Engaging With New Housing

Section E: How to engage in different contexts

Introduction

Every new housing context is different. These How to guides draw on stories from towns, villages and cities; the new housing forming suburban estates, new towns, and areas of urban apartments. Some of the areas are social and affordable homes, some are high-end. People are engaging with these new residents, making friends, and building community in a whole variety of ways. Some are particularly focussing on sports and fitness, others arts and crafts. Many are reimagining what ‘church’ looks like in their context, often alongside those with no link to the existing church, and usually without a building. Some live within the area of new homes, others are finding ways of sharing God’s love with the community whilst living elsewhere. This resonates with the mission of the early church as they worked out what it looked like to be a Gentile Christian in new contexts and cultures (see Acts 15.)

Although the underlying Christlike nature remains the same, this is embodied differently in different contexts. This section considers these different approaches,

• Engaging through the arts.
• Engaging through sports & games.
• Reimagining Church.