For the Parish: A Critique of Fresh Expressions

by Andrew Davison, Alison Milbank

Fresh Expressions of Church are most significant development in the Church of England in recent decades. Many have called for a thorough theological engagement with the movement. The Church of England is engaging in radical new departures when the ecclesiological thinking for such experiments is far from complete. Parishes are the mainstay of the 'inherited church'. Frequently they are belittled and cast as either unhelpful or irrelevant. The authors argue for the vitality of the parish, both for mission and for discipleship. The authors argue that the forms of the church are to be an embodiment of her faith. They should therefore be more determined by our theological traditions than by the surrounding culture. They show that the traditions of the parish church represent ways in which time, space, community are ordered in relation to God and the gospel.

Genres: Theology

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Andrew Davison (DPhil, University of Oxford) is the tutor in doctrine at Westcott House, University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England. He has taught theology at St. Stephen’s House, Oxford, and is known for his writing on doctrine, mission, and the church. He is coauthor of For the Parish: A Critique of Fresh Expressions and joint editor of Lift Up Your Hearts.

Reviews

[Lyndon]

Davison and Milbank dismantle the assumptions of Fresh Expressions through attention to the relationship of form to matter, of belief to community, and of locality and temporality in relation to the grace and gift of space and time. Tracing out the implications that exist deep within the logic of instrumentalist programs like Fresh Expressions, the authors argue for a more robust vision of the church that doesn't settle for quantified ends but which seeks through faithful practice and formative worship the means through which God's glory can shine. The work concludes with the authors articulating their hope for a re-imagined parish church that rejects "progress" over "received tradition", and which strives to be political (as in "of the polis") as a sign of God's goodness in our material world.

[Toby]

One of the most controversial books on parish ministry to have been published for many years, For the Parish has certainly contributed to the debate of how the Church of England is to change (if at all) over the years to come.

The authors write very well and are clearly very passionate about the Church. At times I found myself greatly in sympathy with their frustrations and sadnesses, whilst being puzzled at their proposed remedies - do they really believe that if only churches imitated Merton College Evensong everything will be rosy again? They set up a straw man in their attack on Fresh Expressions, taking only the most egregious examples and not engaging with those Fresh Expressions that are contributing to the wider (sacramental) life of the church. A helpful corrective, but one that swings far too far the other way.