Is the opposite of a fresh expression a stale expression of church?
No. At the other end of the spectrum from fresh expressions is ‘inherited church’. Inherited churches are what exist already. Fresh expressions are new or different forms of church that connect with people who are not reached by inherited churches. There is still plenty of life in traditional or inherited forms of church. Traditional does not necessarily equal stale. Many inherited churches are full of vitality and growing. Our aim is not to grow fresh expressions instead of inherited churches but alongside them: a mixed economy. The Jerusalem church in Acts was a bit like inherited church. It had a traditional mindset and emerged from a ‘you come to us’ context: Jews from the known world had come to Jerusalem at Pentecost. The Antioch church was more like a fresh expression. It launched ‘we’ll come to you’ mission and had a more radical approach to theology and church practice. But despite tensions between them, they were interdependent. Paul, who headed up the missionary work launche
Related Questions
- On the outside cover of the PuriFresh ERV, two of the four openings have stale air leaving the unit and the other two have fresh air entering. Since the openings are closely spaced, why doesnt the stale air leaving get sucked back in and contaminate the fresh air entering?
- Is your Feng Shui Treasure Map fresh and vibrant or filled with stale images?
- Would Covenant Discipleship Groups work in a fresh expression context?
