A Mixed Economy Church
Discussion Starters from the Joint Emerging Church Group
Session 1: What is a fresh expression of church?
Session 2: Mapping the Community
Session 3: Checking our assumptions
Session 4: A new expression of church – next steps
Other resources which you may find useful:
Reformed, Reforming, Emerging and Experimenting (RREE)
A Time to Grow
Both are available to download from www.resourcingmission.org.uk/resources/emerging-church or
you can order printed copies free from the online shop at www.resourcingmission.org.uk/shop.
Seeds and Roots
Available from the online shop at www.resourcingmission.org.uk/shop
The Guide
Fresh Expressions online directory
http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/guide
If you would like to explore some of the themes in these discussion starters in more depth the
following may be helpful.
Who is my Neighbour?
This user’s guide to Statistics for Mission is filled with information and resources to help you better
understand your community.
Available to download free at www.resourcingmission.org.uk/resources/statistics-mission or from
the online shop at www.resourcingmission.org.uk/shop priced £7.50.
Future Focus
This is a facilitated process to help churches explore their vision and planning. Information and
resources are available online at https://www.resourcingmission.org.uk/resources/future-focus
Fresh Expressions
For more information about Fresh Expressions within the Church of Scotland, contact
David McCarthy, Fresh Expressions Development Worker
[email protected]
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Session 1: What is a fresh expression of church?
Introduction
At the General Assembly of 2011, the Ministries Council and Mission and Discipleship Council were
instructed to consider the conclusions of the research ‘Reformed, Reforming, Emerging, and
Experimenting’ (RREE) and report on any changes that might be needed in order to facilitate a mixed
economy of churches within the Church of Scotland.
In response to this, the Joint Emerging Church Group was established, and in 2013 it brought a
further report to the General Assembly, encouraging every parish to imagine a new expression of
church by the year 20201.
In a mixed economy both the traditional and the new are valued and celebrated. Each has
something to give to, and to learn from, the other. For example, in a mixed economy:
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we remain rooted in our tradition, celebrating and conserving all that is best in it and we
foster innovation and creativity.
the distinctive role of ordained clergy is supported and affirmed and lay members are
encouraged and enabled to serve in a greater variety of roles.
the congregation are cared for and nurtured and those outside the church are loved and
served.
There are a number of different phrases and labels in current use to describe something that is a
new way of being church, with the aim of growing disciples in a way which is relevant and
meaningful to people in their own context and culture.
Some refer to this as ‘emerging church’ (and this is reflected in the Joint Emerging Church Group of
the Church of Scotland). For others the term ‘fresh expression’ is more familiar (and most readily
associated with our partner agency, Fresh Expressions)2. For many the terms are interchangeable,
but whatever terminology is used, in the vision articulated in A Time to Grow these new expressions
of church would have certain criteria. These are helpfully defined by our partners in the Fresh
Expressions agency. According to them:
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.
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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.
This definition is explored more fully in ‘The Guide’ section of the Fresh Expressions website.3
1
A Time to Grow, p 2.
There is a fuller exploration of some of the language and definitions in RREE section 1.4, pp. 6-7.
3
www.freshexpressions.org.uk/guide/about/whatis
2
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While recognising and affirming the immense value of mission initiatives which bring new people
into existing congregations, this alone is not sufficient to reach the 90 per cent of our population
who have no connection with church. For some, no matter how many well planned, well executed
mission initiatives are run, there will still be a need for something distinctive and appropriate to their
culture which cannot be met in the existing forms of church. The story of Hot Chocolate, the early
part of which is examined in Section 2.1 of RREE, is a good example.
Many of these young people would be described as ‘feral’ by the tabloid press – and,
quite apart from any other cultural barriers, their openness would be an
embarrassment to the attitudes of many people in traditional churches. They speak
honestly about their lives, their sexual encounters, their aspirations and fears, revealing
things that their families or teachers (if they have them) will rarely hear. Hot Chocolate
has in effect created a bubble in which it is safe to share absolutely anything, and is
regarded as a second home by the regulars, many of whom are surprised to think that
Christians can operate in such a way. 4
In the mixed economy the old and the new are not competing but complementary expressions of
the church, which can and do exist harmoniously side by side.
Discussion Questions
1. What traditions in our church do you value most? What makes them special?
2. If our traditions are valued, why is it important to consider new, fresh ways of being church?
3. Where have we been most successful in bridging the gap between our church and the
community?
4. Are there groups in our community who would find it difficult to engage with our church? What
are the things that make it inaccessible for them?
5. Is there anything in our congregational life that looks like, or has the potential to become, a
fresh expression?
4
RREE section 2.1.5, p. 12
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Session 2: Mapping the Community5
Introduction
Fresh Expressions are:
 missional – serving people outside church;
 contextual – listening to people and entering their culture;
 educational – making discipleship a priority;
 ecclesial – forming church, not just being a stepping-stone to the existing
congregation.
A good understanding of context is essential in the development of a fresh expression. Every
congregation is part of a community, and whether your church sits in the countryside or in the midst
of a city, we are called to love our communities, celebrate and understand them. In every
congregation there are people who have a real passion for the community on the doorstep and want
to see the church being salt and light in the area and others who may not know the community so
well. Many congregations have a significant number of people who do not live in the parish area and
may have little day-to-day contact with the community. The exercises in this section may open up
their eyes to issues they have not seen. The word ‘parish’ comes from the Greek word ‘paroikos’,
meaning ‘the stranger who lives alongside’. Our mission begins by being alongside people, whether
we meet them within the parish or through work, education, leisure, or other activities.
Two of the key shapers of Church Without Walls are that ‘the church is shaped by the local’ and
‘friendship’ – in what way is the church a friend to the community?
Mapping Exercise
In this session, we will make a map of the area, like the one below, in order to explore people’s
perception of the locality, and then reflect on key features and relationships of the community.
In advance, prepare the map
On the sheet of paper for each group, draw a margin approximately two inches inside the edge of
the paper (see Figure 1).
5
Adapted from ‘Future Focus: The Way Ahead’
www.resourcingmission.org.uk/resources/future-focus-way-ahead
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Figure 1
Step 1: Physical Mapping (allow 20-30 minutes)
Prepare tables, one for each group, with a large sheet of
paper and a black marker pen. Invite people to draw a rough
map of their community within the frame, highlighting
significant features, eg:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
main roads and natural boundaries.
key buildings or special features.
What you will need
• Three marker pens – black,
green and red – for each
group.
residential areas.
• Large sheets of paper, e.g.
social gathering points.
flipchart pad – one for each
other churches or religious centres.
group.
vulnerable groups in the community.
community facilities.
open spaces.
Planned developments (housing, retail, commercial).
• Flipchart pad to record the
results.
• Blue-tack.
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Step 2: Where are the people?
Give groups the red and green pens.
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•
•
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•
•
Ask them to mark a dot with the red pen to indicate where they live.
With the green pen, ask them to mark where they have significant friendships.
Anything outwith the parish boundary should be marked in the margin.
If there is more than one group, invite the different groups to look at the other maps.
What are the common features?
What is different?
Invite conversation in the groups around:
•
•
What are the main centres of community life?
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•
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•
Where does the church building sit in relation to the main centres of the community?
Are any of these centres outside of the parish (e.g. children from the parish attend a school
which is not in the parish, etc.)
How does the physical make-up of the community shape its life and affect the life of the church?
What sectors of the community are untouched by the church?
What is missing from the community?
Step 3: Discussion
Display the maps on a wall or lay them out on the floor, and allow everyone to view them. Ask
people for feedback on what they see in the map. There may be some repeat of the discussion that
has already taken place, but this allows everyone to note where viewpoints have differed or
coincided. Note the points on a flipchart – the following questions may help stimulate discussion.
Discussion Questions
1. Are there any patterns that emerge from the placement of the dots?
2. What features are common to the maps?
3. Is there anything that is missing?
4. Where does the church have most presence?
5. Where does the church have least presence? What opportunities for mission might this present?
6. Where might church need to look and feel very different in order to be relevant and accessible?
7. Where might there be opportunities for partnering with others?
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Session 3: Checking our Assumptions
Mission, to be effective, should be intentional and not intuitive. So often
intuition can be the basis of mission in that perceptions begin to be
believed; information gathered from what one sees, hears or imagines to
be the case6.
Introduction
The mapping exercise in Session 2 is useful for revealing perceptions of the community, but it is
important to check our assumptions. The community that we imagine in our minds may be a
remembered one very different to today’s reality, or exclude groups of people that we are unaware
of. There is a wealth of information available about our communities, from crime statistics, to local
council development plans and health and education information. In 2013, National Records of
Scotland began releasing information from the 2011 Scottish Census, and the Church of Scotland’s
Statistics for Mission Committee took up the task of making some of the most useful of this
information readily available at parish level.
Parish Profile
In this session, we will explore the statistical information for the parish, in order to better
understand the community we are part of, and then consider what our next steps might be.
In advance, download the parish profile
Each parish has a unique statistical profile which can be
accessed via the ‘Church Finder’ section on the Church of
Scotland website www.churchofscotland.org.uk . For
detailed instructions on how to access your profile see
‘Who is My Neighbour?’ pp 29-34, which can be
downloaded
freely
from
www.resourcingmission.org.uk/resources/statisticsmission. The profile should look similar to the example
below.
What you will need
• A copy of the parish profile, page
2, for each participant (or the
information displayed on a
screen).
• Flipchart pad and marker pen to
record the results.
6
John Paterson, in Who is my Neighbour, p. 22.
www.resourcingmission.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Who_is_my_neighbour.pdf
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For this session, we will be using the information on page 2 of the profile, which should look
something like this.
This gives a very simple sketch of the parish, based on percentages of the population. Either have
the information projected on a screen or make enough copies for everyone to be able to see one.
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Discussion Questions
1. In small groups of three or four identify one statistic which:
a. Confirms something you already thought
b. Surprises you
c. Makes you want to find out more
2.
3.
4.
5.
Does our congregation reflect the make-up of our parish population?
Who in my church has come to mind in reading the statistical information?
Which groups from the community are present within the congregation?
Which groups in the community would find it difficult to access or engage with our church?
Allow some time for the groups to feed back their observations. Note this on the flipchart.
There is much more information contained in the parish statistical profile. As you do this it could be
useful for you to consider some questions that you can revisit again and again as you use the
additional information.
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1. Can we set aside some time to carefully look over the full Statistics for Mission profile for the
Parish?
2. Who else needs to be part of that conversation?
3. What issues, people and groups have been overlooked in our community?
4. What would be ‘good news’ to them?
5. Are there ways in which this church could be good news to them? What are the ways in which
we could love and serve them?
6. What further information do we need to find out about different individuals’ and groups’
situations?
7. How might we get involved in working alongside people in our community?
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Session 4: A new expression of church – next steps
The ‘fresh expressions journey’ can be portrayed like this7:
In Sessions 2 and 3 we began to explore how we might have a better understanding of our
community, and how we might love and serve the people around us. This is only the start though.
Building community allows people to feel accepted and included. It is also an important basis for
mission, with strong relationships of trust which reveal something of Christ, and begin to reveal
something about what the church community is like. Spending time together, socialising, sharing a
meal, working together toward a common goal, are just some examples of things which can help
build community.
Although building community is itself a worthwhile goal, the purpose of a fresh expression is to
create disciples, and so it is important to make sure there are opportunities for people to explore
this for themselves. Every group and individual will be different, so some thought should be given to
how this can best be done – one-on-one, in a group setting but it is about helping people to
understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
In some cases it may be natural for people to migrate from here into other areas of the existing
church life, but in other cases, something that has the hallmarks of church, but which may look quite
different to the existing congregation, will start to take shape.
Discussion Questions
1. Is there anything happening in our church’s life which has the potential to become a fresh
expression?
2. What characteristics of church are present? Which ones are still missing?
3. From the diagram, what stage is it at? What evidence is there of this?
4. What is the next step that we need to consider?
5. What additional resources might we need for the next step?
6. What do we need to commit to prayer?
7
Moynah, M, How can we encourgage a fresh expression?, p. 5. Further exploration of this can be found at
http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/guide/develop/journey.
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