The Church of England declared in its vision and strategy for the 2020s that one of its three priorities was to “be a church where mixed ecology is the norm”. But the concept of a “mixed-ecology” church, in which a traditional parish co-exists with new expressions of church, has also become increasingly popular within the Anglican Church of Canada.
Bishop of Niagara Susan Bell spoke about the call to become a mixed-ecology church in her last two charges to the diocesan synod. Diocesan community missioner Canon Ian Mobsby says Niagara is committed to becoming a “mixed-ecology diocese.”
In October, Trinity College in Toronto hosted a public lecture by the Rev. Ed Olsworth-Peter, director of innovation and development at St. Mellitus College—the Church of England’s largest theological college—on his book Mixed Ecology, which details the church’s recent experience with this approach.
Mixed ecology, Olsworth-Peter told the Anglican Journal, refers to a model characterized by “all sorts of different types of church sitting side by side that serve different needs … It could be a parish church that loves what they do, but realizes they’re not going to reach everyone. So they might start something else along the side.” He cites examples such as Forest Church, which involves worshipping in nature; Messy Church, built around activities for children and families; or café church, in which Christians gather in cafés to offer fellowship and outreach.
Rather than feeding people into an established church, a mixed-ecology parish often involves congregation members running different initiatives that may share theology with, and are typically resourced by, the parish, Olsworth-Peter says.
He acknowledges overlap between the mixed-ecology model and other novel approaches to ministry, such as Fresh Expressions—an ecumenical movement that aims to develop new forms of church with existing congregations, which started in the U.K. as a partnership between the Church of England and the Methodist Church—and particularly Messy Church.
“There’s lots of grassroots stuff that’s been going on for years … I think it might be that the [church] structure is catching up with that,” Olsworth-Peter says. “The language is catching up … There were quite a lot of people who were doing it already instinctively. [Mixed ecology] just gave a helpful framework and language to what was already there.”
‘It’s all about mutual flourishing and responding to spiritual need’
Mobsby says mixed ecology recognizes the “post-secular culture” now prevalent in countries like Canada, in which Christianity is no longer the dominant force and different cultures exist alongside each other.
While building on inherited church models, Mobsby says, a mixed-ecology church also seeks “to respond to missional opportunities to engage with de-churched, non-churched people to form new ecclesial communities out of contextual mission.”
The language of ecology, he says, suggests coexistence rather than competition. “It’s all about mutual flourishing and responding to spiritual need … There’s a huge number of people who are ‘spiritual but not religious’. One of the challenges in Canada, I think, is how to respond to that.” The diocese of Niagara, he notes, is currently experimenting with holding groups for contemplative prayer and meditation.
From 2015 to 2020, Mobsby served as Woolwich Episcopal Area mission enabler for the Church of England and priest-in-charge at St. Luke’s Church (Camberwell) in Peckham, South London. St. Luke’s was “in a bad way,” he says, with an aging congregation that was not renewing itself.
At the same time, St. Luke’s was next to several arts colleges with “lots of people exploring spirituality,” Mobsby says. “There was a total disconnect between the parish church and the opportunities on the ground.”
In response, St. Luke’s set up a new monastic community alongside the traditional parish. New monasticism refers to a diverse Christian movement that emphasizes broad forms of communal life, prayer, contemplation, hospitality and concern for the poor.
“That expanded to reaching out to all sorts of different people … I think we have to take more seriously the culture which people are coming from,” Mobsby says.
From 2020 to 2023, Mobsby was assistant dean for fresh expressions and pioneer ministry and interim pioneer rector at Christ Church Blackfriars, a former industrial mission in Central London he says had lost much of its identity in the wake of de-industrialization. Alongside traditional Sunday morning worship, the parish sought to engage during the week with those who lived and worked in the area.
“A lot of that was dealing with people with stress and anxiety and mental health problems and opening up Christian resources to support people,” Mobsby says. “And that grew a whole mission of itself.”
Diocese of Niagara recruits commissioned lay missioners
Missioners—known in the Church of England as pioneers—play a leading role in mixed-ecology parishes. The diocese of Niagara recently introduced its first commissioned lay missioners (CLMs)—trained volunteers who help create missional initiatives with the hope that they will form new worshipping communities.
CLMs support the existing roles of licensed lay missioners, who are paid and head specific mission work, and ordained missioners—Anglican clergy who lead missions. Nine Anglicans in the diocese have begun a two-year apprenticeship to become CLMs, Mobsby says.
Canon Garfield Adams, rector and missioner at St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Oakville, Ont., is currently leading three CLMs in the Mission in Acts Mission, an official diocesan mission based at St. Luke’s with some activity taking place at nearby St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church.
In response to a growing population of Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrants, the mission began holding Mandarin-language Eucharist services and Bible study. Each Sunday, St. Luke’s simultaneously holds two Anglican worship services: one in English using the Book of Alternative Services, and the other in Mandarin.
Afterwards the two groups join for fellowship over coffee, with bilingual lay leaders helping translate. St. Luke’s also hosts regular English coffee events, inviting guest speakers from the community to help participants practice their English.
Before, the congregation “had been shrinking for the last few years,” Adams says. “But it’s gradually recovered because of [the people] we brought in.” Though there were tensions at the very start due to linguistic and cultural differences, he says, regular Sunday worship attendance has increased from 15-20 people to 60-80.
With mixed ecology, “basically we embrace the difference,” Adams says. “We’re all God’s people. I believe [this is] a strategy of parish development which gives more space or gives us a vision to create a new type of church.”
The diocese of Niagara is currently focused on establishing CLM cohorts to make mixed-ecology parishes sustainable, Mobsby says. He has also had discussions about establishing similar missions in the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
“What I think [mixed ecology has] done is given parishes a confidence to think that God is very present in their communities,” he says.
“I think it’s moved away from a survival mentality to a missional mentality … There’s a renewed confidence of clergy in having a role to play outside of church buildings. I’m seeing lay people gaining some confidence in getting to know people relationally in their context, listening and discerning spirit and opportunities in their communities.”
