Published on: 12/08/2025
There are countless reasons, theological, biblical, historical, sociological and so on. New Congregations are embedded in our diocesan vision, ‘grow a sustainable network of Christ-like, lively and diverse Christian communities in every place’, and in our diocesan strategy, 25 in each Archdeaconry and 25 in schools. In this blog, we will focus on two specific but connected reasons, flexibility and growth.
In former times, when I was a lad, nothing ever really happened on Sundays. No shops open but the newsagent, no sport, fewer buses running, nothing much going on at all. There were no competing demands on people’s time, and Sunday morning and Sunday evening, were perfect times to have church services. Almost all Christians were free to worship on Sunday and almost all non-Christians were free to come and find out more, if they so wished. A moment’s thought tells us that this is not now the case, neither has it been for some considerable time.
In those days, people were more familiar with the inside of a church, with its style, with its symbols, its language and its forms. They had a knowledge of Bible stories, an understanding of vicars and their ways and a connection to church through baptisms, weddings and funerals. This connection is now also diminished.
There are still many good reasons for services to happen Sunday morning in church but there also needs to be flexibility. New Congregations offer part of the solution.
New Congregations need not be complicated and they offer the opportunity to be creative in how we make the Christian community and its worshipping life accessible to more people. New Congregations are absolutely part of the life of the parish, overseen by the Oversight Minister and the PCC, but they might happen at different times of the week or in different venues. They will be true to doctrine and faith but give opportunity to make these available to new generations afresh. Not everyone can go to church on Sunday morning, not everyone can appreciate a single form of worship, New Congregations increase the opportunities for people to belong.
This increased opportunity to belong is also key to our second reason, Church Growth. Currently around 1% of the population are engaged with us on Sundays. There has been exciting growth over the last two years in this number in the diocese but at these current rates it will take 15 years to get to 2% overall. New Congregations allow growth by multiplication rather than addition.
In research published a month ago, Bob Jackson, formerly of this diocese, examined the church attendance of 2600+ churches across the 12 northern dioceses. Amongst many interesting discoveries, he found out that there is a direct correlation between the number of services available and the number of people attending church. There is also a direct correlation between starting a New Congregation and overall growth in the average weekly attendance in the parish.
Therefore the growth of the Kingdom of God in our diocese, the number of disciples, the fulfilment of both our strategy and vision and the transformation of our communities are all boosted by the start up of New Congregations.
If you are interested and want to explore more why not sign up for the Starting New Things: What are we Learning? training event on 18 September or contact John Marsh for a chat. We have Small Sparks Grants to help you with the finances too.