January 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Fresh
Expressions movement which spread internationally and denominationally
from its origins in the Church of England. Graham Cray was its first
National Leader.
Countless new forms of church have emerged through Fresh Expressions,
the Church Army, New Wine, and various pioneer network. On Mission with
Jesus offers a theological understanding of the missional nature of the
church, which will undergird and inform local practice and assist
ministerial and pioneer training.
Its central argument is that the Church’s inherited understanding of
itself imprisons the imagination of local congregations and in ten
chapters, Graham Cray seeks to establish a new self-understanding for
local congregations:
1. Updating Default Settings
2. Sharing in the Mission of God
3. Making Disciples
4. Following the Spirit
5. Shaping the Church
6. Anticipating the Future
7. Joining the family Business
8. Being a Pilgrim People
9. Recognising Jesus in the Church
10. Becoming a Jesus on Mission-Shaped Church
Graham Cray chaired the Mission-Shaped
Church report, led the Fresh Expressions team for five years, chaired
the Church of England Pioneer panel and introduced this movement in the
US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and various European
countries. More recently he has taught Missional Ecclesiology at St
Hild’s College.