The latest research into new forms of church has just been published. Church Army’s Research Unit has produced a detailed and robust report, based on over 500 in-depth phone interviews across ten dioceses in the Church of England. The findings make for uncomfortable reading for those who think the church should leave things just as they are, but perhaps tweak them a bit. If we are really going to engage with those who seem alienated from much of conventional church, then new forms of church are absolutely vital.

If the ten dioceses are typical, then a number of things are becoming clear:

• Those attending fresh expressions of church in those dioceses, amount to the equivalent of a whole, new average sized diocese
• Almost 10% of those attending CofE churches in a diocese, attend a fresh expression of church
• Initial planting teams see an average increase of 250% as others join them.
• The average size of a fresh expression is 44
• In the average fresh expression, 25% were already attending church before they joined, 35% had some but no current church experience and 40% (the largest group) had no significant church experience at all
• New leaders are emerging, mostly not ordained, and many have no formal recognition or training

If you care anything about the future of the church, and wonder about the way forward, you ignore these facts at your peril.

Read the full article at http://godandpoliticsuk.org/2014/02/05/fresh-expressions-of-church-learning-the-missional-lessons/

The Fresh Expressions organisation exists to encourage and support the fresh expressions movement, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions.

The initiative has resulted in hundreds of new congregations being formed alongside more traditional churches. It was started in 2004 by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council, but now involves an unparalleled range of partners.

You can follow Fresh Expressions and Norman on Twitter. Norman also blogs at Missional Musings.