Fresh Expressions of Church
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Durham E-Theses Built on the Word: The theology and use of the Bible in the Australian Anglican Fresh Expressions of Church TUENO, GUERIN,JAMES How to cite: TUENO, GUERIN,JAMES (2015) Built on the Word: The theology and use of the Bible in the Australian Anglican Fresh Expressions of Church , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11081/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Built on the Word: The theology and use of the Bible in the Australian Anglican Fresh Expressions of Church A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Theology and Ministry in Durham University Department of Theology and Religion by Guerin Tueno 2014 1 Abstract: The Fresh Expressions of Church are a new form of Anglican church planting that emphasises an incarnational or encultured methodology which recognises that simply repeating existing patterns fails to connect to the majority of society. However, within both the Church of England and the Anglican Church of Australia, the Fresh Expressions movement has been attacked as being illegitimate owing to its extra-parochial nature. This thesis argues that the parochial system is not the defining feature of Anglicanism, and that the debate should be refocused on the Anglican Formularies as the normative expression of the Church’s theology and practice. Central to these Formularies is the authority and use of Scripture. So this thesis argues that in considering the legitimacy of the Fresh Expressions movement attention needs instead to be given to the Anglican Church of Australia’s espoused theology and practice regarding the Bible. These beliefs are then to be brought into dialogue with practices of the Fresh Expression churches. While due weight is given to the academic debate around Anglican identity, this research focuses instead on practice; espoused belief is an insufficient measure of ecclesial identity and churches need to be considered through what they do. This research was carried out in three Fresh Expression churches and one Inherited church, all of which belong to the Anglican Church of Australia. Field research was conducted through a questionnaire followed by participant-observer work. The Fresh Expression churches considered in this thesis express positive Anglican identity through their use of the Bible and through another core feature of Anglican identity and practice – that is, the ordination injunction from the Church of England ‘to proclaim the gospel afresh to each generation’. ‘Afresh’ does not simply mean repeating the message, but rather is a process that can only be done through giving due weight to the social, economic, and educational factors that inform each individual church’s area or network of ministry. The contention of this thesis is that the Fresh Expression churches considered individually display some aspects of Anglican identity through their practices and thus encourage the movement as a whole to reflect on how to more fully express their place in the Anglican family. This thesis also argues for the central importance of the authorised leadership in maintaining Anglican identity through practice while engaging in enculturated mission and ministry. 2 Table of Contents Contents Tables ....................................................................................................................................... 6 List of abbreviations used in this thesis ................................................................................... 6 My ethnographic present .......................................................................................................... 6 Referencing of participants ...................................................................................................... 6 Declaration ............................................................................................................................... 6 Statement of copyright ............................................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 7 Dedication ................................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 1 - Introduction ........................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 - Methodology ....................................................................................................... 11 2.1 - Reflexivity: locating the researcher ........................................................................... 12 2.2 - Methodology proposed and reconsidered .................................................................. 13 2.3 - Research methods ...................................................................................................... 15 2.4 - Theological methodology .......................................................................................... 18 2.5 - Development of the hypothesis ................................................................................. 24 2.6 The Australian Context ............................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3 - Logos and the Ecclesia Anglicana: defining the field of inquiry ....................... 28 3.1 - Anglicanism ............................................................................................................... 28 3.2 - Official commitments ................................................................................................ 33 3.3 - Fresh Expressions of Church ..................................................................................... 35 3.4 - Fresh vs Emerging ..................................................................................................... 41 3.5 - Listening to the critics: what is wrong with the Fresh Expression of Church? ........ 46 Chapter 4 - Scripture and the Inherited Church ..................................................................... 51 4.1 - Refocusing the debate: the Anglican praxis of Scripture .......................................... 51 4.2 - Authorised liturgy ...................................................................................................... 51 4.3 - The key to the Anglican praxis of Scripture .............................................................. 55 4.4 - Defending the ‘Anglican matrix’ ............................................................................... 57 4.5 - Anglicanism and the Bible ........................................................................................ 58 4.6 - International insight? ................................................................................................. 61 4.7 - Tom Frame: consensus Anglicanism ........................................................................ 62 4.8 - Scripture and the Inherited Church considered.......................................................... 67 3 Chapter 5 - Espoused identity and practice ............................................................................ 68 5.1 - Phase one: understanding the questionnaire .............................................................. 68 5.2 - Developing the questionnaire .................................................................................... 75 5.3 - The questionnaire in use ............................................................................................ 76 5.4 - Importance of ‘being Anglican’................................................................................. 78 5.5 - Importance of ‘being Emergent’ ................................................................................ 81 5.6 - Importance of using the Bible .................................................................................... 82 5.7 - Importance of using the Bible compared with the number of readings and books covered ............................................................................................................................... 85 5.8 - Importance of the Bible in shaping liturgy ................................................................ 85 5.9 - Involvement of the Bishop......................................................................................... 86 5.10 - Importance of the Bible beyond the liturgical service ............................................. 86 5.11 - General comments on Phase One results ................................................................. 87 Chapter 6 - The Word in practice: embodied beliefs in liturgical life .................................. 91 6.1 - Participant-observation in Fresh Expression churches .............................................. 91 6.1.1 -