ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the situation well away from the capital. Amongst mainline churches, such as the Anglican Church, there is a noticeable divide between London, where there is substantial church growth, and much of the rest of England, where there is mainly small-scale and large-scale decline. The chapter examines the recent history of a medium-sized town in the north of England, the city of York; a city which contains a mix of affluence and poverty, a city not noted for ethnic diversity. It surveys the number of new churches in York founded since 1980 and the chronology of their development and explores the nature of these churches in terms of theology, ecclesiology, missiology and sociology. The chapter refers to 'new churches', by which it simply means congregations which have been founded since 1980. New churches possess a range of ecclesiologies but tend to be strongly voluntarist.
