Fresh Expressions of Church

What is a 'fresh expression of Christian community'?

In a world where the need is infinite, but the resources are limited, Church Army has made the decision to focus its ministry in the ways that seem most effective. Although it is supportive of many different approaches to evangelism, most of its funding goes to the kind of evangelism known as 'fresh expressions of Christian community'.

Fresh expressions have two distinct features. Firstly, they are not based inside a church trying to draw people in (sometimes known as an attractional or inherited model of church). Instead, they go beyond the walls of a church building to create relationships with those who have never engaged with the Good News.

Secondly, they seek to create new Christian communities that are not copies of the old one, but tailor-made to the cultural needs of the people they are for.

You can hear about some examples in our section of Fresh Expressions Case Studies.

Fresh expression evangelists are in pioneering roles. They are taking the Good News to people who have absolutely no contact with a church at all. They are introducing Jesus not just to the vaguely religious people who might be interested in coming to a church service, but to people who have no concept whatever of how much God loves them. They work on the edges of all that is known and understood about evangelism. In other professions they might be called entrepreneurs. They are very special people!

Follow the links below to see how varied our fresh expressions projects can be:

Alan Park works out of a bus in Chesterfield focussing on the needs of the homeless community.

Tim Hyde lives and works on the challenging Weston Estate in Southampton as part of The Weston Lighthouse Project alongside a range of community agencies.