• Began Prototype cell July 2000.
• First 3 cells begun October 2001
• Encouragement and advice given by Graham Horsley on his visit to Haslington in March 2002.
• Establishment of a youth cell in September 2002.
• Establishment of a fourth ‘adult’ cell in October 2002.
• Members attend the first Methodist Cell Conference at Cliffe in November 2002 and the second in November 2003.
• Multiplication of one of the cells in February 2004 following the Alpha course.
• Running our own ‘Cell Leadership Development Programme’ between April & September this year.
• ‘Suspension’ (hopefully temporarily) of the youth cell in June of this year.
• Haslington host the first Methodist NW Regional Cell training day at Alsager in October 2004.
• Visits in 2004 to share our cell experience at Weaverham and Cheadle Hulme Methodist Churches.

We currently have six cells running with a total of approximately 40 members.

Cell has had & continues to have a significant impact on the life of Haslington Methodist Church. This is evident in our six aims (agreed by the Church Council on 21st May 2002 and shown in full as ABCDEF above) which collectively reflect the fact that cells are regarded as the basic small group structure around which all our Church activities are arranged. To illustrate some of the practical ways that cell relates to each of the aims, the indented text following each aim reflects our experience of cell over the past four years:

Haslington Methodist Church exists to Glorify God by emphasising six biblical values:

At the centre of life is Jesus Christ.
This is an obvious statement! How can there be a Christian church that does not follow Jesus? However, words, intent & reality are not necessarily the same thing. Cell provides a supportive environment and  the practical help we all need to turn these admirable words & intent into reality – daily living our lives with Him truly at the centre.

Being obedient to the command of Jesus to go and make disciples.
Every member is a witness. This is not an optional extra for a Christian, However, what sort of witness we are is our choice – we can be true witnesses or poor witnesses. Cell helps us all to be better true witnesses. It is a biological fact that healthy cells multiply. This is also true for healthy Christian communities. Like any community, every cell group has a ‘fringe’. The fringe of a cell group consists of the family, friends & colleagues of all the cell members. As the cell & cell members express the love of Jesus & His life in their life these people will be drawn to Christ. Someone (I don’t know who) has apparently done some research into the ‘effectiveness’ of different approaches to evangelism and produced this interesting (surprising?) contrast:

• Evangelising the world the ‘Billy Graham way’ (large evangelistic campaigns) will take circa 10 000 years.
• Via you & I helping one of our friends to make a commitment to Jesus each year & helping them to do the same will take circa 30 years.

(Please note that the researcher was not implying any criticism of Billy Graham who has an indisputable gift for mass evangelism).

Creating a COMMUNITY for all, marked by relationships of honesty and sacrificial love.
and Furthering God’s Kingdom by actively supporting the work of other Christians throughout the world.

Cell is NOT something we go to in a particular place at a particular time. It is not merely a ‘once a week meeting’. CelIs are small Christian communities (cell groups) where the cell members share their lives, their walk with God and their witness for Jesus. His way was the way of sacrificial love, it must be our way too. (Please note that cell groups are small Christian communities strongly connected to a larger Christian community - the whole church family. Cell groups are NOT a substitute for the congregation. Note also that the emphasis on honesty does not imply that cell groups are a place for Psychotherapy etc).

Deepening our spirituality together.
As disciples we seek to help each other to learn and grow in Christ to become more like Him. In cell groups we are encouraged to build each other up in Christ. Whilst they are neither prayer groups nor Bible study sessions, prayer and application of the Bible are major features of every cell meeting

Enabling all to recognise & use their gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Every Christian has a ministry & is equipped by the Holy Spirit with the gifts to carry it out. Cell is a great environment for helping us to identify our ministry & learn how to express and share our experience of God and develop our God given gifts of the Holy Spirit.

As implied in the opening paragraph, we are not alone in exploring cell church. World-wide, there are a considerable number of very well established cell churches & the number in the UK is growing, currently in the 100s as reported by Cell UK. In a recent survey covering more than 1 000 churches across every continent, Christian Schwartz, author of Natural Church Development, has identified eight ‘quality factors’ common to growing churches. Of these the factor with the highest correlation between quality and growth is ‘intentionally multiplying small groups’ – a good description of cell church.

Of course no article on cell, particularly a Methodist one, would be complete without a reference to John Wesley. John Wesley clearly recognised that he was living in a society that was going pagan (we might choose to use the word ‘secular’) and that there was a need to affirm Christian values. He understood that individual responsibility and mutual support were essential for ‘growth in Christian experience’ and so were born his small groups (classes). It is interesting & reassuring to also note that he taught his followers to attend their local parish church. He did NOT see the small groups as a substitute for congregational worship.

There is a ‘modern parable(?)’ you have probably heard about boiling frogs (DON’T TRY IT – it’s rather messy!). Drop a frog into boiling water & apparently it will jump out, but put one in cold water & gradually heat it up & the frog will die – seduced by the gradual build up of heat. We are in such a situation in this country, a similar situation to the one that Wesley found himself in? Christian values are no longer at the centre of our politics, law, business, education, social services etc. We are living in an epidemic of selfishness, the ‘I’ centred consumer society. All Christians are called to make a stand for Him, to put Jesus back at the centre, not just of our churches but the whole of society. The experience of the last four years has convinced us that with it’s combination of small group (cell) – primarily for mutual encouragement and effective personal application of His word (discipleship & evangelism)- and large group (congregation) – primarily for inspirational corporate worship & the hearing of God’s word – that cell really is an effective way of helping us to do just this in our, non-Christian consumer society.

If this article has raised any questions about cell church the following two web sites are definitely worth a visit:

www.celluk.org.uk   the web site for Cell UK which exists to encourage and promote the development of relevant cell churches across the denominations in the United Kingdom. To this end Cell UK provides a range of resources for those interested in cell church, in the process of transitioning to the cell church model or planting a new cell church.

www.freshexpressions.org.uk   the web site recently launched by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the aim of resourcing a growing movement of fresh expressions of church.  All around the edge of the churches there are good things growing.  This is a new movement of mission across every tradition.  Everyone can play a part.

You are also most welcome to contact either:

Rev Simon Sutcliffe, the Minister at Haslington Methodist Church –  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
David Kerr, the cell supervisor at Haslington Methodist Church – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it