Since the Church in England was deemed planted during the first four centuries AD as part of the expansion of Christianity (Latourette, 1971) and was seen by McGavran as part of a commendable strategy of the Early Church (McGavran, 1955), the concept of church growth (Pickett, 1973, p.98) is worth consideration particularly since initiation policies must either promote church 'growth' or church 'decline'. The Church of England probably should only be dated from the arrival of St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597 (Moorman, 1963, pp.3, 12; Bruce, 1982, p.353). Pope Gregory's plan for the evangelization of the English took centuries:

Gregory's scheme for the appointment of twenty-four bishops in England remained a paper scheme for a very long time; it was not until the reign of Henry VIII that England had so many bishops. Gregory's idea of a second metropolitan at York was first realized in 634, but only for a short time; it was revived in 735 and has continued to this day (Bruce, 1982, p.398).

In the 1970s and 1980s there was considerable interest in the work of Donald McGavran whose major work Understanding Church Growth was published in 1970 and fully revised in 1980. I began my research into the subject in the mid 1970s at the University of Manchester and obtained the M.A. (Theol) for 'The Value of Church Growth Thinking in Contemporary Britain' (1984). A Church of England clergyman, Eddie Gibbs' book I believe in Church Growth published in 1981 and revised in 1985 was particularly influential. Also, Robert Runcie as Archbishop of Canterbury wrote the foreword in Grow or Die, Essays on Church Growth to Mark the 900th Anniversary of Winchester Cathedral with contributions from John V. Taylor, Bishop of Winchester among others. The editor, Alexander Wedderspoon drew attention to a vital aspect:

One of the characteristics of the church growth movement is what has been described as consecrated empiricism: a readiness to use pastoral techniques which are found to be effective and equal readiness to discard those which are not. Essential to this is constant research and experiment at every level and in all areas of the Church's work and behind this is the key question: 'How can we do better?'
Wedderspoon, 1981, p.127).

Whatever successes the Church of England has enjoyed in the past it now needs to be realistic in the year 2003 and onwards with its baptismal policy, and this means not being church-centred. Planting a new church in the 1970s helped me to see the importance of being population-focused. While researching every parish in two dioceses (Chester and Liverpool), I noticed that same church in the mid-1980s abandoning the 'Open' policy, and seemingly prospering but nevertheless having a dwindling children's outreach.

Church growth thinking is derived from the observation that Jesus commissioned his apostles with the words, 'All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age' (Matthew 28.18-20 NIV). It is important to link this with the teaching about the 'body of Christ' given in the Letters to the Ephesians and Colossians. The characteristic word for 'growth' is αυξησιs and this is linked with εκκλησια quite definitely (see Coloss. 1:18,24, 2:19 and Ephes. 1:22,23, 4:4,12,15,16). 'Growth' is linked with the church as the σωμα of Christ which could suggest that organic growth rather than merely numerical increase is the emphasis. 'All our evidence points to Paul as the originator of this way of expressing the church's vital unity with the church's Lord i.e. 'the head of the body, the church' (Colossians 1:18) 'the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God' (Colossians 2:19) (F.F. Bruce 1977).

This way of thinking preserves Church Growth from being another way of describing the pursuit of aggressive aggrandizement for the Church of England. Rather Church growth thinking requires attention not only to the needs of every man, women and child in England but also a humble recognition from the year 2004 and onwards that other Christian bodies are also pursuing the same cause. An approach is needed which will bring the whole population into union with Christ.

Please visit an exciting and attractive web site- www.heartforchildren.com for details of the Revd Penny Frank of CPAS's current campaign, 'A Heart for Children' about the rights of every child to hear the gospel as well as being given 'a chance to choose'.