This article argues that the contemporary renewal of religious life requires that ‘fresh expressions of church’ must also and equally encourage ‘fresh expressions of believing’. The first part draws on the Schleiermacher tradition to lay out the groundwork for the kind of approach to theology that might allow such fresh expressions to begin to emerge: a theology founded in experience, shaped and formed relationally, and intrinsically reflective and critical. The second part of the article identifies some ecclesial models that could be hospitable to the nurture of fresh expressions of believing, and proposes resources drawing on traditions of mysticism, of praxis, and of deconstruction. Churches may form their identity around a mission to deepen and radicalise personal and corporate spirituality, collaborative social praxis for justice and neighbourhood renewal, or experimental postmodern styles of gathering, culturally eclectic but institutionally minimalist.
In Search of ‘Fresh Expressions of Believing’ for a Mission-shaped Church