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Net Gains

Network churches 

The Mission-shaped Church report claimed that network is no longer an addition to the geographical world of parochial life but is already the dominant social reality to which expressions of church need to be adjusted. It argued that church must always be shaped by mission and cited examples of churches already planted specifically to reach networks of people rather than neighbourhoods of people in response. 

This, the second Encounters on the Edge issue on network-focused church planting, looks at diocesan-led planting. (The first issue New Canterbury Tales looked at examples begun by individual pioneers responding to the needs of networks across a number of parishes.) The warmth with which the Mission-shaped Church report has been received has created the opportunity for dioceses to intentionally increase the number of churches for networks. 

However, the painful lessons learnt from the earliest examples of network churches should be highlighted for those embarking on future ventures of this type. Do the mission resources match the mission task? What happens to mission beyond fringe members when you have no territory to fall back on? How can a young church cope with the pressure of a heavy culture of inspection by the wider church? This issue no.19 Net Gains is essential reading for anyone tasked with planting such a church.