How do new forms of being church emerge in mainline churches and what does it tell about patterns, dynamics and competition?

Abstract

This article deals with the conditions for the emergence of new forms of church, especially in the perspective of top-down dynamics: how do bottom and top relate to each other in the development of new churches? To do research in this realm can help church
leaders in initiating new churches: Is it possible to control the process in a more direct way – not only by establishing the right conditions? I focus in this paper on data collected from the Erprobungsräume (church start-ups) in the Evangelical Church of Central
Germany. The results contradict in a way the powerful narrative that new churches emerge at the grassroots level far away from traditional institutions. There are basically four ways top and bottom interact. It would be interesting to validate the results
in other areas/churches.