New Bishop of Durham sets sights on growth

The next Bishop of Durham has spoken of his desire for growth in all areas of the church in his future diocese, but it is growth in numbers that he wants to see most especially.

Justin Welby, Dean of Liverpool, has outlined his vision ahead of the last service to be delivered by him in his current role on October 2.

Whilst spiritual growth is important, Mr Welby feels that government cuts have created a real need for more people to join in what the church is doing in communities.

“‘The business of growth encompasses growth in depth of spirituality, growth in engagement with communities and many other things, but in this context I mean growing numbers,” he said.

“If the church is to meet the challenges of today - not least those that are posed by government funding cuts - we have to have more people on the ground. Jesus spoke of praying for people to go out into the harvest.

“The fields are white for harvest and we haven’t got enough people to get out there.”

As he prepares for the move to the Diocese of Durham, a diocese with some of the lowest rates of church attendance in the country, Mr Welby sees the mixed economy of church as a vital part of growth.

“I think partly because historically the church has always operated mixed economy when it was at its best,” he explains.

“If you go back to the Middle Ages the great growth of the monastic movement was essentially a mixed economy, Benedict was a fresh expression in his day.

“So there’s nothing new about the mixed economy idea. Mixed economy is essential because it gives the balance between what Benedict called stability – a location in place and nature – with the catalyst of an openness to the Spirit of God doing new things. And we need both.

“Without stability you end up just following fashion, Benedict knew that very well, and without the catalyst of the Spirit you end up just becoming utterly embedded and unable to move in what you’ve always done.”

He acknowledges that fresh expressions are important but warns against the notion that a fresh expression can be a “cure for all”.

Rather, he takes a cautious approach, saying that fresh expressions of church need to be “calibrated and thought through rather than just done ad hoc, as a sort of knee jerk reaction when we need to have a fresh expression”.

He learned that cautious approach in the Diocese of Liverpool.

“One of the good things about Liverpool is that they haven’t thought, ‘OK we’ll plug fresh expressions in and then everything will be solved.’ Because it isn’t. But, on the other hand, they haven’t said, ‘Well because it’s not a black box which would solve all our problems we won’t do it.’”

What Mr Welby will be looking for when he takes up his new role as bishop is whether or not a fresh expression is “genuinely” a fresh expression, what it is trying to achieve, and in what way it adds to the work of the church and the Kingdom of God.

“Fresh expressions is increasingly a technical phrase and it’s a misused one. It’s one that’s being used so widely that it often becomes meaningless. You end up … where everything is a fresh expression of something and therefore nothing is.”

With brutal honesty, he adds: “If fresh expressions is not at its heart involving an encounter with Christ then I’m not remotely interested.”

Mr Welby’s consecration takes place on October 28 at York Minster. His enthronement is on November 26 at Durham Cathedral.