British New Church Movement

The British New Church Movement is a neocharismatic evangelical Christian movement associated with the Charismatic Movement of the 1960s, although its origin both predates the Charismatic Movement and has an agenda that goes beyond it. It was originally known as the "house church movement", a name that is no longer relevant, as few of these congregations meet in houses. Gerald Coates, one of the early leaders coined the name "new churches" as an alternative. It is also restorationist in character, seeking to restore the church to its 1st century equivalent. While the Charismatic Movement focused on the transformation of individuals, the BNCM (like Brethrenism, Baptists, Anabaptists and the Restoration Movement in the US) focused also on the nature of the church, and shared a distinctive view that somehow, through them, something important to do with church order was being restored to the whole church. For the BNCM since 1970, this has focused on the renewal of the fivefold ministries, particularly apostles, which for others might resemble a charismatically ordained and functioning episcopate.

The British New Church Movement numbered roughly 400,000 people in the year 2000. It has two major aspects; those who believe in the role of Apostles, where churches relate together in "streams," and independent charismatic churches, where they generally do not. Those in streams represent about 40% of the BNCM. Since its origins, it has grown to include many networks of churches, with individual congregations to be found throughout the world.