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mission shaped church

  Alternative worship communities

  Base Ecclesial Communities

  Cafe church

  Cell church

  Churches arising out of community initiatives (both out of community

projects, and the restructuring or refounding of an existing church to

serve a community)

  Multiple and midweek congregations

  Network focused churches (churches connecting with specific networks)

  School based and school linked congregations and churches

  Seeker church

  Traditional church plants

  Traditional forms of church inspiring new interest (including new monastic

communities)

  Youth congregations.

It is apparent that there is a wide diversity of fresh expressions of church.

What may not be so clear is that the depth of information on the different

strands varies immensely. Some groupings have already established a track

record, grown some level of network between practitioners, thought out

their self understanding and produced resources for internal and external

consumption. Other labels used here represent an attempt to group

together recent developments that show comparable characteristics,

although as yet there may be no network, nor agreed joint understanding

and sometimes not even realization that other similar groups exist.

The chapter also suggests categories by which the wider Church may better

understand these areas. Insight from these fresh expressions may help

existing congregations to reorientate themselves in response to the mission

call of God.

alternative worship communities

This fresh expression has been emerging and evolving since the late 1980s.

It is a loose grouping that is not always easy to track, partly because 

many of its adherents have a post denominational consciousness and 

a postmodern suspicion of labels and classification.

This loose network of groups is trying to connect Church, and especially

worship, with particular shifting segments of popular culture. In addition

they have a passion to close the divide between the experience of

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