CHELMSFORD DIOCESE

THAMES GATEWAY – OCCASIONAL PAPER: 3

WILL THERE BE CHURCH IN A NEW BUILD?

THE BACKGROUND: Much is being said at the moment about the future shape of the church (if it exists at all!!) We have had the “Mission-shaped Church” report of a Church of England working group. Michael Moynagh is publishing “emergingchurch.intro” and there are many more things being said and published, especially about what is know as “Emerging Church”, i.e. different ways of “doing” church which are relevant in a 21^st century Western civilisation. Many of these ideas will be relevant across the Thames Gateway but the purpose of this paper is to consider the specific issues relating to the development of large new areas of housing where there were none before. (I have recently been taken round the Kent Gateway and been struck by the large developments that will take place there. Also large estates are springing up in Colchester and whilst the M11 corridor and South Essex Gateway developments are only in the planning stage they will come and the church should not be caught unaware)

INTRODUCTION: Much is made of the fact that we are becoming a “non church” society rather than a “de churched” society. i.e. a society of people who have never been involved in church and don’t know the “stories” of God rather than those who once went, maybe to Sunday School, but have lapsed. In particular only 4% of children go to church. What chance do we have in such a society? But, of course, this doesn’t phase God. In 33AD 100% of the population of the most “developed” civilisation were “non church” and no children went to church. Maybe we need to look again at how that small group “did” Emerging Church. After all they did seem to make quite a success of it!!

But, of course, the early church was starting from scratch. It had no models to work with, but it knew what its message was and it grabbed every opportunity to put over that message to anyone who would listen, wherever it could find them. So they went into people’s homes, into the religious meeting places of the day, down by the riverside where people met to socialise or into the public arena of the town council. Maybe we need to be that radical – putting aside all preconceptions, going wherever we can and accepting that one size will not fit all!

THE REALITY OF OUR SOCIETY: The first reality is that we are no longer bound by travel limitations to being part of a physical location. Instead of being tied to the one community we may be part of many communities spread over a considerable area (work, social, sport, etc.) The word now used is ‘networks’. The second is that most people will not naturally come into church or church circles except maybe briefly for weddings, funerals, christenings and, maybe, a carol service.

So do we have to take church to the people? If so, we have to take church into the networks which people inhabit.

THE PRACTICALITIES: Having facilities, buildings, can be an advantage provided that maintaining the buildings does not take up all the church’s energies. Where maintenance is overwhelming there may be a good case for disposing of premises. But even then there are many options. Selling a building in a declining area and building in a new development has a long history. But other alternatives may be to convert a building to mixed usage and there are many examples of this. (The redevelopment of St Clement’s in West Thurrock is a current example, with the new building incorporating a Health Centre, Nursery School and Community Facilities)

However the practicalities are such that there is unlikely to be existing church plant in new development areas, unless they are built around an existing community – in which case the issue may well be whether the indigenous church population are willing to welcome the newcomers and their ways! Where there is no existing church then questions arise - Who can afford to build new facilities? Can the church become involved, or take the lead, in developing community facilities that can also provide worship areas? (The Beacon Project in Chafford Hundred is an example of this approach)

There is an added dilemma in new developments. The traditional approach would be to build a body of people into a church, maybe starting in a home, moving on to hiring rooms and only when the group reaches a certain size look to build a church building. But in new developments allocation of land is made before a brick is laid. Thus when the church comes to look for land there may be nothing available.

THE MORE RADICAL QUESTION: Much of the discussion about “emerging church” questions whether any of these approaches are the way forward – they are all based on the assumption that residents in the new areas will look for religious facilities within the area and will be attracted to a fairly “traditional” form of church, even if it uses modern music and multimedia presentations.

Surely we need to return to the New Testament model of going out to the people – church needs to be in the ‘networks’ where people spend their lives. We need to meet them on their own ground and on their terms. (For this to work, the ‘going out’ needs to be of all Christians and not just the professionals – there are not enough of us!!) Thus we need to understand our society and keep abreast with how it is developing. There is much discussion about ‘Sustainable Communities’ and the Church needs to influence the discussion and be part of the community that is created. If a viable physical community develops with a centre and community facilities, then there is a case for a church, in some form, as part of that centre. However it may be that the membership of a number of different physically diverse networks will be the norm. In which case the Church needs to have a presence in - ‘the school network’, the ‘leisure club’, the ‘retail centre’, etc. Or maybe the Church can, as it has done down the ages, fill gaps in society – ‘clubs for the elderly’, ‘places for teenagers to hang out’, ‘after school facilities’, etc. Another approach is to realise that there may be gaps in peoples’ networks – a need for friendship and community. These are gaps that ‘Base Communities’ or the ‘Cell Group’ approach may satisfy. All these approaches are being used in different places and we need to share ideas and learn from each other.

BUT REMEMBER: “The heart of Christianity is people’s relationship with God. What Black Majority Churches bring to the table is a form of Christianity which says to the nation that God is not distant, merely observing us from a long way away, instead our God is with us wherever we are and our God intervenes into people’s lives.” (Mark Sturge - General Director, African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance) and that “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)” These are the challenges we all face.