, holding to a weak
ecclesiology
In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership.
In its early history, one of th ...
, abandoning
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
services, and promoting 'choice-led individualism' over Anglican traditions.
There is some debate as to how to measure success for a fresh expression. The
three (or four) selfs offer a useful lens by which to measure governance, finance, and reproducibility, but say little about the underlying health of the mission or discipleship of the church.
Michael Moynagh recommends the four 'f's of fruit (is the community deepening in their faith?), flow (are members who move on being helped into another form of Christian community?), family (is the church connected to denominational or group networks?), and freedom (does the church have appropriate levels of independence in decision making?). Andrew Dunlop prefers a more theological approach to success, taking account of the action of God in the life of the church community and in the lives of individuals.
[Andrew Dunlop, ''Out of Nothing: A Cross-Shaped Approach to Fresh Expressions'', (London: SCM Press, 2018)]
References
External links
Fresh Expressions UK official websiteFresh Expressions Canada official websiteFresh Expressions US official websiteChurch Times article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Expressions
Methodism
Church of England societies and organisations
Christian missionary societies
Missional Christianity
Emerging church movement
United Methodist Church