Conference Report
There is no doubt that the theme of Fresh Expressions of Church is currently very popular. This conference explored how this subject relates to rural areas. Some of the aspects we explored included:
- Is there room for another expression if the village is small?
- Many "fresh expressions" target a specific people group, but such a group might only have two or three people within the community.
- What kind of fresh expression is likely to prove best in any particular village?
- How do we manage a fresh expression alongside inherited models of church?
- What has experience taught so far?
- Do we need to train leaders?
- What is important for sustainability?
Those who attended this Conference rated it highly on their response forms. They came from all over England and Wales.
Obviously we cannot possibly replicate the benefits of attending the Conference on this website but we are able to reproduce two PowerPoint presentations here.
 Barry Osborne set the scene, describing the diversity of the UK's rural communities and how these are generally categorised. He spoke of the social constraints of living in small insular communities, and of the issues of scale, which constrain the opportunities of establishing a fresh expression alongside what has been inherited. However, despite the fact that there is a much higher proportion of the rural population that occasionally attend church, compared to urrban areas, he commended the underlying principles behind the Fresh Expressions initiative.
We were delighted to welcome Norman Ivison, Director of Training for Fresh Expressions. Norman led the opening two sessions during which he presented his personal perception of rural communities, the constraints  and opportunities for fresh expressions of church.
The conference considered several examples of rural fresh expressions of church that are included in the latest DVD produced by his organisation. He then presented a number of essentials to establish a fresh expression of church, nine ways to fail, and then led the Conference through a number of important issues that would need to be addressed if a freshe expression was to become established and sustainable. Clearly appropriate leadership is an important aspect and Norman concluded by providing information on training courses available.
 The next two sessions of the Conference focussed on the practical experience of those who had established fresh expressions of church in rural areas of the UK. The sessions were led by danny Beaven who drew on his own experiences in the Forest of Dean, and the development of Rural Expression. Various delegates shared their stories and we welcomed a salvation Army officer establishing a church in a leisure centre in a market town, and a local Mthodist who, with others, had established a fresh expression in a village. Both of those stories gave evidence of men being attracted. Other stories included a cafe church and a church run by children for children.
 Refelecting on the Conference one delegate asked whether some of the stories shared were about fresh expression, or emerging church, or simply alternative services. She then added the question, "Does it matter?" Since the purpose of fresh expressions of church is to ensure better engagement with the diverse cultures in ruralk Britain the answer must surely be that if that is what is achieved then how you describe it is less important than the methods used to achieve it.
If you are interested in exploring this topic further or would like to arrange a similar conference in your area, please use the "Contact Us" page to send details and we will see what can be arranged for you.
If you are an Anglican and have been involved in church planting we would like to put you in touch with some colleagues who are looking to make contact with people like you. Please go to the "Contact Us" link under the Rural Evangelism Network section.
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