mission-shaped church

Seabury Books

Contents

foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury......................................vthe Mission-shaped Church working group.......................................vipreface to the second edition.................................................viiintroduction by the Chair of the Working Group................................xa note on the discussion questions............................................xiiichapter 1 changing contexts...................................................1chapter 2 the story since Breaking New Ground.................................16chapter 3 what is church planting and why does it matter?.....................29chapter 4 fresh expressions of church.........................................43chapter 5 theology for a missionary church....................................84chapter 6 some methodologies for a missionary church..........................104chapter 7 an enabling framework for a missionary church.......................125chapter 8 recommendations.....................................................145notes.........................................................................150appendix – useful resources.............................................162general index.................................................................166index of biblical references..................................................175

Chapter One

This chapter outlines some aspects of the cultural, social and spiritual environment in which the Church of England ministers in the new millennium. It explores how we are called to be and to do church, and the benefits and disadvantages of existing Anglican expressions of church.

We face a significant moment of opportunity. Western society has undergone a massive transition in recent decades. We all live in a fast-changing world. As the Church of England aims to be a Church for everyone in the country, being truly among them as Jesus was with the people of his day (the 'incarnational principle'), the Church needs to respond to the changes in our culture. Thus it is important for us to see what our culture now looks like, so we can see the possible shape, or shapes, of church to which God is calling us. This look at culture now will also help connect church and gospel with the variety of people across England, and identify where, under Christ's lordship, we should live counter-culturally.

social trends in the last 30 years

Each year the Government publishes Social Trends. Social Trends brings together the conclusions from a variety of statistical surveys. Some headlines from the 2003 version are outlined here.

housing changes

• While the population of the UK has risen by 5 per cent since 1970, the number of households has increased by 31 per cent. There are now more households, but they are smaller in size. The average size of a household is now 2.4 people, in 1971 it was 2.9. This is mainly due to divorce, and delay in marrying. The implications of this for the housing market are dramatic, particularly in some parts of the country. For example, the number of owner-occupied dwellings increased by 38 per cent between 1981 and 2002.

• People are paying more in real terms for their houses. The rise in owner occupation means that repairs and improvements are the responsibility of the occupier, rather than a landlord. This has led to the rise of DIY in the last three decades, which is often a Sunday activity.

employment changes, including the increase of women's employment

• Most people in their middle years work outside the home. In 2002, 91.8 per cent of men aged 35 to 49 were in work, and 78.1 per cent of women in the same age group. There has been a significant increase in the number of lone parent women working outside the home. In 1992, 18 per cent of lone women with dependent children were working full-time, but in 2002 it was 23 per cent. The change for lone women with children under the age of five is most dramatic: in 1992, 21 per cent worked; in 2002, 34 per cent were working either full- or part-time.

• The hours worked have also changed. In 2002 most men worked about 40 hours a week, and most women in full-time work worked about 38 hours a week. However, about 25 per cent of working men and 11 per cent of working women worked more than 50 hours a week. Fourteen per cent of those aged 35 to 49 would like to work fewer hours for less pay each week.

• This means that many people have less 'free time' than in 1970. Weekends, especially Sundays, are now seen as family time. This is a big tension for Christian partners of non-Christians.

mobility

• Today people are vastly more mobile than they were even 30 years ago. Since 1971 the distance travelled each year on roads in cars or vans has almost doubled from 313 billion to 624 billion kilometres. The average length of trips varies significantly by household income – 15.3 km for the richest 20 per cent and 6.7 km for the poorest. We are all more mobile, but a number of factors – where we live, where we work and how well off we are – influence how far and how often we travel.

• These statistics are matched by the number of vehicles on the road. In 1971 there were just under 12 million vehicles on the roads; in 2001 it was just under 26.5 million.

• Most families, apart from the poorest, have access to a car, and are ready to use it. This means that people are able to work further from home, at the expense of having a longer commuter journey. It also means that at weekends people are able to do things at a distance from where they live. In churches this can be seen in the phenomenon of 'church shopping'. Someone who moves to an area will check out several churches, not just the nearest.

• Another aspect of mobility is the way in which some people move in connection with their jobs. Increased mobility means that people are less likely to live in the same area throughout their lifetime, and now tend to live further from their relatives than previously.

• However, more than half of adults see their mother at least once a week, and 61 per cent of grandparents see their grandchildren weekly. Visits to relatives are most likely at weekends, due to school and work commitments in the week.

• The distance from relatives varies with social class. People in the professional social class were least likely to have a satisfactory network of relatives.

divorce and changes in family life

• The divorce rate has gone up significantly in the last 30 years (62,857 divorces in 1970, 154,628 in 2001). The proportion of separated and divorced people now stands at 10.6 per cent of the population of England and Wales. In 1971, 1 per cent of men and 1 per cent of women were divorced, but by 2000 it was 8 per cent men and 9 per cent women. Additionally, about 8 per cent of families were stepfamilies with dependent children – the parents no longer appeared in statistics as 'divorced' because they had married again. Combined with the rise of cohabitation and the birth of children to never-married mothers, in 2001 the Census showed that 22 per cent of children in England and Wales live in lone-parent families, usually looked after by their...