In light of Fresh Expressions, the Peterborough Methodist Circuit Meeting 18/01/17 (Present 36, Voting 29, For 25, Against 0) calls upon Conference to review its standing orders relating to ecclesial formation; namely S.O. 605 (new churches may only be formed when twelve Methodist members unite), S.O. 612 (the minimum membership of established churches is six), and S.O. 051 (an exception to the ‘one member, one society’ principle).
Whilst we wish to affirm the broad recommendations made within Fresh Expressions in the Mission of the Church, we urge Conference to consider the critique offered by the Church Army Research Unit in 2013 (Report on Strand 3b). This suggests that our understanding of ‘church’ is underpinned by a practice rather than a relational approach, which is unhelpful and even unrealistic for fresh expressions. Whilst we recognise that Fresh originates from a joint Anglican-Methodist perspective, we find considerable merit in the Church Army’s argument. For a Methodist fresh expression to constitute itself properly as a new church, those who are already members of a local Methodist Church (and who may well serve a vital role in both), are forced to leave one for the other. Moreover, whilst the Church is encouraging fresh expressions to configure themselves in ways that are appropriate to local context, it seems incongruous that they should be expected to adhere to the twelve-member rule, especially when established churches retain their legal status until they have less than six.
The Statistics Office has reported to us that out of over 2,700 fresh expressions, only one has constituted itself as a church, and that in the main, new churches are formed through the amalgamation of declining churches, or through local ecumenical partnerships. We therefore request that conference reduce the qualifier under S.O 605 to six, and to extend the provisions of S.O. 051 to allow dual-Methodist membership in local contexts.