Godstone Deanery Synod
Report on the meeting
held at Dormansland on
The “
The Revd Canon Michael Hart addressed the meeting on
this report, which identifies changing social trends and challenges us to
respond to these by considering novel ways of “being church”. Our perspective needs to change:
“It is not the church of God that has a mission,
but the God of mission who has a church”.
The
last thirty years have seen enormous social change. Society has become increasingly
fragmented. People no longer meet just
within their neighbourhoods, but through a variety of networks: work, school,
leisure
centres, clubs etc. Free time is spent shopping or watching TV
(adults watch an average 20 hours a week!).
Households are smaller; more people own their homes and spend Sundays
improving them; larger numbers work outside the home and for longer hours;
divorce and children living with only one parent have increased. We move around more and drive further. It is easy to feel excluded and isolated. Although for many God is squeezed out of
their lives, their need remains.
As
God’s church we are called to meet people where they are, to enable the gospel
to enter and affect lives. We need to
recognise this changing context in our own particular area and in the people we
know.
Possible “new expressions” of church
These
include the cyber church, cell church, youth congregations, café church,
“seeker” services (rather like a variety show!), cross-cultural plants, network
church (eg a network of people in a particular context, such as after the gym),
“alternative” worship, churches arising from community initiatives, midweek
congregations and traditional church plants.
A mission-shaped church can occur in a great variety of places and
times, not just in a dedicated building on a Sunday morning. It must be founded on God the Trinity and
have the incarnation and cross at its heart.
We have to be prepared to take risks, challenge our assumptions and lay
down our preferred ways of being church for the sake of those we are sent to
serve. It is recommended that each
diocese should have a strategy, developed with ecumenical collaboration, to
encourage and resource church planting and fresh expressions of church.
We need to ask these questions:
How
can we listen better to our communities and our context?
How
will we bless and encourage fresh expressions of church where we are?
What
resources can we offer to build a mission-shaped church here? (eg funding,
people with particular skills)
What
help do we need?
Visit
the following websites for further ideas and information: www.freshexpressions.org.uk and www.rejesus.co.uk
“Mission is finding out what God is doing, and
joining in.” (Archbishop of
Business Meeting
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