2025-03-31-accounts

Annual Report 2024-2025

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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Who We Are

A MOVEMENT OF MISSION-SHAPED COMMUNITIES

Calling ordinary Equipping people for the Connecting contextual Networking mission of the extraordinary

God

Fresh Expressions is a growing movement of everyday people across all denominations, starting new Christian communities in the nooks and crannies of people’s everyday lives. From new housing to rural, urban to suburban, messy church and third age to forests, coffee shops, beaches, pubs, barns, online and even church buildings! Fresh Expressions of church can increasingly be found across the UK and around the world, helping those who would never approach a traditional church service to encounter the reality of Jesus.

With over 30 years’ experience of pioneering in creative and contextual ways, accompanied by robust theological research, reflections and reports on how Fresh Expressions have gathered and discipled people

who weren’t connecting with traditional forms of church, we know all about the challenges and joys of pioneering, but more importantly we know this approach to mission works.

We’re not a denomination. We’re not a pathway to ordination. We’re a grassroots movement filled with people who can’t stop thinking about who isn’t in church and want to do something about it. We’re a band of

misfits, visionaries, prophets, evangelists and creative entrepreneurs who can see what isn’t there and have the grit and faith to go out, listen, love, serve, tell people about Jesus and work with their new communities to create a new and authentic expression of church that makes sense to them.

[e-mail] www.freshexpressions.org.uk

Photo by Ioana Cristiana on Unsplash

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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LYNNE CLIFTON - FX PRACTITIONER

TAKEN FROM THE MISSION SHAPED PODCAST EP10

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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the fx Prayer

GRACIOUS GOD,

KEEP US EVER MINDFUL OF YOUR PRESENCE

THANKFUL FOR WHAT HAS BEEN

AND EXCITED FOR WHAT IS TO COME.

MAY WE WALK IN HUMILITY

ALWAYS HUNGRY FOR MORE OF YOU.

OPEN OUR EARS THAT WE WOULD ALWAYS HEAR YOU.

BREAK OUR HEARTS FOR WHAT HURTS YOU.

HOLY SPIRIT, LEAD US ALWAYS TO WHERE YOU NEED US TO BE. EQUIP US TO BE A COURAGEOUS MOVEMENT

TELLING STORIES OF HOPE AND PROCLAIMING, IN FRESH WAYS,

THE GOOD NEWS TO THIS GENERATION;

TO THE GLORY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST

AMEN

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How we work

How do we structure a charity so it supports a genuine move of the Holy Spirit? How to support a movement that is led by God and not by any one individual?

That’s a question the FX team has continuously wrestled with over the years, and has led to a structure including a board, a leadership community and the operations team.

We’ve been running this structure successfully for a few of years which has been a positive change.

The purpose of the charity is “to serve the fresh expressions movement and help it flourish”.

The relationships within and between the charity, the movement, the operations team and the leadership community can be illustrated as follows:

The fx movement is served by the charity and the leadership community through:

• prophetic listening to the voice of the Spirit in the movement,

• advocating for contextual mission and fx practitioners,

• connecting individuals and networks enabling collaboration,

• affirming and championing these individuals and networks.

The purpose of the fx leadership community is to respond to and for the fx movement by ‘fanning the flames’ of the networks and holding a common vision for the movement. It also provides strategic guidance as to how the charity can best deploy the FX Operations Team.

The FX board provides governance and finance that enables the charity to offer...

...the FX operations team who serve the movement and help the individuals and networks within it to flourish through effective connecting, resourcing and communicating.

OUR PURPOSE

“to serve the fresh expressions movement and help it flourish”

PUBLIC BENEFIT

Fresh Expressions Limited’s purpose has always been and will continue to encourage innovative ways of making church available to all members of the public. The Trustees have had regard to The Charities Commission guidance on public benefit. The Trustees believe that the activities of the Charity encourage faith and moral values across all communities and are available to al. The principle of embedding actually encourages even greater local community engagement and therefore benefit for all.

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How We Work

CHARITY NUMBER: 1080103

COMPANY NUMBER: 03598030

OFFICE ADDRESS

Fresh Expressions, 22 Brook Drive, Bude, England, EX23 8NY

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Susan Monckton-Rickett 21 School Lane Lawford Manningtree Essex CO11 2HZ

BANK :

The Co-Op Bank, PO Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 4EP

SOLICITORS :

Anthony Collins Solicitors, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES

freshexpressions.org.uk IN - @freshexpressionsuk YT - @freshexpressionsuk TK - @freshexpressionsuk FB - @freshexpression

DIRECTORS & TRUSTEES

• L M Newton Minister of Religion

• M P Williamson Charity CEO

• M R Harrison Bishop of the Church of England

• A Buhari CEO & Founder

• Anthony Clowes

• Elliot Thomas

OPERATIONS TEAM

• Rev’d Simon Goddard (Resourcing)

• Tim Lea (Networking)

• Mark Robinson (Communications)

• Suzie Wall (Events & Administration)

LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY

This group is made of a number of experienced practitioners from our movement with different denominations and experiences which aim to reflect the depth and breadth of the movement. They offer a key perspective that helps us to keep connected to our grass-roots. This group grows and contracts as new people join and others relinquish the responsibility.

fx Annual Report 2023/24

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ANON FX PRACTITIONER

TAKEN FROM A FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE IN NOV 23

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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Chair’s Report

Thank you for being interested in our work at Fresh Expressions.

In the following pages there are a number of exciting initiatives we worked on this year… the restarting of our regional hubs, continued growth of the Mission Shaped Podcast, a new version of Godsend published to help spark new worshipping communities in schools, the increasing demand for our expertise in coaching, and so on.

A particular thrill for me has been to see more interest in our work from more places overseas. Leaders from nations as diverse as Hong Kong, Paraguay, Rwanda and Malaysia have been reaching out to learn more about contextual mission and the pioneering of missional communities. Plus we continue to be in relationship with established FX work in Western Europe, Scandinavia, North America – all seeking to learn from one another and share knowledge.

We’re working in partnerships with numerous denominations and some regional groupings of Anglican dioceses and Methodist districts to deliver ongoing support for their pioneers on the ground. Increasingly our work is contractually based in this way, providing services for various groupings.

But to sustain this work over the long-term we also need to supplement this income. We are working to obtain grant funding for specific projects. But the backbone of a movement like ours is best funded by ongoing support from pioneers and friends.

So if you have benefitted from the work of fx over the years, or you want to support the continued growth of new missional communities during this season of increased spiritual openness across the UK, would you consider supporting fx financially?

You can make a one-off gift… or if we had 150 of our friends and members supporting us with just £30 per month, we would cover our core costs; we keep these to a minimum and only employ the equivalent of one full time person spread across our current Operations Team. If £30 a month is too big, even just £5-10 a month makes an impact.

Visit https://freshexpressions.org.uk/donate/ to give.

Please consider supporting these projects and this exciting missional work. It’s making a difference for the Kingdom of God, and we’d love you to stand with us.

MARK WILLIAMSON

Chair of Fresh Expressions Board

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NIK STEVENSON - FX PRACTITIONER TAKEN FROM THE MISSION SHAPED PODCAST EP13

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Networking Report

Coaching remained a key focus for Fresh Expressions this year. We ran UK-based coaching training sessions, contributed to the USA Godsend Hubs, and supported leaders through the Methodist contract, strengthening our capacity to equip practitioners for mission.

A major highlight was the launch of our regional hubs. These in-person gatherings replaced the national events affected by Covid and offered a local, accessible way to bring practitioners together. Hubs created brave spaces to connect, learn, and encourage one another, with initial feedback very positive. Plans are in place to expand the hubs to more regions in the coming year.

Our Dreaming Beyond gathering in November 2024 reinforced the ongoing need for Fresh Expressions’ focus on contextual mission. Leaders left inspired and renewed in vision, confident in their call to serve in their communities.

Partnerships continued to flourish. We engaged with the Church of England, exploring support for rural fresh expressions and contributing to the Northern Province initiative to develop 3,000 new worshipping communities. We maintained work with the Methodists, explored opportunities with the Church of Scotland and URC, and nurtured connections overseas.

Behind the scenes, we supported the life of the organisation by convening Ops Team meetings, mentoring our intern, contributing to the Flourish initiative, developing the FX Collective concept, and shaping the ‘singing our own song’ narrative. We also collaborated on the Pentecost campaign to encourage donations and hosted a fundraising group while liaising with potential fundraisers.

Fresh Expressions maintained a visible presence at key events, including the South West Baptist Association Day Conference, and strengthened links with diocesan leads across the Church of England.

2024–25 was a year of growth, connection, and collaboration. As we look ahead, we are excited to build on these foundations, equipping practitioners and creating spaces for mission to flourish across the UK and beyond.

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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RACHEL OATRIDGE - FX PRACTITIONER TAKEN FROM THE MISSION SHAPED PODCAST EP15

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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Resourcing Report

During 2024–25, Fresh Expressions continued to strengthen the capacity of pioneers, dioceses, and networks through high-quality resourcing, providing practical and theologically grounded tools to support mission and innovation across a range of contexts. The resourcing work focused on developing, publishing, and distributing key resources, supporting training, and ensuring that these tools were accessible and relevant for churches and leaders both in the UK and internationally.

Significant achievements included the adaptation of our core Godsend book into a version for children and young people as part of the Flourish pilot, which supports the planting of new worshipping communities in schools in partnership with the Growing Faith Foundation. Eight hundred copies of the new book were published and distributed across the country, alongside training for diocesan, school, and young leader cohorts. A slightly different version, the Pupils’ Edition, was created for wider distribution and use outside the pilot project. We also published a theological accompaniment to Godsend, entitled The Church as a Gift, as well as a prequel called Godsend.Intro. Work progressed on Self-Love(d), the third of our Mindfulness titles, which is scheduled for publication in 2025.

Work around Godsend Hubs continued, particularly in the United States, where we provided facilitation and coaching training to support the delivery of these learning communities. These hubs help local leaders implement initiatives effectively and encourage missional creativity, including the starting of new Christian communities. Through our partnership with the Methodist Church of Great Britain, we also offered coaching support to pioneers as part of their New Places for New People strategy.

The Resourcing Lead contributed to the broader strategic goals of the charity by supporting fundraising initiatives, assisting with budgeting, and helping to coordinate key events. By combining resource development, training, coaching, and facilitation, Fresh Expressions has equipped churches and leaders with the tools and confidence to innovate in mission.

fx Annual Report 2023/24

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ANON FX PRACTITIONER

TAKEN FROM A FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE IN NOV 23

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Events Report

During the year, our events programme focused on creating intentional spaces where practitioners, partners, and those exploring fx could connect, reflect, and be equipped for mission in their own contexts. Through both regional and national gatherings, we prioritised depth over scale, offering environments that fostered collaboration, mutual learning, and shared discernment about what God is doing across different places and traditions. These spaces played a key role in strengthening relationships, encouraging practitioners, and shaping plans for future growth.

FX REGIONAL HUBS

This year fx started to run their regional hubs. Focusing on bringing together practitioners and those interested in fx in their local regional area. These hubs are there to create brave spaces, to support, encourage and equip those on the ground doing it. The first northern hub took place in March 2025 in Sheffield. The plan is to start in more regions and increase the number of hubs, creating more brave spaces, in the coming year.

PARTNERS LEARNING COMMUNITY.

A group of fx partners representing a variety of denominations, including the Church of Scotland, Methodists, Salvation Army, as well as fx regional hub hosts and the fx operations team met together for 24 hours at the Hayes Conference centre. The time was spent creating space for those attending to find their own/collective team song and explore how to sing it in their contexts. The plan for the coming year is to increase those who attend this event and make it more accessible to a greater number of partners and networks.

fx Annual Report 2024/25

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MARTYN BROWN - FX PRACTITIONER

TAKEN FROM THE MISSION SHAPED PODCAST EP11

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Comms Report

EMAILS

SUBSCRIBER LIST APPROX: 7800 AVERAGE OPEN RATE 40%

LISTENS SINCE FEB 23

3800+

EMAILS SENT 88K

SOCIALS FOLLOWERS 17.5K+

WEBSITE

PAGE VIEWS 57K VISITORS

30K

This year, The Mission Shaped Podcast became an increasingly important part of our communications, offering a consistent and trusted space for longer-form conversation and reflection. Through interviews and shared stories, the podcast has helped surface learning from across the Fresh Expressions movement and provided a way for practitioners to hear directly from others navigating similar contexts. Its continued development has reinforced the value of audio as a medium for depth, nuance, and connection.

Alongside the podcast, our wider communications have continued to develop. Email remains a key channel for keeping people informed and connected, while our social media presence has grown moderately, supporting visibility and engagement around events, resources, and stories from the network. Together, these channels have worked in a complementary way, supporting relationships, encouraging participation, and helping us share learning in accessible and appropriate ways.

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Financial Review

FINANCIAL POSITION

The balance of the charity’s funds now stands at £159,984 including a restricted fund balance of £4,900

Induction and training of new directors

Prospective directors undergo a formal briefing by the Chairman of the Board and other directors as appropriate. Relevant documents, procedures and policies are supplied in connection with the day- to- day running of the organisation as part of an induction plan. Any training or personal development needs in line with the roles and responsibilities of Board Directors are arranged as required.

Key management remuneration

The charity has no paid staff. The Operations Team are paid monthly and reviewed annually.

Risk management

RESERVES POLICY

The Directors review the activities of the charity on a regular basis for exposure to a range of risks and are satisfied that arrangements are in place to mitigate these.

The trustees have a policy of holding six months of operational expenditure in reserves. The charity does not have any employees but has a flexible Operations Team, enabling a light touch strategy that can deliver the charitable objectives and also respond quickly to changes in need or circumstances.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Recruitment and appointment of new directors

Directors are appointed by The Board of Directors.

Organisational structure

The Board of Directors meets three to four times a year and receives reports on finance and projects from Operations Team and specialist advisors. Interim board meetings are occasionally arranged between meetings.

Individual Directors have light touch operational responsibilities for specific areas of expertise and activity and contracts will be negotiated to both facilitate a light touch and ensure strategic focus.

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STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees (who are also the directors of Fresh Expressions Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

• Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

• there is no relevant information of which the charitable company’s examiner is unaware; and

• the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the examiner is aware of that information.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

The independent examiner, Sue Monckton-Rickett FACCA, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 22 December 2023 and signed on its behalf by:

M P Williamson - Trustee

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It’s much more than new structures and methods, it’s about rethinking what church is.

ANON FX PRACTITIONER TAKEN FROM A FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE IN NOV 23

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Statement of Financial Activities

(INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
2025 2025 2025 2024
(£) (£) (£) (£)
Income and expenditure from
Donations and Legacies 64,813 9,000 73,813 79,588
Charitable Activities 5,999 0 5,999 14,566
Other Trading Activities 7,198 0 7,198 3,733
Investment Income 1,614 0 1,614 1,306
Total Income 79,625 9,000 88,625 99,192
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising Funds 999 0 999 4,346
Charitable Activities
Operating / Core Running Costs 22,217 0 22,217 23,015
Networking and Resourcing 99,759 11,000 110,759 99,344
Governance 1,852 0 1,852 621
Total Expenditure 124,827 11,000 135,827 127,325
Net Income / (Expenditure) -45,202 -2,000 -47,202 -28,134
Reconciliation of Funds
Total Funds Brought Forward 155,584 4,400 159,984 188,117
Total Funds Carried Forward 110,382 2,400 112,781 159,984
----- End of picture text -----

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 31 MARCH 2025

31 MARCH 2025	31 MARCH 2025
CURRENT ASSETS BO			Unrestricted Funds 2025 (£) Restricted Funds 2025 (£) Total Funds 2025 (£)	Total Funds 2024 (£)
Stocks Debtors Prepayments and Accrued Income Cash at Bank TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS BO			858 0 858 3,781 0 3,781 1,489 0 1,489 118,320 2,400 120,720 124,448 2,400 126,848	842 63,906 1,356 100,146 166,250
CURRENT LIABILITIES BO
	Creditors falling due within one year		-14,066 0 -14,066	-6,266
NET CURRENT ASSETS BO			110,382 2,400 112,781	159,984
	TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES		110,382 2,400 112,781	159,984
FUND BALANCES BO
	Unrestricted Funds		110,382	155,584
	Restricted Funds		2,400	4,400
			112,781	159,984

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2025. In accordance with Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011, the accounts have been examined by an independent examiner and their report has been included in these Financial Statements.

The Directors (who are the charitable company’s Trustees for the purposes of charity law) acknowledge their responsibilities for:

• ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records which comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

• preparing Financial Statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its net income or expenditure for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to Financial Statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies and were approved by the Board of Trustees on 16 December 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

M P Williamson - Trustee

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ANON FX PRACTITIONER

TAKEN FROM A FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE IN NOV 23