Richard White

Phil Potter

It’s over 10 years since the vision and values of Cell Church were introduced into the UK.  Since then many of us have embarked on a fascinating (and often frustrating!) journey of transition as we’ve tried to contextualise the cell church model into our UK culture.  

10 years on and there are huge encouragements, not least from within the Church of England that has seen a remarkable response to fresh expressions of church in general, and cell church in particular.  

Our new name and website aim to reflect all this in 3 main ways........

First, the change of name offers a reminder that this movement has grown across all denominations, and that at its heart is a group of leaders who have worked together across the various streams to see cell church established.  In this context Cell UK offers resources and training to all churches, and keeps an interested eye on the progress of cell church in every context.  Anglican Cell UK is very much a partner in this, but also seeks to provide a distinctive service to Anglican churches involved in cell. 

The second development, then, is a list of available consultants, all of whom have specific understanding and experience of the Anglican setting.  That means of course that these consultants collectively must cover a very broad range of contexts. On the site you will find leaders of large churches and small, urban and rural, neighbourhood and network, working either with inherited models of church or emerging ones. 

The third development here is potentially the most exciting.  A lot of progress has been made in incorporating the classic cell church model into inherited structures.  But as new ways of doing church have emerged and gathered momentum, the cell model has been at the heart of many of them, leading in itself to new ways of doing cell church.  Above anything, this site aims to reflect this evolution as increasingly churches engage with 2 primary types of cell.   

A simple and imaginative way of relating to these 2 approaches is in imagining them as ‘lake’ and ‘river’ cells.  Lakes by their very nature settle in a single geographical place, a neighbourhood where they form an oasis and source of refreshment to the community around.  Rivers, on the other hand, though connected to the lake, go wherever the flow takes them, wherever the landscape opens and wherever the ground gives way.  This is how networks operate.  They are always moving, changing and operate in radically varying landscapes. 

The classic model that many of us work with might be called ‘lake cells’. They begin in the culture of our existing church communities, where they provide refreshment to that community and enable it to move out in mission.   

On the other hand, ‘river cells’ may be used to describe the emerging model that begins outside of the church community and culture, with people coming together around a common missional focus (such as workplaces, hobbies and clubs). They then begin to put the building blocks of church in place using the cell model. 

Anglican Cell UK is a network for anyone wanting to engage with cell.  More than that, it aims to support the 2 primary streams of lake and river, inherited and emerging, neighbourhood and network, and to promote a single vision of ‘Lake and River Church’. 

Finally, we are not an organisation but a network. As such, we are here to encourage and facilitate relationships and the sharing of resources.  So welcome to the site, and welcome to some new resources, friendships and ideas.