Church for Every Context - Review

Categories: practical-theology, ecclesiastical-stuff, fresh-expressions, books

Date: 31 December 2012 13:38:04

Church For Every Context by Michael Moynagh with Philip Harrold, published by SCM came out earlier in 2012 and was one of three books published this year which can be seen as official assessments of where Fresh Expressions and Pioneer ministry are as we come to the end of the first phase of official backing. The other two are: Fresh by David Goodhew, Andrew Roberts and Michael Volland and  Fresh Expressions in the Mission of  the Church a report by the joint Anglican and Methodist Working Party. (This is the first I have been able to get my hands on - having had Third Party get it out of the college library for me to read whilst she was home). This text takes a theological look at the movement as well as providing a sociological framework to examine the structural basis of the movement. At 21 chapters and 447 pages of actual text it is on one level very, perhaps too, comprehensive. However, as each chapter takes a different theme it could, in some ways, be argued not to have the depth that it appears on the surface to have. However, it is designed like this for good reason. It is essentially a text book and each chapter ends with questions for reflection as well as signposting the reader who is looking for that extra depth towards further reading. In taking a macro rather than a micro approach to the subject the book lacks much of the ethnographic material which can be found within other books in the subject including those within the Ancient Faith Future Mission series. That is not to say it is missing but rather mention to it is brief and where reference is made it is to illustrate a much larger point rather than to reflect on a specific form of Fresh Expression or Pioneer Mission. The key term which Moynagh focuses on within the book is "contextual church" as opposed to Fresh Expressions or Pioneer Ministry, thus getting to the root of what they are talking about. The first two chapters give a persuasive argument that "contextual church" was the from that new testament worshipping communities took. Chapter three describes how through the Fresh Expressions movement in particular "contextual church" has re-emerged as a way of approaching church within contemporary Britain. Chapter four seeks to outline, using sociological material, the nature of culture shift in late modernity and the move to network societies. It is also where a sub-text of debate, which is obviously an ongoing discussion, between the author and academics from the University of Nottingham who have advocated a more radical orthodoxy starts to emerge. This critique of their work and of their criticisms of the Fresh Expressions movement is interesting in that it highlights the way in which academic reaction has not been as homogeneously positive as sometimes portrayed. Chapters five to ten deal with ecclesiology, the nature of church. Within this section the discussion relating to what is mission and what its relationship to worship should be are particularly interesting. The book changes nature and tone half way through. It moves from a focus on the foundational theology and theory to examining the theory surrounding and hallmarks of good practice.  The writer reflects on the Fresh Expressions organisation and the wider fresh expressions/pioneer movement together with social entrepreneurial to draw out a set of principles of good practice. In doing this section three essentially becomes a six chapter manual on how to approach forming and sustaining a fresh expression/pioneer initiative. The final five chapters entitled "Growing to Maturity" change gear again. These chapters engage with some of the critiques and practical issues relating to the Fresh Expressions/ pioneer mission movement which have emerged from within the wider church, (as opposed to within academic theology), over the last few years. Issues such as communion and discipleship are discussed and what is said is useful within a text giving the wider picture, as discussed earlier. However, to fully engage with the issues discussed in this final chapter the reader may find it more useful to look at the  Ancient Faith Future Mission  series which looks at the problems which have emerged through reflection from practitioners. (see here for my review of the most recent book, Fresh Expressions of Church and the Kingdom of God). The final chapter Towards the Mixed Economy Church is essentially a call for the continued development of "contextual churches" within established denominations alongside "inherited" churches. Overall I think it is an important and useful text which I highly commend and I agree with much, indeed most, within it. However, reading this book did reinforce some concerns which have emerged in the wider context of looking at this movement over the last few years. The first concern relates to the tension which exists between the DIY culture/ethos of the movement and the power exerted by the "permission givers".  Is Fresh Expressions an organisation or a movement?  This debate is something Moynagh acknowledges, in passing, as an issue but he is firmly rooted in the language of the "permission giver". It was something I found interesting comparing the content of the Fresh Expressions conference and ADVENTurous events I went to earlier this month. The second concern relates to the mixed economy discussion and the way that the focus is almost exclusively centred on people going out to form churches in teams. Whilst this is what Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry have focused upon I think we are now at a stage where wider issues are emerging which need to be addressed but which are being lost. The key one is how do we help people navigate between spaces? The discussion within this text and others has been almost exclusively based around how do we move to building "contextual church" but I think it is time to address how we help people who are philosophically and spiritually tied into the "contextual" mindset but who feel called to remain part of the established church to navigate between these spaces and incorporate fresh expression thinking, appropriately, into established church contexts. Additionally, we need to explore what it means to be called to engage in fresh expressions and pioneer ministry without being called to start a church or community.  For example if looking at chaplaincy there are clear overlaps between this and fresh expression/pioneer mission as it is being articulated here. However, there are also differences as chaplains are external people who go in after negotiating access and who seek to support rather than build intentional new communities. Then there is the question of how we help people develop their ministry within the cultural context in which they inhabit. What I mean by this is how do we help people who are seeking to simply live out your faith in a context which does not have the same gatekeepers to negotiate entry with, primarily because they already inhabit and are part of this context and they don't wish to start a church within it. This is what Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger describe as "evangelism as a way of life, not an event." In Emerging Churches  they have defined this as "evangelism that overcomes the sacred/ secular split of modernity [which] must be a natural part of one's everyday life."[i] How do people do this whilst also remaining part of established "inherited" congregations? To illustrate what I mean regular readers will know that Karl and I live within the mixed economy. We are both "churched" and feel called to remain in and serve God within the "inherited church" through local preaching, amongst other things. Yet, our understanding of what it means to be Christians who are part of the wider church goes beyond this and is much more based upon what is associated with fresh expressions or pioneer ministry thinking. We get involved contextually and as a result find it difficult that we cannot transfer those skills easily into being local preachers, as the framework doesn't exist to do the listening/ community building when you get sent around a circuit only going to a church once or twice a year. This whole area is something which Moynagh touches on but doesn't fully explore. It is something I would like to see somebody engage with because I think it is increasingly going to be important.
[i] Gibbs, E and Bolger, R, Emerging Churches, (2006), London, SPCK, pp79-80