Our vision is to become a church planting Diocese.
All our congregations began as what would now be called church plants – groups of Christians meeting together in homes or rented accommodation, sometimes for years, before erecting their own buildings.
We’ve done it before so we can do it again!
To help us build up a vision and skill set to enable us to win souls for Christ and plant new Free Church of England (FCE) churches, we have appointed the Rev'd Matthew Firth to head our church planting outreach. Building off the pre-pandemic foundational work the diocese did with Always Forward, the GAFCon-affiliated ACNA church planting initiative, back in 2019, we hope to expand once again throughout our geographical regions.
We currently have an active planting operation in York headed by the Rev'd Firth, an Associate Congregation in Sheffield whose minister is receiving Anglican orders and leading his flock into the FCE, a cell of young adults in Scotland, and several other groups discerning the call to plant cells and form congregations.
All our congregations began as what would now be called church plants – groups of Christians meeting together in homes or rented accommodation, sometimes for years, before erecting their own buildings.
We’ve done it before so we can do it again!
To help us build up a vision and skill set to enable us to win souls for Christ and plant new Free Church of England (FCE) churches, we have appointed the Rev'd Matthew Firth to head our church planting outreach. Building off the pre-pandemic foundational work the diocese did with Always Forward, the GAFCon-affiliated ACNA church planting initiative, back in 2019, we hope to expand once again throughout our geographical regions.
We currently have an active planting operation in York headed by the Rev'd Firth, an Associate Congregation in Sheffield whose minister is receiving Anglican orders and leading his flock into the FCE, a cell of young adults in Scotland, and several other groups discerning the call to plant cells and form congregations.
Church structure
Our churches are composed of individuals who make up the Body of Christ. Ideally, several individuals and families gather for regular worship as a congregation within the parish church, as outlined below, but this is not always possible.
Lay (non-ordained) individuals who don’t live near an existing congregation can apply to become Scattered Members. This enables them to stay in touch, to access FCE material and to pray for our work. An annual donation is invited.
Existing congregations not already within the FCE may apply to the Bishop to become Associate Congregations. This implies that both the congregation and the Diocese are exploring whether full membership is the right way ahead over a set timeframe.
The traditional route of growing a church plant from small beginnings is also an option. Major benchmarks might include:
Lay (non-ordained) individuals who don’t live near an existing congregation can apply to become Scattered Members. This enables them to stay in touch, to access FCE material and to pray for our work. An annual donation is invited.
Existing congregations not already within the FCE may apply to the Bishop to become Associate Congregations. This implies that both the congregation and the Diocese are exploring whether full membership is the right way ahead over a set timeframe.
The traditional route of growing a church plant from small beginnings is also an option. Major benchmarks might include:
Cell
A Cell is where fewer than ten people are interested in joining the FCE, but they are not in a position to have a regular worship location, an ordained minister and a full mission plan. The group gathers for prayer, worship and mutual support. For its part the Diocese would come alongside them to help focus their energy towards the possibility of growing towards becoming a mission congregation.
|
Mission Congregation/Church Plant
This is when the Cell becomes large enough to need a greater degree of organisation and has regular meetings at a mission site, such as homes, coffee shops, and other available spaces. It probably won’t have an ordained minister but will be lay led (for example by a Reader). The main emphasis is to gather for worship, Bible study and prayer. Sacramental ministrations may be provided by visiting presbyters. A mission congregation may either grow from an independently founded Cell or be planted by (and initially under the leadership of) an existing congregation branching out into a local neighbourhood.
|
Congregation/Parish
A local congregation (also called a Parish) is where all the infrastructure of a congregation is in place: a worship building/mission site, an ordained minister, regular sacramental and preaching ministries, lay officers in accordance with the canons of the FCE, a mission plan and a significant level of self-sufficiency (as central financial support is limited). Local parishes are the ultimate goal of a church plant. They send their representatives to Diocesan Synod and Convocation and contribute financially via their quota payments. In turn they would be expected to plant further churches.
|