THE Church of England is gearing up to introduce a new breed of 21st century clergy. As part of the Fresh Expressions project, these priests, called pioneer ministers, will spearhead a novel approach to worship, recruiting outside the normal confines of the church in pubs and clubs. They will be deployed to build new Christian communities and will target people who are not able to make contact with traditional church services. By making worship more attractive this is the latest move by the Church of England to curb falling church attendances.
The full article can be found on the Church of England newsletter.
Pioneer ministers will focus on taking the church out into the community. The Rev Dr Mike Moynagh, another member of the Fresh Expressions team, explained how this will work. He said: “Whereas a curate would go and pastor your congregation in a church, a pioneer would say there is a new housing estate, what we will do is develop an expression of church around this estate.” Instead of building a church, Dr Moynagh pointed out that a diocese would give a pioneer minister a house, equipped with a laptop where he will be expected to form a modern Christian community.
3 cheers for the church of England!
I like the above phrase "Instead of building a church... a Christian community." Here is a major denomination that is taking an active step to act like the church. One could argue I suppose that this is just a way to try and stop falling attendance, but while that may have started the conversation, it sound like something more more profound is happening here.
Praise God!
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