I sometimes daydream about planting a new church here on Mersea.<\/p>\n
It would need at least a dozen people to get it going – people who were seriously committed to a path of discipleship and spiritual growth.<\/p>\n
It would meet once a week to do the Acts 2.42 stuff<\/a>, but not necessarily on a Sunday morning.<\/p>\n It would also meet at other times for broader fellowship, worship and teaching – understood as supplementary.<\/p>\n It would be a group of sojourners, tent dwellers, maybe meeting in a home or hall, maybe even meeting in an historic church sometimes<\/span>.<\/p>\n It would pay a fair proportion (pro rata) of the parish share, but not be committed to the financial upkeep of the historic site.<\/p>\n It would have a cell group structure and mentality. Nurture would be done through small groups (up to half a dozen persons). It would also multiply as a whole when it grew to, say, forty people.<\/p>\n It would have autonomy over its manner of life; its form of worship; its expectations for social service and behaviour.<\/p>\n It would not have autonomy over doctrine and sacramental discipline – in other words, it would remain Anglican. It would operate under the oversight of the Rector of the parish (well I would say that wouldn’t I?) who would join in with the Acts 2.42 part, but not the rest – unless asked. It would accept the Lambeth quadrilateral<\/a> as a framework for faith. However, it could sit very lightly to the Anglican acquis communautaire<\/a>. It could be mostly independent of a) the inherited plant, and b) the structure of committees and processes. Although no group can operate without the formalities for long – the static latching is what enables survival over time rather than being dependent upon the passing emotions of the group.<\/p>\n Occasionally it would gather with the other Anglicans – and indeed the other Christians on the island – for broader worship and fellowship.<\/p>\n Worth exploring further? I sometimes daydream about planting a new church here on Mersea. It would need at least a dozen people to get it going – people who were seriously committed to a path of discipleship and spiritual growth. It would meet … Continue reading
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