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Church Planting and the Parish in Durham Diocese, 1970–1990: Church Growth Controversies in Recent Historical Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2018

Philip Lockley
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Abstract

This article unearths the forgotten history of the first modern church planting scheme in the Church of England: an attempt to restructure parish ministry in Chester-le-Street, near Durham, in the 1970s and 1980s. This story of rapid growth followed by decline, and of an evangelical church’s strained relations with their liberal bishop, David Jenkins, has pertinence for contemporary Anglican antagonisms over ‘fresh expressions’ and other church planting programmes. A culture of mistrust is arguably apparent both then and now, between liberals and conservatives in ecclesiology, even as the same line divides those of the reverse tendency in broader, doctrinal theology: conservatives from liberals. Developments, decisions and, indeed, debacles in the story of Chester-le-Street parish point to the urgent need for liberals and conservatives in Anglican ecclesiology and theology to overcome their mistrust of each other by recognizing the other as valuable for the mutual strengthening and renewal of the Church.

Keywords

Chester-le-StreetChurch of EnglandChurch plantingChurch growthDavid JenkinsDiocese of Durhamparish systemsecularizationwomen’s ordination
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , November 2018 , pp. 103 - 127
Copyright
© The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2018 

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References

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45. I am grateful to Sharon Pritchard, Durham Diocese Children’s Ministry Advisor, for this information.

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82. DDR/BP/PAR/6/26, 12 November 1986, D. Clenahan to David Jenkins.

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