Newfrontiers church planting in the UK: an examination of their distinctves and practices

Abstract

At a time when many denominations and church groups in the UK are declining, one "family of churches" is experiencing growth and opening new churches at an increasing rate. This thesis examines this phenomenon by considering the practice of church planting in the UK within a group of churches known as Newfrontiers, and seeks to suggest reasons for their growth and expansion. In doing this, it considers four main questions: " How has Newfrontiers developed and maintained a programme of intentional church planting? (Section 1) " How does Newfrontiers go about planting churches? (Section 2) " What might a "successful" church plant look like? (Section 3) " What makes a "successful" church plant? (Section 4) In the course of this thesis, two main sources of information are used. They are the primary sources of Newfrontiers (in-house magazines, books, and audio/audio visual material), and empirical research carried out by the author. This research included a series of interviews with senior and other relevant leaders within Newfrontiers, as well as a survey and follow up interviews with leaders of a number of current/recent Newfrontiers new churches.

Date of Award	Jan 2009
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Supervisor	William Kay (Supervisor)