WinfieldHeadshotAsbury Theological Seminary announced its partnership with the U.S. Fresh Expressions team on March 3. The new partnership encourages and enables members of the Seminary faculty, staff and student body to engage in research, training and strategy that will impact the Church domestically and internationally.

“Asbury Seminary is excited to partner with Fresh Expressions,” Dr. Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Seminary, said. “Through these partnerships and our degree offerings, we are preparing church planters to share the Gospel in the 21st century. We seek to send laborers into the harvest field who are equipped with the skills, resources and ingenuity to meet the needs of the Church in innovative ways.”

Dr. Winfield Bevins, Director of the Church Planting Initiative at Asbury Seminary, will serve on the U.S. Fresh Expressions Team as a mission strategist and trainer. Dr. Thomas Tumblin, Associate Provost for Global Initiatives and Academic Affairs, will help facilitate new academic research about discipleship, church participation and the impact of Fresh Expressions as it grows in the U.S.

“I am thankful for the Fresh Expressions movement and its impact on England and North America,” Bevins said. “Because of the movement’s emphasis on the unchurched, Fresh Expressions doesn’t ‘steal’ members from other churches. Instead, it aims to reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ, and has proven itself to be effective at doing just that. I am thrilled that Asbury Seminary is partnering with Fresh Expressions to help empower the wider church with innovative ways to engage our post-Christian culture with the timeless and life-changing message of Christ.”

Fresh Expressions is a form of church for our changing culture and is designed for those who are not yet part of any church. Whether in surf clubs, laundromats, abandoned cathedrals or biker bars, each expression of the church is unique and tailored to a specific context.

In addition to this partnership, Asbury Seminary currently has almost 50 active church planting networks and offers a variety of degrees and emphases focused on preparing church planters for the 21st century. Church planting degrees are available in the Master of Arts, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry programs.

Fresh Expressions is an international movement of missionary disciples cultivating new kinds of church alongside existing congregations to more effectively engage our growing post-Christian society. The movement started in 2004 as an initiative of the Church of England and the British Methodist Church and has resulted in the birth of thousands of new communities bringing renewal to established churches. Fresh Expressions has spread to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Germany. In 2010, the movement began taking shape in the U.S. through the vision and generosity of the Baptist General Association of Virginia and a growing number of partners committed to a new era of missional ecumenism.