It is as theological praxis, therefore, that fresh expressions are most appropriately assessed. Perhaps this is why there is very little disinterested evaluative fresh expressions literature. Most evaluative contributions from ...

Author: John Walker

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781317045793

Category: Religion

Page: 270

View: 745

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Testing Fresh Expressions investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced by traditional churches. Part 1 examines those claims and untangles their sociological and theological assumptions. From a careful study of factors underlying attendance decline and growth, Part 2 argues that long-term decline can be resisted only if churches are better able to attract children, the non-churched or both. Part 3 tests the comparative ability of a group of growing parish churches and a group of fresh expressions to resist trends of decline and discovers some intriguing social dynamics common to both groups. Part 4 argues that fresh expressions do not fulfil the unique role often claimed for them but that they do have the capacity to help reinvigorate the whole church.

The report also mentions that 40% of the attendance of these Fresh Expressions represents children under sixteen, which may indicate that the large majority of those ... Walker began his fieldwork in 2009 (Testing Fresh Expressions, p.

Author: Stefan Paas

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

ISBN: 9781467446181

Category: Religion

Page: 316

View: 490

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An expert study of church planting in the most secular part of contemporary Europe In this book Stefan Paas offers thoughtful analysis of reasons and motives for missionary church planting in Europe, and he explores successful and unsuccessful strategies in that post-Christian secularized context. Drawing in part on his own involvement with planting two churches in the Netherlands, Paas explores confessional motives, growth motives, and innovation motives for church planting in Europe, tracing them back to different traditions and reflecting on them from theological and empirical perspectives. He presents examples from the European context and offers sound advice for improving existing missional practices. Paas also draws out lessons for North America in a chapter coauthored with Darrell Guder and John Franke. Finally, Paas weaves together the various threads in the book with a theological defense of church planting. Presenting new research as it does, this critical missiological perspective will add significantly to a fuller understanding of church planting in our contemporary context.

Testing Fresh Expressions investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced ...

Author: John Walker

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781317045786

Category: Religion

Page: 248

View: 377

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Testing Fresh Expressions investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced by traditional churches. Part 1 examines those claims and untangles their sociological and theological assumptions. From a careful study of factors underlying attendance decline and growth, Part 2 argues that long-term decline can be resisted only if churches are better able to attract children, the non-churched or both. Part 3 tests the comparative ability of a group of growing parish churches and a group of fresh expressions to resist trends of decline and discovers some intriguing social dynamics common to both groups. Part 4 argues that fresh expressions do not fulfil the unique role often claimed for them but that they do have the capacity to help reinvigorate the whole church.

In addition, the Anglicans brought the Methodist Church into the Fresh Expressions partnership at an early stage. ... A later book, Testing Fresh Expressions: Identity and Transformation, by John Walker, attempted a detailed analysis of ...

Author: Martin Robinson

Publisher: SCM Press

ISBN: 9780334058250

Category: Religion

Page: 155

View: 826

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For a long time, it looked as if the idea of the local and therefore of place seen as locality seemed to have lost its relevance. Much of the church lost any sense that geographical context matters. Yet that tendency to pull people out of their context has played to a consumerist mentality that sees church more as a consumer choice than a genuine community. Now, a shift seems to be underway that values locality much more - a resurgence of interest in the parish and the importance of the church’s presence in community. In "The Place of the Parish" Martin Robinson explores this shift, considering how it is manifested in a variety of contexts, rural, inner-city, Anglican and independent. Drawing on specific examples linked to the so-called ‘New Parish Movement’, he demonstrates how a theology of place is made manifest in the mission of the church today.

Author: John Walker (Researcher)

Publisher:

ISBN: 1472411854

Category: Church renewal

Page: 224

View: 312

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This volume investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced by traditional churches.

71 The tables of comparison, 7.7 and 7.8, are in John Walker, Testing Fresh Expressions: Identity and Transformation, Ashgate Contemporary Ecclesiology (Farnham; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2014), 120. 72 Walker, Testing Fresh Expressions, ...

Author: Martyn Percy

Publisher: SPCK

ISBN: 9780281073016

Category: Religion

Page: 546

View: 284

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The Study of Ministry is a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of ministry that attends to historical sources, the social sciences, pastoral theology, ecclesiology and cultural studies. The book argues for the study of ministry to be taken seriously as an aspect of ecclesiology and pastoral theology, providing a stimulating resource both for practising ministers and for all those training for ministry in a range of denominations. Contents Introduction Part One: Understanding Ministry Part Two: Models, Methods, and Resources Part Three: Ministry in Christian Tradition Part Four: Styles of Christian Ministry Part Five: Issues in Christian Ministry Conclusion

Some fresh expressions of church are about existing churches renewing or redirecting what they have. ... This has been accompanied by a trying on of the language in many different contexts, a testing of it in many sections of the church ...

Author: Louise Nelstrop

Publisher: Canterbury Press

ISBN: 9781848254497

Category: Religion

Page: 224

View: 127

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An impressive line up of contributors first asks what counts as a ‘fresh expression’ and who decides. Part 1 explores what postmodern ways of viewing the world means for the way churches explore truth and uncertainty, and tradition as an evolving rather than a static enterprise. Part 2 uses real examples to examines who attends ‘fresh expressions’ and what it incarnational theology looks like in practice. Part 3 considers the implications for clergy training and whether there is a case for making ‘pioneer ministry’ a discrete type.

When the Church of England surveyed its parishes in 2006, asking whether churches had formed a fresh expression ... One of the God-given ways in which the Church discerns God's will is through testing new developments from every angle.

Author: Steven J. L. Croft

Publisher: Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd

ISBN: 9781853119736

Category: Religion

Page: 192

View: 477

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"In this timely and practical volume, pioneers, thinkers and theologians from the UK and the US tell their inspiring stories and offer reflections on resourcing the work of mission by drawing on sacramental and contemplative perspectives."--From back cover

When the Church of England surveyed its parishes in 2006, asking whether churches had formed a fresh expression ... One of the God-given ways in which the Church discerns God's will is through testing new developments from every angle.

Author: Steven Croft

Publisher: Canterbury Press

ISBN: 9781848254428

Category: Religion

Page: 194

View: 889

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Mission Shaped Church, the groundbreaking report published in 2004 has sold over 20,000 copies and has changed the way mission is done. This title offers a resource for exploring and applying the insights from fresh style mission in the traditional wings of the church where various worship communities are being formed.

Attendance at Fresh Expressions churches increased fourfold between 2005 and 2015, and nearly two-thirds of newcomers were ... Tonbridge: ADBC, 2018; J. Walker, Testing Fresh Expressions, Abingdon: Routledge, 2016 (2014), 7 and 42.

Author: Helen D. Morris

Publisher: SCM Press

ISBN: 9780334058151

Category: Religion

Page: 288

View: 625

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Flexible Church proposes an ecclesiology for innovative expressions of church that is grounded in biblical texts whilst self-consciously and intentionally developed for the contemporary Western milieu. The result is a framework serves as a guide and auditing tool for pioneering church planters.