Books have been an important part of Newfrontiers communication over the years and many have been written. Here I will highlight three which particularly record our history. First, in 1986 Terry wrote ‘Restoration in the Church’ (no longer in print). This served to lay out his vision for the restored church, touching on many key aspects of church life and practice such as Grace, Worship, Evangelism, Prayer, and the then much-debated topic ‘Apostles today?’
In 2001 Terry wrote ‘No well-worn Paths’ (also out of print) the title alluding to one of the prophecies referred to in my last blog. In this book Terry reflected on the previous twenty years, sharing the history of Newfrontiers as we drew eleven years of the Stoneleigh Bible Week to a close and drawing out lessons from which we and others could learn.
Now a new book has just been released by David Devenish which creates a trilogy of the history of Newfrontiers: Succession or Multiplication?
Succession or Multiplication?
In this book David seeks to combine a history of the last twenty years with an in-depth look at the process we went through in transitioning from one apostolic movement led by Terry to multiple apostolic spheres across the globe, often illustrating from his own experience in ministry which has included extensive experience in cross-cultural mission in different nations. He writes it humbly, not afraid to acknowledge when things did not work out in the way that had been planned.
But transition was more than a process. As David stated twice on pages 28 and 120, ‘multiplication of apostolic ministry was essential to our vision for world mission’. This transition was strategic as well as pragmatic.
The later chapters consider some wider principles about the nature of movements and cultural contextualisation, quoting extensively from other authors. Also, it appeared that the process of transition we had gone through, led by the Spirit, was corroborated by others who had studied change management and so on in both the Christian and secular worlds. Interesting!
This book will appeal both to those who have followed or want to catch up on the history of Newfrontiers as well as to those who may themselves be facing transition of leadership within a church or movement. You will learn much. Throughout, David gives thorough Biblical warrant for decisions made as we sought to pass through a process which was unusual if not unique, one which many said could not happen successfully. I am pleased to say that it is generally accepted that that foreboding has proved false.
Other publications
We have always seen the importance of other good, accessible literature that equipped and cast vision. From the start we regularly had a news sheet, Coastlands News, which morphed into a regular publication with different titles over the years which could be described as, and was called for a season, ‘Newfrontiers Magazine’. These were predominantly teaching magazines which took a different major theme in each edition and were given free to all members of every Newfrontiers-related church worldwide; a significant cost but one we felt was important to help communicate with and equip each believer. In Ephesians 4 Paul writes that the five-fold ministries are there to ‘equip the saints’. Literature has been one way in which we have sought to do this.
Next time I will return to the 80s and look at some of the ways in which we became involved in nations outside the UK.