It is often said that the UK and the USA are two countries divided by a common language. Words have different connotations. When in America, I am never sure whether I am being offered fries, crisps or chips. I am also much happier thinking that I am wearing trousers rather than ‘pants’.
It is a similar situation when it comes to dialogue between churches and theological traditions. We need to decode one another’s words to see where genuine differences exist and where we are simply using different language to describe the same thing. Actually, the first task we face is to be able to articulate our own beliefs and practices to ourselves. This is often difficult because we are immersed in our particular church culture. As sociologist Peter Berger put it, our beliefs and practices form a plausibility structure, a self-reinforcing, cohesive religious worldview. But then, you meet someone who feels exactly the same about their branch of the church!
This reality was brought home to me in May 2012 when I found myself seated in a well-appointed conference room in the offices of The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. This was the Vatican department responsible for relations with other churches, now renamed the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. I was part of a small group of church leaders invited to meet with Catholic theologians to help them understand a growing phenomenon, the non-denominational charismatic churches (otherwise known as New Charismatic Churches or NCCs for short).
Having been a non-denominational for forty-five years, I found it relatively easy to answer some aspects of the question ‘Who are you?’ I knew what it was like to exist within a network rather than within a denomination. I had witnessed the evolving understanding and practice of apostolic ministry through involvement with a wide range of churches. Nevertheless, engaging in dialogue proved more challenging than anticipated. We sought to describe our churches to theologians, some of whom were much more familiar with long-established hierarchies than networks. Common terms and concepts used in our world carried quite different connotations for the Catholic team. Putting the familiar into words was no easy task.
There is an old joke that goes like this: one goldfish asks another, ‘How’s the water?’ The other fish replies, ‘What’s water?’ Our church environment, our ‘water’, is so familiar, so taken for granted, that at times we struggle to articulate it. Take the term network, for example. In our NCC world it describes the relational bonds between leaders and churches, but the related term networking can sound more like a business strategy in which coalitions are formed to gain a competitive advantage over rivals.
We soon discovered that we were on a steep learning curve to find the right words to describe ideas and practices that were completely familiar to us yet needed to be made clear enough for others to understand. Our first step was to get something down on paper, a brief document outlining the identity of the New Churches. As these Conversations unfolded, the scope of this document expanded, shaped by the need for clarity and greater nuance. To ensure that it was truly representative, early drafts were presented at conferences and many copies were sent to NCC leaders worldwide, inviting their comments. This collaborative process ensured a more accurate portrait of the churches involved. In 2018, the final paper, now twenty pages in length, was published on the Vatican website as The Characteristics of the New Charismatic Churches.
That said, the task is by no means complete and further work needs to be done to ensure a more comprehensive appreciation of the nature of the New Churches. Even so, finding a common language is a vital task in this iterative process, one that requires careful listening, mutual understanding and a willingness to learn from the other.
Read more: English Charismatic churches participate in international consultation. (May 2026)
Dr Richard Roberts is a church leader and author who lives in Dorset. His latest book: Rediscovering Church as Networks: The Ongoing Story of the Non-Denominational Charismatic Churches, outlines the history, beliefs, practices and challenges of the New Churches.