What is the aim of New Worshipping Communities (NWC)?
There are people of all ages in our communities who are spiritually curious and yet are not part of a church community.
Some people feel there are barriers to them attending a traditional church service. They may be families with young children, be part of the neurodivergent community or have disabilities, or they may have never been to church before and are worried about knowing what to do and when.
New Worshipping Communities (NWC) help ensure we are offering a range of ways for people to come to faith and worship God. They offer a more informal and relaxed form of worship, sometimes in a different setting to a church which members of the community may be more familiar with and feel is more accessible.
Definition
One of our four new priorities as part of our vision to grow as kingdom people is to create 100 New Worshipping Communities by 2030. To aid us with understanding what counts towards this target, we have an official definition:
- New - The aim of a newly created worshipping community is to reach people who are currently not attending church (in the previous 2 years) and to make new Christian disciples.
- Worshipping – The purpose of the community is the worship of Jesus Christ and to help people grow in their faith. Its practices will involve initially two or more of the following; prayer, scripture, praise, sacrament, and acts of service.
- Community – Meets together in person or online regularly (ie at least once a month), is connected with the wider Church through the parish church, deanery or diocese.’
Helping people come to faith - 2022 Talking Jesus report
Talking about Jesus in a relaxed atmosphere is an important part of New Worshipping Communities and here is a resource that can help. This ground-breaking 2022 'Talking Jesus' report shows the state of faith in the UK, how people come to faith in Jesus and how we, as the church, can talk about Jesus more effectively with our friends and in our community.
https://talkingjesus.org/research
NWC examples
There are already several New Worshipping Communities in the Diocese. Arts, Walking, Forest, and Café churches are just some examples of how churches are reaching out to their local communities in new ways.
Arts church
Cafe church
- 'Church at 4' cafe church in Beoley, Redditch
- Tardebigge cafe church run by St. Bartholomews and St. Mary's
Forest Church
Walking church
Funding and support are available to you if you would like to set up a New Worshipping Community in your parish. Please visit the All age worship section of this website for more advice and contact the Transformation Support Hub for further support.