I visited Lambeth Palace today to attend one of the Fresh Expressions Hard Questions days. In the morning Bishop Lindsay Urwin spoke about Sacramental ministry in fresh expressions of church followed by Tim Dakin from CMS on Developing ecclesiology in global perspective.
It was good to meet up with a few friends and make some new ones – some of whom are in the sorts of situations that I may find myself in the future – 50% parish and 50% fresh expression – although I stil dream of 100% pioneering!
The morning was particularly good as I was challenged by Bishop lindsay’s comments on the place of the Eucharist in fresh expressions. He was saying we have institutionalised the Eucharist and that we need to rediscover its power and importance. We need to re-engage with the truth that each encounter with the eucharist should be a fresh encounter with Jesus. He also holds the view that any fresh expression needs to have the Eucharist central to its life if it is going to continue to grow.
To someone from low church background that all seems a bit heavy and on SEITE residential I regularly talk about the Eucharist with my more catholic friends but end up trying to wind them up – usually very unsuccessfully – but the whole sacramental ‘thing’ does interest me massively. The heaviness was lifted however with some words from the bishop that I was not expecting.
As well as needing to de-institutionalise the Eucharist we also need to start a discussion asking what is central to the Eucharist, what is essential and what ave we added, what makes a ‘live’ Eucharist. He also advocated a climate of permission to experiment with deregulation to do so.
I agree entirely but it worries me that there is no consistency here across dioceses. In some experimentation is allowed, in others it is done ‘un-officially’ and in still others bishops block any innovation. It frustrates me personally because instead of spending time on ‘who is in and who is out’ arguments based on sexuality, I think we should be considering stuff like this that because this is stuff that really matters on an everyday basis to everyday people who are spiritually searching.
I hope and pray Bishop Lindsay is able to share his thoughts with the other bishops.
The Shiny Headed Prophet 
Interesting, I know Lindsay a bit and his Order (Good Shepherd)… he’s a good guy and comes from a tradition which seeks to refraim catholicism in the context of the “now”! We have found his words to be true, the Eucharist, at least breaking bread and sharing wine each time we sit together at the table has become vital to our fledgling community.
hey Rob, I am unsure whether or not to find it exciting or unsettling that we are thinking very similar things, particularly about the Eucharist. We did a communion at our Cafe Church last night. It was really interesting to see how people interacted with it! We even had two people from the Salvation Army…and they were happy to partake! Interesting stuff!It would be good to meet up, catch up and chat…I am seeing a DDO this week…first meeting!Phil G