The Church of Scotland has launched a major study into new ways of “being church”.

The study has been commissioned by the Emerging Church Joint Working Party, a group made up of representatives of parish councils and the Church’s Ministries and Mission, and Discipleship Councils.

The study will look at how new forms of church can be evaluated and whether they are recognisably reformed in theology and values.

The Church said that Christians across Scotland were already exploring new relational models of church and the potential of transforming neighbourhood groups, circles of friends or other community networks into churches, as opposed to waiting for the unchurched to turn up at church.

The Emerging Ministries Fund is already funding several outreach projects, including the use of video technology for services in Caithness, a cafe in Dundee city centre, and an online worship community in Bo’ness.

The launch of the study follows the General Assembly’s approval of a Ministries Council report in 2008 giving support to the idea of a “mixed economy” of churches where traditional and fresh expressions of churches co-exist “not at the expense of each other, but for the benefit of the whole”.

A new Emerging Church DVD, Seeds, is to be launched at the General Assembly taking place in Edinburgh this month. A copy of the DVD is to be sent to each charge to encourage discussion on new forms of church and whether they could help spread the Gospel in areas where there is little or no connection with traditional church.

The Church aims to complete the study by the end of this year and present the findings at next year’s General Assembly.