Recognising the Communion Dilemma

Following the revealing New Things research published in 2024, comes The Communion Dilemma, a new piece of research from Joshua Cockayne, director of the Bede Centre for Church Planting Theology at Cranmer Hall.

Examining 63 contexts across 20 diocese, the research investigates how new worshipping communities have engaged with the sacraments in contexts that don’t give easy access to presiding clergy, or find that authorised liturgy is too wordy, ill-fitting to their contexts, or inaccessible for their members’ needs.

I welcome the publication of The Communion Dilemma. As someone who has led worshipping communities both as a lay leader and as an ordained pioneer, I know how tricky it can be to navigate sacramental worship well, seeking to honour both the context I serve in and the tradition of the wider Church.

While the Church celebrates the growing movement of lay-led expressions of worship across the country, the need for clarification and support of those lay leaders around liturgy and sacraments is increasingly important.

Whilst some may find the results alarming, I think The Communion Dilemma is a timely call for the church to engage in new discussions about the much needed updating of our liturgical forms, the lack of adaptability of our liturgical structures to match our missional work, and the need for good training for lay people in how they can express and share sacramental worship in a way that is both truly contextual and Anglican.

You can find out more about the research and its findings in an upcoming free webinar on Tuesday 21st October at 3pm, in which Joshua Cockayne will be joined by Mark Earey (Queen’s Foundation) and Rachael Phillips (Magdalene Community Church).

If you have questions about how to establish or support new worshipping communities, please do contact me at phil.hoyle@ccx.org.uk