Revitalise Magazine | Edition 007

Revitalise

EDITION 7

Deep & Wide

DECEMBER 2023

CHURCH PLANTING

DEEP & WIDE

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS ST NICHOLAS BRISTOL

CONTENTS

Revitalising Churches

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How our 14 newest church plants and revitalisations are seeing God at work.

A Global Network

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Take a look at our global family of churches.

An Invitation to the Margins

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Three church leaders share the lessons they’ve learnt.

In the Spotlight: Basingstoke Church

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A year after planting, we hear what’s happened since.

A Conversation with Archie Coates

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On being vicar of HTB and his priorities for the Network in 2024.

Pure Worship

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Why ‘Gen Z’ are rediscovering an awakening in worship.

Keeping Worship Alive for Every Generation

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Nick and Becky Drake share their top tips.

Living as a Calm Presence in an Anxious Culture

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Our Focus keynote speaker, Rich Villodas reminds us how to live calmly in an anxious world.

Bubble Church

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How a puppet ministry to parents and preschoolers is reinvigorating churches.

Community Change-Makers

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Three Love Your Neighbour Hubs discuss the impact of the Hub Accelerator programme.

Meeting Place

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How Saint Mary’s Southampton are serving their community.

Faith in Recovery

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Jaclyn Colbert describes how St Peter’s Brighton are supporting those recovering from addiction.

Radical Rest

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Network Wellbeing Chaplain, Will Van Der Hart explains why we need to give rest a re-think.

Training Leaders for Thriving Churches

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How bespoke leadership pathways are equipping leaders for mission.

Transform

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Highlights from our newly launched learning community turning vision into action.

Only Jesus

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Our five takeaways from The Orchard women’s conference.

Smile

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Your favourite memories of 2023.

Deep and Wide Sarah Jackson – CEO of Revitalise Trust – on the call of God to the margins.

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167 40% 112 92 82 33k 5.5m 4.4k 290k 02

THE STORY SO FAR

churches now part of the HTB Network

of the Network supporting communities in estate neighbourhoods and areas of deprivation

leaders joined the Peter Stream

seasoned saints joined the Caleb Stream

church planters trained on Accelerate

people (approx) regularly attending Network churches

SUNDAY AT VINTAGE CHURCH LA

meals distributed by Love Your Neighbour Hubs

people receiving debt and employment advice and support

hours volunteered at Love Your Neighbour Hubs

We are delighted to share the latest edition of Revitalise, our annual magazine, with you.

The following pages are a snapshot of what’s gone on across our Network over the past year, including the launch of this year’s 14 new church plants and revitalisations at Focus, the inspiring care being provided to so many communities, and the expansion of our leadership development streams.

We’ve themed this issue ‘Deep and Wide’ as this best describes our growing Network. Historically, we’ve been known for our resource churches, with their city wide and town centre reach and the vision to plant further churches. Our hope is that by 2030, 50% of our Network will be in estate neighbourhoods and other areas of deprivation, meaning that we’re also going deep. These churches are well placed to engage and build lasting relationships within their communities. Every type of church is needed if we are to see both the evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society.

Thank you for the part you play in this vision. We are constantly inspired by what we see God do through you and your churches. We hope Revitalise is an encouragement to you.

Love

Archie and Sam Vicar of HTB

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CHURCH PLANTING

Church Planting

Revitalising Churches

WORSHIP AT FABRIC CHURCH, MANCHESTER

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MARK ROPER, SENIOR LEADER AT FABRIC CHURCH CAPTION

Reaching our cities and communities with the hope and love of Jesus remains central to the vision of the HTB Network. At Focus this year, we commissioned 14 new church plants and revitalisations to be part of our growing family of churches. From city centres to estate neighbourhoods, these churches are already seeing life, growth and momentum. We ask some of our newest plant leaders: What is God doing where you are?

REVITALISING CHURCHES

FABRIC CHURCH, MANCHESTER MARK ROPER

On September 17th we launched Fabric Church, Manchester in a city centre nightclub called Factory 251. Launching in a temporary venue was never our plan A but a delay in getting our permanent building has meant that we have had to pray and hustle to find locations for Sunday worship, Alpha, and Students. Whilst seemingly inconvenient (and sometimes just outright carnage), this has turned out to be a blessing.

Our venue on Sunday mornings is well known to huge numbers of young adults and students and the conversations we have when people find out where we are gathering is exciting. Fabric’s Alpha course this term is running in a city centre skatepark, our student nights are in various bars across the city centre campus and our church offices are in a co-working space in the business district.

What is God doing at the moment? He’s forcing us out of our building, out of our comfort zone and into locations and settings that many people actually find safer and easier to come to. While we are so excited to move into a permanent space – we are grateful for this reminder that it is so important to be out of our building as much as in it. We are so excited to see what God is already doing across Manchester and we feel so privileged to be able to play a part.

ALL SAINTS, RYDE, We’re growing a team and are spending time working out what the ISLE OF WIGHT community needs. We know that God is sending people to help us, people HEATH MONAGHAN

are relocating to the area, and we believe that God is leading us.

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CHURCH PLANTING

ALPHA AT ST PAUL’S & ST MICHAELS, ANDOVER

TEAM AT ST. MATTHEW’S, PRESTON

ALL SAINTS, ISLEWORTH DAVE COKAYNE

To be a beacon of hope for the people of Isleworth. That was the mandate that we felt God gave us as we moved to All Saints, just a short journey down the Thames from St Stephens, Twickenham.

We arrived as part of a graft, joining the existing congregation, to begin a new chapter of life in the church and the community. We’re seeing connections being re-made with local schools and businesses, new people coming in and having a look at what’s happening.

There are new signs of life emerging as we continue to seek the leading of God’s Spirit to see the good news of Jesus shared afresh for the flourishing of all the community.

ST SAVIOUR’S IN THE MEADOWS, NOTTINGHAM JO LEESROBINSON

St Saviour’s Church stands tall, halfway between Nottingham train station and the famous Trent Bridge, in an area called the Meadows. Its history as a place means that people largely feel forgotten and rejected by the city, and yet we are convinced that God wants to pour out His Spirit on these streets and change the way that the Meadows sees itself.

ST PAUL’S, ANDOVER DAVID ROBERTS

God is on the move in Andover! We’ve been so excited to watch a community of young people from the estates in Andover growing and discovering community and faith in a new way.

It’s been an amazing adventure to see these young people encountering the love and power of Jesus.

ST EDMUND’S, DERBY JEFF GOLDING

St Edmund’s church is in a significantly deprived area with some of the highest rates of poverty amongst children and young families. However, God is at work. We had nearly 400 local people attend our Community Fun Day!

“We’ve also launched Alpha, which is the first time it’s ever run in this church and there are already 30 guests on it.”

REVITALISING CHURCHES

LORD’S HILL CHURCH, SOUTHAMPTON TOM BOULTER

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As I write this, we’re now three weeks into leading the church in Lord’s Hill, an estate in the northwest of Southampton. We’ve brought a small team from Saint Mary’s, Southampton to partner with the existing congregation as well as welcoming new local people. We had 98 people on our first week, including 16 children which was so encouraging.

“Our vision is to follow the way of Jesus and play our part in the renewal of the city.”

The church began in 1969 as a charismatic house church, meeting for 12 years without a building. More recently one of the founding members had a prophetic word that the church’s flame had gone down to an ember as the congregation dwindled, but that God would not let it go out.

Our vision is to follow the way of Jesus and play our part in the renewal of the city, making space for the Holy Spirit to fan that ember back into full flame, and to reach out to the community.

ST ANDREW’S, NOTTINGHAM JONNY HUGHES

We run a youth service and see around 65 youth gather to worship Jesus each week. We are regularly seeing young people coming to faith through this ministry. We’re honoured to play our part in seeing the area revived.

GAS STREET, LONGBRIDGE JAMES LEAVY

Each month we’ve been gathering to pray and seek God. From people who have been disconnected with church to people who have been praying for this area for several years, it has been amazing how God is bringing a diverse group of people together as we see His Kingdom come in Longbridge and beyond.

ST. MATTHEW’S CHURCH, PRESTON DAVID OWENS

If you walk around Preston’s St. Matthew’s and Fishwick estates you will see a beautifully diverse community, a bustling high street, and several huge Victorian cotton-mills. But there are also many of the social needs associated with densely populated estates. It doesn’t take long to see that in this community there is an ache for Jesus. The good news is that Jesus also aches for them.

“It doesn’t take long to see that in this community there is an ache for Jesus.

The good news is that Jesus also aches for them.”

At Easter 2024, we will be leading a team from Preston Minster to plant into St. Matthew’s Church. The church, with its CofE school, lies in the heart of the community. As we get started our focus will be getting to know this community, loving the school and the families there, and loving the wonderful people who call these estates home.

WELCOME TEAM AT ST. ED’S ALLENTON + SHELTON LOCK

LAUNCH SERVICE AT LORD’S HILL CHURCH, SOUTHAMPTON

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CHURCH PLANTING

VINTAGE CHURCH, LA , GER JONES

The HTB Network is a growing family of 167 churches in the UK and 9 churches internationally, spanning across cities, towns, urban estates and rural parishes.

After a season of deep and painful pruning during Covid, where many of our staff and church family left Los Angeles, 2023 has been a season of incredible fruitfulness.

At the invitation of the local bishop and diocese, Revitalise Trust is planting, partnering and helping to revitalise churches around the world. Four of these churches give their highlights from the past year.

We are seeing more people than ever attend Alpha, come on our Focus holiday in Malibu, attend Sunday services and join a Vintage Community (our small groups). And we are now looking to launch a fourth Vintage location in the South Bay area of LA.

ST JAX, MONTREAL , GRAHAM AND CELINE SINGH

Through a mix of thoughtful, generous orthodoxy, humble and loving community and authentic, non-hyped encounters with Jesus, we are seeing many who have been doubting discover a fresh, deep and authentic relationship with Jesus.

VINTAGE CHURCH LA, GER JONES VINTAGE CHURCH PASADENA, BEN CHASE VINTAGE CHURCH MALIBU, CHRIS BENNETT

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churches in estate neighbourhoods

resource churches planted

CHRIST CHURCH, RIO DE JANEIRO, JONNY GUMBEL

A GLOBAL N

A GLOBAL NETWORK

ST JAX, MONTREAL GRAHAM AND CELINE SINGH Alpha is deeply ingrained into the fabric of life at St Jax. One highlight was the evening, ‘Does God Heal Today?’ We could hardly shut down Alpha that night because people were so engaged in praying for each other; it was a real night of overflow! Last year’s Alpha yielded a lot of fruit in terms of new leaders being activated into ministry. All of them are back for this term’s Alpha and it’s a joy to be working with them all.

One of our young guys, Mathieu, came to Alpha and has allowed the Holy Spirit to work in his life. Several of his friends attended with him.

He is now an Alpha leader with us. He loves everyone with such robust love and kindness that is so tangible.

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CHRIST CHURCH, KENILWORTH GUY AND MJ AXELSON Cape Town is a beautiful city full of huge disparities and Jesus is the great bringer of hope to this colourful nation!

In June 2023 we hosted a national Alpha conference: Explore Alpha for over 200 church leaders. Each term we run city-wide Alpha training. In July we hosted 127 leaders from 20 churches: Pentecostals from Khayelitsha, Dutch Reformed from the northern suburbs and Baptists from the Cape flats!

Alpha has been a phenomenal tool for people from all backgrounds to encounter the life-changing power of Jesus. One guy, Michael, was searching for the sensation of unconditional love in Crystal Meth before finding it in Jesus at Alpha in May.

HOLY TRINITY, KUCHING AARON ANAND We’ve had the prophetic word ‘Wake Up’ again and again given to our church community. The two biggest revivals in Malaysia took place in Sarawak (Kuching is the capital of Sarawak) and it’s the state with the biggest Christian population (52%) in Malaysia. But over the years, church attendance has declined, and people have fallen away from a relationship with God. Today, God seems to be waking up His people in this city back to their first love.

On our current Alpha, we have over 30 guests and it’s not a surprise that the majority are non-church goers who said that their reason for coming on Alpha is to reconnect with God.

HOLY TRINITY, KUCHING, AARON ANAND

RENEWAL CHURCH NAIROBI, CHRIS ARNOLD

CHRIST CHURCH KENILWORTH, GUY AND MJ AXELSON

HTBB, MALAYSIA, MILES TOULMIN

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church plants since 2017

international churches

NETWORK

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CHURCH PLANTING

LAUNCH SERVICE AT ST MICHAEL AND ST GEORGE, WHITE CITY LONDON

AN INVITATION TO THE MARGINS 20% OF THE UK LIVE IN POVERTY. BY 2030, WE ANTICIPATE THAT 50% OF OUR NETWORK WILL BE IN DEPRIVED NEIGHBOURHOODS.

AN INVITATION TO THE MARGINS

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JAMIE SEWELL , SENIOR LEADER OF ST MICHAEL AND ST GEORGE IN WHITE CITY

As our resource churches are establishing themselves at the heart of towns and cities, they are sending out teams to serve the neighbourhoods on their margins: estates, villages and suburban enclaves. Some of these neighbourhoods are on the margins by location; others on the margins of society and often on the margins of the Church — in matters of money, class, race, and history. We hear what three different church leaders are prioritising in their neighbourhoods.

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Estate Neighbourhoods are known to carry a negative narrative, and this is something Jamie Sewell knows all too well. When speaking of ministering in an Estate Neighbourhood, Jamie shared, ‘The difficulty is listening well. You don’t realise how many presumptions you already have, so you go in and you don’t listen.

It’s a discipline to listen.’

This narrative is something he is wary of and rather than just listening to the stats and stories from those outside of the estate, Jamie and his team are knocking on the doors of the estate’s 2000 households, ‘On Wednesday afternoons we’ve started knocking on doors and we hope to get around the whole estate. We’re asking what their experience of St Michael and St George is and how they would like to see it used. I also want to collate a general feeling of life here to tell a different story; the actual reality.’

‘These neighbourhoods that end up with a bad reputation, when you’re in them, they never live up to the hype. The temptation when doing this work is to create a gritty image that appeals to potential funders. If you’re not conscious of this danger it’s easy to become part of the problem and talk your community down, perpetuating an attitude lacking ambition and aspiration. Yes, there are obvious social difficulties, but you don’t need to search long to see there is so much beauty here.’ Jamie’s face lights up as he begins to share this beauty, ‘After my first service, we had this big meal. We opened the vicarage, and everyone sat around the tables and ate. There are generations of families here, but then you also have people who aren’t related treating each other like family. On first glance I presumed everyone had been part of the church for years, because they were all so close, but then speaking with them I realised that some people had only recently joined. They felt so embraced and loved that they stayed.’

Jamie is embracing the family within the church and laughs at how he has asked some of the elders if he should be calling them Auntie. ‘When we first saw the beauty that’s here, the family they’ve created, I had this wave of panic. I thought, what happens if we ruin it? And that’s one of the reasons why we didn’t want to launch with a big team.’

His heart is to see this same beauty shared with the rest of the community living on the estate, ‘I said to the congregation, “What you have built is beautiful, but it can’t just be kept in here.

The riches in this church are the sense of family and community.

We need to turn and face the community and work out how we can share these riches with the White City parish.” I love that the congregation wants to do this.’

‘On the estate, you end up with communities within community.

In the 2019 census, 33% of the community said they were Muslim and 40% Christian, 47% of people living on the estate were born outside of the UK. The estate is a point of connection for many nations and beliefs. Points of difference can create divide, but our challenge is to create community. How do we take that lovely family feel in the church and make it more integrated across the estate? How do we create space for people groups to meet? It might not be to meet in prayer, but it might be to eat together. A space that breaks a lot of the divide.’

Not only is Jamie listening to those living on the estate, but he’s listening to the church’s existing congregation, ‘For the first year, we’ve decided not to change anything. We just want to get to know people and build relationships. We’re here to celebrate and recognise what God’s already doing and to try and share it.’

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BAPTISM AT CHRIST CHURCH SUMMERFIELD

CHRIST CHU

BABY DEDICATION AT CHRIST CHURCH SUMMERFIELD STAFF TEAM AT CHRIST CHURCH SUMMERFIELD

‘The community has a significant Muslim community with Sikh and Hindu communities as well. The Muslims are largely Pakistani but there’s a growing Kurdish community.’ Estate Neighbourhoods are often diverse and in Katie Stock’s case, non-Christian. Planting a church in any neighbourhood comes with challenges, but planting a church and ministering to a community where there’s already a dominant faith can make things even harder.

‘Trust is the word of the day,’ Katie shares, ‘and it looks like honouring the local head teachers, asking how I can serve. For example, I’ve become a governor of one of the schools. They really welcome my presence as many of the teachers do not feel comfortable teaching Christianity as part of the Religious Studies curriculum, so I support that. This is literally what I’m here to do! The schools have been so receptive and grateful.’

To invite more people into the church, the schools are distributing leaflets into book bags, meaning over 1,400 families are receiving invitations. ‘We have been afforded such huge favour in that three of the primary schools allow us to leaflet.

However, the agreement is that the leaflets cannot be invites to worship events, but community events. Honouring this is another way that we’re building trust.’ This approach means more of the community are discovering the church, even if not yet for worship, and are building a relationship with Katie.

To further build trust with the local residents, Katie ensures that she is visible and a regular presence within the community.

‘I wear my dog collar, which I never really did before. In the community, religious clothing is common, so when I wear my collar, people understand why I’m there. This allows for small interactions with the local community.’ For Katie, being a regular presence goes beyond being in local schools or on the streets, ‘A few weeks after the local school children visited the church, I visited the local mosque and ate with the Sisters from the Kurdish community. I had a hijab on, but I also had on my dog collar, and a young girl recognised that I had been to her school. She was so excited to tell her mother who I was. I visited the mosque so that Muslim parents would feel more confident when their children visited the church.’

Previously at Gas Street, Katie couldn’t build relationships with every member of the congregation, ‘My pastoral instinct is to invite people out for coffee, but when you’re in a church with over a thousand people, it’s not practically possible. When I came to plant at Christ Church Summerfield, what I really appreciated was being able to do this with a higher percentage of the congregation.

And this has changed how I preach. I have a proximity to people at different points in their faith; I know their story, I know their hopes and the fears, and the trauma they carry. There’s something quite powerful in walking alongside them; and all of that is articulated and offered when I’m leading Sunday worship.’

As we wrap up the call, Katie shares a story of a congregation member who recently gave birth, ‘I was a birthing partner to someone in our congregation. She’s an asylum seeker from Ethiopia and she was having her first baby. When I offered to come with her and her husband, I didn’t realise she was going to be in labour for 36 hours!’ Part of the beauty of neighbourhood churches is the trust and proximity we are afforded with the local community.

CHURCH PLANTING

AN INVITATION TO THE MARGINS

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BAPTISM AT RISEN CHRIST WYKEN

KIDS GROUP AT RISEN CHRIST WYKEN

When Paul Pavlou moved into Risen Christ from St Mark’s, a resource church in Coventry, he and the team had ideas of what they believed the community needed and what they were going to do, ‘Quite quickly, the team and I realised actually, these aren’t necessarily things that are for the community. They’re just things that we’ve been used to.’ With time, they learnt that instead of replicating what they had seen other churches do or try to change the community’s culture with that of the resource church, instead to meet the community where they’re at.

‘People are protective of the area. They know each other and each other’s worlds and don’t venture out far.’ Paul likened Wyken to a tight knit community, one with its own culture and way of doing things. Albeit wanting to connect it to St Mark’s with big picture ideas, he soon realised that this wasn’t a realistic mission and that he needed to localise the vision, ‘The demographic at St Mark’s is very different, although it’s just a 10-minute drive away. It’s a different culture, different ethnicities, and different mindsets. So, connecting Risen Christ to the resource church in the city was difficult.’

This difficulty brought with it learnings. Rather than trying to bring the culture of a resource church to a neighbourhood church, Paul realised it wasn’t something the community would respond to. ‘When I first arrived, I thought, I’ve got my DNA to bring and offer. I’ve since learnt that Risen Christ Church has a lot to offer already. And so, it’s not just about me bringing my DNA into the fold. There’s a cross-pollination which needs to happen.’

It’s this that led Paul to question how you apply a large Resource Church vision to a smaller neighbourhood church, ‘It’s not about scaling down the vision and the passion. It’s more, how do you apply it in a local parish church because that’s what we are.’

Outside of joining in with what’s already happening in the community, Paul has learnt how the little things are what draws people in, ‘We stand outside and give out hot chocolates for free, and in the summer or spring we stand outside and give out milkshakes. We’re giving away 60 to 70 drinks every week.

Another thing we noticed is that our community responds well to community events – families come, not just to eat, but to spend time with others in the community.’

When Paul and the team began reviewing what they were doing in the community so far, although they were blessing them with free drinks and community events, they weren’t necessarily building relationships. ‘So, when we reviewed our year together, we thought, how do we take the good stuff that we’re doing in the local neighbourhood and bring it into the church. Messy Church was the answer – it’s got the same elements: community, fun activities and a free dinner. We’ve seen real growth here, and 75% of the people who have come to Messy Church are nonchurched. We’re learning lessons and keeping on connecting.’

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CHURCH PLANTING

A Spotlight on Basingstoke Church

A year ago, Rector John Hudson took on four churches at once, ranging from a historic town centre civic church to two on estates with high levels of deprivation and need. John and the team had a vision for a town-wide ministry serving all the people of Basingstoke. We hear what’s been happening…

A SPOTLIGHT ON BASINGSTOKE CHURCH

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THE STAFF TEAM AT BASINGSTOKE CHURCH

TOWN-WIDE PLANT

Growth in each location has taken a different approach, from high quality worship or choral music to draw people to the gathered town centre communities, to the deeply relational work of ministry on the estate communities. Working as one team across the town has meant we’ve needed to be agile, adaptable and really importantly raise up significant numbers of new lay leaders.

FAMOUS AS A PLACE OF PRAISE

We were given a prophetic picture by a leader in the HTB Network of a pair of golden gates that stood in the middle of Basingstoke and represented worship, and that it is through those gates everything else will come.

From the beginning we have been intentional about creating spaces for encounter in worship that meet different people where they are, and have seen God move powerfully in every context, drawing people to himself, with each one of our locations growing in size as people discover or are growing in their relationship with Jesus.

IN THE TOWN CENTRE: THE ELEVEN, ST MICHAEL’S

Our St Michael’s location sits next to the shopping mall and every afternoon hundreds of teenagers pass by our door, and we are loving being able to make space for them to meet Jesus.

The Eleven is what you would imagine from a Network resource church, a major focus on contemporary worship and ministry in the power of the Spirit. Jake who is 16 decided to come in one day:

“ I was in a bit of a lonely place, feeling empty with no direction or purpose.

Until one random day, I came into the church and felt the presence of the Lord in my life. Now I know Jesus and everything makes sense. I’ve met new friends who have mentored me and have become a second family.”

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IN THE TOWN CENTRE: THE 930, ST MICHAEL’S

Traditional worship is growing, at the civic church we’ve continued to support the Choral Eucharist and seen huge growth in numbers and people going deep in brand new ways in their relationship with Jesus in a familiar liturgical space.

So many of our congregation here have moved to the town from other countries, particularly India, and have found familiarity in the traditional worship.

Sathya who comes to the service with her children describes her own journey in this season as a ‘transformation’ and has been excited to see in this traditional space that ‘doors have been opened for everyone to come and be part of it.’

Even those who have been coming for years are going deeper.

Narine said: ‘I used to come here to pray, now I pray before I come to church, asking the Holy Spirit to fill me.’

IN THE TOWN: 930, ALL SAINTS

We are growing a contemplative heart in our fourth location.

We are seeing people in the town looking for a space to come and find stillness, so this year are relaunching the service there to cater for what is on the heart of so many we meet.

ON THE ESTATES: CAFÉ CHURCH, BRIGHTON HILL

Over on our other estate, Brighton Hill, Shelagh who has lived there for decades leads our new Café Church. It’s designed to give people a space to come and encounter Jesus in the most accessible café-style space. We’ve completely redesigned the church space to look like a café and run the whole service around tables. Shelagh says:

ON THE ESTATES: THE FOUR, SOUTH HAM

The 10 minutes of worship and prayer are part of an hour of absolute chaos and community-building at our afternoon service on our estate.

CHURCH PLANTING

“My daughter Cara came to café church week one with my grandson, having previously never wanted to go in a church, and she loved it, she felt really comfortable and even joined in singing for some of the worship.”

She said to me afterwards, “if churches were like this Mum, then people like me would come”.

Cara is coming back and is now bringing her friends.”

It is designed to be a space that makes sense for the people living nearby, people who would never come and sit in rows in a town centre civic church but are now encountering Jesus at the end of their street.

Young mum Becca has found faith through The Four, but says:

Becca then encountered Jesus herself in worship and is now coming because she wants to for herself, and her daughter excitedly says she is: ‘Happy that Mum is now in and understands my world.’

WHAT’S NEXT

The vision is to plant within our own locations, a version of The Four on Brighton Hill, a version of The Eleven on South Ham, ultimately building a collection of diverse worshipping communities, big and small, traditional, and modern, quiet and loud, all under the banner of one united church that is for the people of Basingstoke.

“I won’t lie, I came because it was free, at the end of my road, and was just somewhere else to be.

It took my daughter (aged–11) six weeks to come out of her shell and start believing.

She has done Alpha and reads her Bible at home.”

A SPOTLIGHT ON BASINGSTOKE CHURCH

THE CHOIR AT THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE AT BASINGSTOKE CHURCH

THE YOUTH MEMBERS AT CAFÉ CHURCH, BASINGSTOKE

THE FOUR SERVICE AT BASINGSTOKE CHURCH

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CHURCH PLANTING

A YEAR AFTER TAKING ON HTB, WE ASK ARCHIE COATES WHAT MOST EXCITES HIM ACROSS THE NETWORK, AND HOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER.

ARCHIE, YOU’VE BEEN AT HTB FOR OVER A YEAR NOW. WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS?

Church is the people, and we’ve loved getting to know people at HTB. And of course, the more we get to know the people, the more we love the church. So that has been the greatest joy.

After that, I come back to Ephesians 4. We read the verses where Paul says, ‘Christ gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, so that we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the son of God.’ The question for us then is, ‘how do we set people up well – the hundreds of people who come through our door – and not just our door, but across the whole network of churches that have been planted, and how do we equip them well for works of service?’

The highlights are seeing everyone playing a part in the evangelisation of the nation, the revitalisation of the Church and the transformation of society. The people in our churches are treasures that God has given us towards his mission in our city and our world. I see the role of the leader of a church is to try and help those treasures find who they are in Christ and develop them to use the gifts that God has given them, to use their gifts for his glory and for the advancing of the Kingdom of God on earth.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE HTB NETWORK, WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST?

The multiplication is extraordinary. Another 14 churches were sent out from Focus this year and we are discovering that the resource churches in city centres really are now beginning to plant themselves into local areas within their dioceses and cities.

We aren’t simply planting more churches, but we are planting Mission Stations. Mission Stations that exist for the location, towns, cities, and neighbourhoods in which they are planted. These mission stations are reaching people who don’t know Jesus and caring extravagantly for the poor.

Evangelism and caring for the poor are key building blocks and for us in our network of churches – that’s why we invest so much in Alpha and in Love Your Neighbour – they are key building blocks in our mission strategy.

I’m always excited about the potential for us to learn from and to encourage one another. The more churches that are planted, the more experience there is to share among us. It’s a huge encouragement and we need each other.

AS THE NETWORK GROWS, AND OUR CHURCHES DIVERSIFY IN SHAPE, SIZE, AND CONTEXT, HOW CAN WE STAY UNITED?

Unity is something Jesus achieved for us all on the cross, and so – like Ephesians 4 says, ‘make every effort’ to maintain the unity that Jesus has won for us. How do we do that? We do it by building each other up, by not running down another ministry or church, by trying to avoid unhelpful comparison and by continuing to focus on Jesus as the head of the Church and the source of our unity.

As a Network, we have visible touch points for this unity.

At Focus we celebrate all our churches coming together on a mass scale. We have the Leadership Conference, a coming together of the leaders of our Network and the wider Church as well. We also have ministry areas – we want to keep gathering our Operations Directors, Kids Pastors, Senior Leaders and so on.

WHAT DOES 2024 HOLD ACROSS THE NETWORK?

I believe that God wants to give us a fresh confidence that the Church is still his chosen instrument to bring about change to our culture and to our world, in the power of Jesus Christ.

I’m excited about the Church being a place of blessing for the city, towns, and neighbourhoods in which they’re based. Sometimes we can become a bit ghettoised and wait for people to come to us, but in times of national instability and great need, the Church is at its best when we’re moving out beyond our four walls into the places God has called us to.

I’m also excited about the renewed perseverance and desperation for prayer. The constant crying out to God for his Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. That is the central plank we need if we are to see God’s Kingdom advance and our vision realised. It’s so exciting to hear of churches stepping up in Kingdom Come gatherings, whether it be daily or weekly prayer gatherings in person, or on Zoom, and in some cases, churches coming together across the Network to pray. It’s the foundation of everything to come.

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BIG TOP WORSHIP AT FOCUS 2023

We are seeing a hunger and a deep joy in gathered places of sung worship, especially among ‘Gen Z’. We ask some of our Network Worship Pastors: what is at the root of this, and how can we respond?

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CAZ TALBOT, WORSHIP PASTOR AT SAINT – HACKNEY CHURCH

It’s been such a wonderfully encouraging time hearing stories from across the Network that the Lord has been moving so deeply in times of gathered worship. To be honest – It’s hard to put a finger on what particularly is going on – and I’m fearful to say ‘1+2=3’ when it comes to explaining why the Lord is beginning to do what he’s doing. I think He enjoys us revelling in the mystery of it all!

In saying this, since the Asbury outpouring that took place in Kentucky earlier this year, we have noticed a few significant shifts of culture in our staff and church communities that has really begun to release a freedom and depth in our times of worship. The three particular things that I have noticed have been: Humility, Hunger, and Holiness.

HUMILITY

A beautiful, sober reminder that it’s not about us (thank goodness...!).

God has been very kindly reminding us that it’s His Church – His bride!

And we’re just the caretakers and door keepers. We’ve returned to the heart of worship where we spend more time in the prayer room than the rehearsal space, more time on our knees than behind a microphone – and more time decreasing so that He can increase!

HUNGER

The Lord comes where He’s wanted! There has been a deep cry that has begun to get louder in our churches – ‘Lord, we need you’. In response to the call of humility, we empty ourselves of any self-reliance or ‘I’ve got this’ mentality – and therefore, the only thing left to do is to call on the name of Jesus and ask Him to come!

HOLINESS

‘Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? … The one who has clean hands and a pure heart!’ (Psalm 24:3–4). There has been a call to purify and consecrate ourselves before God. A daily invitation that we would continue to empty ourselves of all our sin and short-falls – so that we can continue to be filled by His presence.

I’m often reminded of the story in the Bible where the sinful woman lavishes her worship at the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume, while the rest of the room sits there rather awkwardly and judgmentally. I often ask the Lord – may I never become like the Pharisees who become the spectators in worship rather than the participators. That I wouldn’t sit there and think ‘hmm I don’t like this song’ or walk out of church mumbling ‘that time of worship didn’t do it for me’. When did times of worship ever become about us and our preferences? Instead, I long for us as a church community to be like the woman who walks into a pretty hostile and un-atmospheric room, kneels, and beholds the majesty and beauty of Jesus. Shrugs off any sense of self and focuses purely on Him. I really believe that if we can cultivate a culture of this in our hidden times of worship as well as our corporate times – the Lord will bless and honour it – and more importantly, it would bless and honour His heart.

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SAM UDY, WORSHIP PASTOR AT SAINT PAUL’S HAMMERSMITH

It seems like the church across the UK has been experiencing a new and quite remarkable sense of God’s presence during worship recently. We’re seeing deep hunger and passion among young people, particularly Gen Z, who don’t seem to mind about slick production or a huge sound as much as worship that is raw, real and all about Jesus. In fact, we’re seeing young people increasingly choose to bring their nonChristian friends to passionate, deep-end worship gatherings that aren’t designed for seekers but are full of God’s presence.

MURRAY REID, WORSHIP PASTOR AT LIGHTHOUSE LONDON CHURCH

I think the root of the renewal we’re seeing in worship is a natural response from Covid. We spent so much time thinking about the online experience and it was easy to slip into a consumer mindset. Now, we are seeing people really taking ownership of their worship and taking responsibility for their own level of spiritual ‘hunger’. We have to know who we are worshipping and be responsible for the level of intimacy we are cultivating in the ‘secret place’ with God.

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WORSHIP AT SAINT PAUL’S HAMMERSMITH

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ELLE LIMEBEAR, BIG TOP WORSHIP AT FOCUS 2023

What’s different about ‘Gen Z’?

Worship leader, songwriter and artist Elle Limebear on the shifting priorities of young people in worship.

The world offers so much but I think that Gen Z are seeing that nothing will actually satisfy besides Jesus. They are bombarded with things from every angle, both in the physical and digital spaces, and are learning for themselves that none of these things ultimately fulfil. They want something real and authentic, pure and simple. And worship, encountering the presence of God is the only thing that truly satisfies and that truly fulfils our souls. They are a generation of all or nothing, and those that have tasted and seen the things of the Spirit in the context of worship are sold out for it. They want nothing more than the purest expression, nothing sugar coated, but the real authentic presence of Jesus.

Leading Gen Z requires a new wine skin. The strategies that have been effective for previous generations need to be scrapped. We need to respond by pursuing authentic, honest relationships with them, whilst also leading and modelling vulnerability and honesty in all things. Our times of worship should be simple, not simple necessarily in creativity or instrumentation or excellence, but simple directionally. Times of worship should be prioritised and be Spirit-led. It’s about returning to worshipping in spirit and truth. And joy! Joy is the antidote to the heaviness that life can put on our shoulders. It’s a joy to worship! Our worship needs light and shade, times of intensity and times of celebration. It’s a holy tension that we must hold on to.

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WORSHIP FOR EVERYONE CONFERENCE IN JUNE AT GAS STREET BIRMINGHAM

But too many of us have suffered through all-age worship which has felt token, boring or lifeless, and this is often what puts us off! So, how do we create times of all age worship which are truly engaging and meaningful for everyone? Here are a few thoughts from our own experience.

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Never has there been a more urgent time in the church to prioritise children and young people.

And increasingly evidence is showing that intergenerational worship, when done well, is a key tool in ‘growing younger’, which is one of the key new priorities for the Church of England.

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The Worship for Everyone conference, hosted by Nick and Becky Drake, at Gas Street in Birmingham, has a vision to inspire and equip the wider Church in intergenerational worship.

Here, they share why it’s important, and five ways to do it.

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Understand the theology and gain a vision!

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Elevate children and engage adults.

These two principles lie at the heart of our vision for Worship For Everyone, and in fact all-age worship usually fails by forgetting one or other of these principles. Jesus elevated children. He pointed His disciples towards them as an example of faith. They had Kingdom significance and in the same way, we need them in our worshipping community. They are bringers of joy, freedom, purity and faith. They have gifts to bring to our times of worship: shadowing worship team members, leading actions, writing prayers or helping to welcome.

Let’s remember they are little people who God wants to encounter and use. At the same time, let’s not forget to engage adults too. We need to find ways to envision the older members of our congregation – sometimes by urging them to join in with actions for the sake of unity with our younger children; or we need to mix up an all-age worship time with a combination of action songs and familiar more ‘adult-focussed’ worship songs. Romans 12:10 is a great scripture to quote: ‘Honour one another above yourself’ as a principle for our adults to throw themselves into all-age worship in preference of one another.

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Keep the same values.

What are your worship values? Encounter with God? Adoration, intimacy? Each church will have different emphases. But don’t throw these out of the window when children are present! In fact, we find that keeping the same values is a way to keep adults engaged spiritually with what is happening. We are firm believers in keeping a block of worship when children are in the room and ensuring a variety of lyrical and melodic themes. Just as we, as adults, need our songs to express a breadth of emotion and dynamic, it’s the same with children. Many churches exclusively use fun and loud songs with children, but we would advocate a wider variety to allow hearts and minds to fully express themselves to God.

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Speak more when children are in the room.

Speak to an all-age crowd as if they are non-Christians and you’ll help keep things alive. In other words, scrap the jargon, and explain everything you’re doing and lead with clarity. This way you’ll end up discipling the children in how to worship (and also pick up many of the adults along the way). Explain why we put our hands in front of us, invite your people to sing loudly, or close their eyes; frame what the Spirit is doing, and teach actions before expecting people to join in. Encourage prayer moments over one another. And do all of this with warmth and friendliness – it goes a long way with every age.

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Don’t get stuck with the same old songs.

It’s amazing how many churches teach the latest worship song within weeks of it being released, but when it comes to all-age music, we’re still playing our favourites from 20 or 30 years ago week in, week out! There’s nothing wrong with some golden oldies, but let’s also place a value on keeping our all-age times of worship fresh and new. Teaching a new song with new actions brings fresh energy and new spiritual themes into the room.

ALIVE FOR

Consider the theology for intergenerational worship? Have you had a discussion about your own church’s vision for all ages worshipping together? The Bible is clear that unity matters to God, and there’s a power in unity across generations. Children crossed the red sea with their families, Jesus fed 5,000 households. All ages were present throughout the Bible at key times where God was present and moving, and it should be no different today! When we know it’s a biblical principle, it helps to bring life and purpose to our worship times.

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Living as a calm presence in an anxious culture RICH VILLODAS PREACHING AT FOCUS

At Focus, keynote speaker Rich Villodas, encouraged us to pay close attention to our spiritual formation. In an extract from his recent book, Good and Beautiful and Kind, he reminds us how to stay connected to ourselves, and others, in a frenetic world.

LIVING AS A CALM PRESENCE IN AN ANXIOUS CULTURE

In 2005, I sat next to my then fiancée, Rosie, with ten other couples who were preparing for marriage. I don’t remember much from those series of premarital classes, but I’ve never forgotten one thing that was spoken with prophetic accuracy: At some point during the class, the instructor said, without a hint of humour, that it was going to take at least ten years to start learning how to be married. I thought ‘How depressing,’ and with playfulness—plus a bit of arrogance—I looked at Rosie and said, ‘Babe, it will take us two years max. Gimme a fist bump. Boom.’

Well, the instructor was right. It has taken some years to learn how to be married. For us, more than ten years. I’ve come to understand why.

Much of the pain in our marriage has surfaced because it has taken me a long time to learn an important lesson: Rosie is not looking for someone to rescue her when she is in distress.

I’m still learning that lesson, but I will say that I have made some good progress. In the first few years of our marriage, I had four modes of operation whenever Rosie was angry or sad. If I noticed her in a rough spot, I would try to make things better. My modes were questionable, however.

Mode one was to be a computer. After she voiced her anger or grief, I would immediately give her some calculated options.

‘Honey, you can [do this or that]. What do you think?’ This was usually met with a stare.

Mode two was minimising. ‘Babe, is it that bad? Are you sure you’re not overreacting?’ This was usually met with a more intense stare. Mode three was to superimpose. ‘Darling, if that were me, this is how I would respond.’ Crickets.

Mode four was to get the heck out of there. Another terrible response. At this point, the fist bumps were nonexistent.

Well, in due time, I went to see a therapist to get help. I found myself personalising her anger and grief. I thought it was my job to rescue her from difficult emotions and painful circumstances.

This faulty thinking only made matters worse. I shared with my counsellor how hard it was for me to help Rosie whenever she was angry or sad about something. What I would hear from him in response puzzled me.

‘Rich, I want you to do something simple the next time Rosie is angry or sad.’ With an eager tone, I replied, ‘Name it, Doc.’ ‘Whenever Rosie is sad or mad, I want you to be sad or mad with her.’ A bit puzzled, I pondered his words. I responded, ‘What else you got?’ ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘Be sad with her. Be mad with her.’

I walked out of that session wondering if I could get a refund.

But he was right. What she needed – and I readily admit that I still struggle doing this well – was someone to be curious and compassionate with her – someone to join her without trying to save her. I went home, jotted down some notes in my journal, and waited for an opportunity to love her well in this way.

A few days later, I noticed Rosie was bothered by something.

She was frustrated but not angry. But I thought, this might be my moment – my moment to shine. As she shared her frustration, the four modes were ready to be implemented, but I remembered what the counsellor had said and how much I’d paid for that session. ‘Be mad with her. Be mad with her.’ I would say these words under my breath as she aired her grievances. When the moment was right, I interrupted her with disproportionate energy for the situation and shouted, ‘She said what?’

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I would continue to show how angry I was until Rosie tried settling me down. I was ten seconds away from kicking furniture.

I wasn’t trying to put on a show, but I wanted to let her know that I was with her – albeit in a way that didn’t match the situation.

Even so, do you know what my wife felt at that moment?

Loved.

CULTIVATING CALM PRESENCE

Granted, my example is not the best case study, but I learned something in the process. It’s a lesson that has application across every relationship: Becoming someone who can remain present to oneself and to another, especially in times of disagreement or distress, is one of the most important things we can do to become whole.

Some have called this lesson self-differentiation. For our purposes, let’s call it calm presence. (From this point on, I’ll be using the phrase calm presence. By it, I’m referring to selfdifferentiation.) It’s to be the natural outflow of a life that is marked by humility and contemplative prayer. It’s how love is formed in us.

I’m convinced that the most important skill needed in our world today is learning to cultivate calm presence. The cultivation of calm presence is the conscious and courageous decision to remain close and curious to ourselves, and others in times of high anxiety. It’s a concept birthed out of family systems theory.

In the 1950s, a psychiatrist named Murray Bowen sought to understand the ways our families of origin shape our lives and our connection – or lack thereof – to the world. One of the core tenets of family systems theory is the natural tendency people have to anxiously attach to someone on the one hand and anxiously detach on the other. The respective forces of togetherness and individuality foster certain personal and interpersonal dynamics that hurt relationships. Songs are written all the time about this.

For example, in 1997, I worked at Sony Theaters in Manhattan.

To this day, I can proudly recognise dozens of songs that came out during that year, because they played non-stop throughout the theatre. One of the songs that came out in 1997 was country artist LeAnn Rimes’s song How Do I Live. While romantic on one level, on another, it’s a song for someone who is ‘fused’ into someone else.

Two decades later, pop artist Selena Gomez came out with a song called Cut You Off. There you have it. The two extremes of our society: How do I live without you? and Cut you off. These ideas capture the spectrum of attachment and detachment, togetherness and individuality, fusion and cutting off.

For some of us, we relate to others in such a way that we disappear into them, burying our ideas, opinions, and feelings for the sake of remaining close. For others, we assert our ideas, opinions, and feelings to such a degree that our individuality is prioritised over connection with others. Both approaches do not lead to the kind of wholeness we yearn for. What we need is the capacity to remain close – to ourselves and others.

EXCERPTED FROM GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL AND KIND: BECOMING WHOLE IN A FRACTURED WORLD BY RICH VILLODAS. COPYRIGHT ©2022 BY RICHARD A. VILLODAS, JR. PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Churches are being re-invigorated by a Sunday service for children and their largely un-churched parents. With over 30 Bubble Churches launching nationwide in 2024, we talk to Marcus Gibbs, from Ascension Balham, about how these church plants are bursting with life.

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Bubble Church is a puppetpacked, Jesus-centred, coffee-and-croissant-fuelled, kids and families adventure held every Sunday morning.

We welcome young children with their families at 9:30 to sit on a ‘bubble’ carpet together and take part in songs, puppets, Bible stories and prayer alongside a simple and fun liturgy.

Bubble Church is a church in its own right – those who come consider it ‘their’ church – its aim isn’t to get people to our main Sunday service because it already is church, although of course people are welcome to come to that too.

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HOW HAS IT CHANGED THE LIFE OF YOUR CHURCH?

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We’re so thankful that God is using it to reach those across the country who may otherwise not have come to church. Its simplicity allows everyone regardless of their knowledge of the Christian faith to join in and learn together.

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It has led to growth in other areas of church life too, as some of the older children at Bubble Church are now attending Sunday school at our 10:30 service. A new mid-week group of parents from Bubble Church has also started to grow together on their faith journey.

One of its strengths is that it grows leaders too – some members of our main service have become involved in helping; likewise, some of the young people who have outgrown Bubble Church are now forming part of the ministry leadership team.

Sometimes we try things that don’t take off at all, but sometimes they just do, and what a joy it is when that happens!

HOW HAVE YOU SEEN GOD USE IT?

We’ve been amazed at the life it’s brought to our community and to so many other churches who’ve decided to start Bubble Church in their own settings. Not only is it full of fun and joy, but we’ve seen families’ lives transformed by God; children and their parents deciding to get baptised; we’ve had physical healings and we’ve also had parents coming whose lives have never involved God. We’ve also seen God build the church numerically. At Ascension, we now have over 100 people coming to Bubble Church weekly and 8 out of 10 of those who come have never been to church before and we are already launching more than 30 Bubble Churches nationwide in 2024. It’s giving people – and other church leaders – hope, after a difficult few years, that church really can be full of young people again!

Find out more at bubblechurch.org

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Community Change-Makers

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LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR HUB ACCELERATOR RESIDENTIAL 2023

This year, Love Your Neighbour launched the second cohort of the Hub Accelerator programme with ten new church hubs in and out of the Network. We hear three hubs, all at different stages of their social transformation journeys, share how this training is shaping their thinking.

COMMUNITY CHANGE-MAKERS

ST LUKE’S, BLACKBURN

Although the official launch of St Luke’s Blackburn was in October 2023, the church has been active in the Blackburn community for the last two years. Alan Gault, Planting Curate at St Luke’s, describes how they are supporting families, the local youth and other vulnerable groups.

We really want the church to be a means of hope for the people in Blackburn – for the people who we haven’t even met yet to realise that their lives can be brilliant. They don’t have to move to a nicer part of the world, but the Galligreaves Estate (where we live) can be the best place to live in Lancashire.

Responding to the needs that we see can feel overwhelming at times.

Sometimes there are huge issues with addiction, family breakdown, violence or drug abuse, and all of those things together can feel like; where do we even start?

The benefits of the Hub Accelerator (HA) are numerous. It has us asking: How do we really make change? How do we not just do the thing that’s immediately in our face? Obviously, we want to address the crisis moments, but how do we also start to deal with longer term issues, and tackle causes in the community to bring about real transformation?

We don’t want to just fix things for them.

We’re thinking about our primary outcome so we can drive long lasting change in the community. This has affected how we’ve thought about developing programmes. It’s helped us give clarity to what it is we should be doing.

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LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR

B&A BRISTOL

B&A Bristol long to build partnerships with other churches in their community. This year, they moved into a bigger building, and their vision for social transformation also got bigger. Trudi and James Murray explain more.

Part of what we’re doing with B&A is trying to resource churches in estate neighbourhoods and trying to equip them so they can see transformation there, rather than it just being in our neck of the woods.

If we can help other churches share the gospel by helping them to feed and nourish people in a very well-rounded and holistic way, why wouldn’t we?

LYN FOOD HUB AT LISBURN CITY CHURCH

While on the HA, we’ve been thinking, ‘How are we going to make it work?’ We have a vision, but we need structure and strategy to make it happen. The HA will help us put a strategy in place and professionalise what we’re doing, which is important as we’ll be partnering with other churches. This means that we have a responsibility to do things well.

The HA will make social transformation not just easier for us, but for the churches we partner with.

The HA retreats have been excellent because we used the time as a team to really dig into the five/three/one year plan. It was great to discuss, debate and get into the details. And the growing camaraderie of the cohort has been enjoyable; there’s just so much talent and resource in the room.

LISBURN CITY CHURCH, BELFAST

As Lisburn City Church enters its twelfth year of social transformation work in Belfast, the team are working hard to help the community take on more responsibility for itself.

Eleven years ago, our senior pastor Brian felt God was saying to him, ‘You’re pretty rubbish at community and reaching out.’ When we started this journey, we thought we were just starting a food bank and giving out a few food parcels. We never expected it to grow to this kind of big organisation with five key projects.

We realised the need for food was merely a symptom of an underlying problem. So we started to look at what else was going on across the city, because sometimes we’re just so focused on the symptom rather than the cause, but we want to help our community with the cause. And now, to date, we’ve helped one in 40 of the people living in Belfast.

LYN FOOD HUB VOLUNTEER AT LISBURN CITY CHURCH

Having been running for over 10 years, we’re now thinking about what the next five to 10 years look like. We’ve become a place of trust for people, which is a massive blessing, but it’s also created a sort of a dependency on the service. We want to support the community so that they don’t become reliant on the hub.

We’re asking: what’s next? The HA is helping us to answer that. We’re looking at where we’re at and being more reflective; looking at our data and insights, so we can develop our new five-year plan, while staying true to what God’s calling us to today.

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With the support of Resurgo, the Hub Accelerator resources and supports Love Your Neighbour Hubs to identify the needs of their communities, measure impact, catalyse volunteers, increase funding, build teams and much more.

LYN FOOD HUB AT LISBURN CITY CHURCH

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR

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Building community, creating connections and finding belonging is central to the wrap-around care that Saint Mary’s Southampton offer to their local community. We find out how this space has become a vital ministry and means to serve those most in need.

Meeting Place at Saint Mary’s Southampton runs weekly as a safe and warm space for the local community, somewhere to socialise, to build meaningful relationships and connect with other services. There is a pay-whatyou-can café serving hot and cold food and drinks. A team of volunteers are available to talk and pray with guests.

Saint Mary’s have a partnership with their local social prescribing team who are available weekly. Meeting Place is also home to a social supermarket run in partnership with a local charity.

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TACKLING LONELINESS Saint Mary’s is located in the top 10% most deprived wards in the country and a reported one in 10 people experience loneliness. Saint Mary’s started its community work in lockdown with a food bank. Emerging from the Pandemic, it became apparent the greatest need was to rebuild communities and connections. They believe through tackling loneliness and seeking to enhance individuals’ wellbeing, positive transformation and renewal will follow.

“ Before attending Meeting Place I hadn’t left my home in two years. I’ve now been attending for over two years.

Through your team and offerings, I’m such a different person. I’m excited to now be a volunteer for the church and returning to college.”

MENTAL HEALTH

The team’s weekly investment of time into their guests, getting to know them and journeying through life with them has led to guests attending Alpha, attending Sunday services and gaining volunteer opportunities with partner charities.

MEETING PLACE AT SAINT MARY’S SOUTHAMPTON

“Meeting Place is the only place I attend weekly, it’s good for my mental health.

It gets me out of the house and away from the draws of alcohol. Because my mental health is in a better place, I am thinking about returning to work.”

Research by the University of Southampton identified that attending Meeting Place led to a 15% reduction in guests’ low mental health after six months of attending.

Understanding that belonging to a community has a positive impact on mental health and, in turn, a better mental state means you are more likely to make positive life decisions.

CREATING CONNECTIONS Following Southampton’s Cost of Living Summit in 2022, Saint Mary’s was invited to partner with an independent bookshop to open its second Meeting Place location. Meeting Place October Books’ principles are the same: build community, find belonging and create connections. This is done over cream tea, crafts and games.

“ You called me when I hadn’t been for ages and said you were worried. I think you are the only people who did that. You people actually care about me.”

Meeting Place is only the start of Saint Marys’ wrap-around care initiatives. Saint Mary’s are training members of their congregation and from other churches in coaching techniques through The Path, in order to offer a highly beneficial but often unaffordable service to those in their community who want to take the next steps in their lives for positive change.

Saint Mary’s is excited for what God is doing through their team who make all these initiatives possible, and the local community who bring joy to the spaces each week!

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JACLYN COLBERT AT ST PETER’S BRIGHTON

Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery Faith in Recovery With the support of St Peter’s Brighton, Jaclyn Colbert was asked to help lead Faith in Recovery to support members of the community and congregation in their recovery journey. She describes how it works.

FAITH IN RECOVERY

“The disease of addiction wants us to isolate, so we need connection.”

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Try to educate your congregations with knowledge and understanding about the varying types of addiction. It touches all parts of our lives and isn’t just drinking and drugs.

Speak openly and honestly about addiction to create a safe space for recovery.

Know that love and support are an essential basis of any recovery meeting.

Attend open 12-Step Meetings to gain understanding, connect with the recovery community, and to find out what their needs are.

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Faith in Recovery launched a few months before the first lockdown in 2020 and grew exponentially during that year. We aim to create a safe space where those of us walking through recovery can speak freely of our joys, struggles and hopes relating to our recovery journeys, while knowing that God is our higher power. We support those who have just started their recovery journey and those who have been on the journey for years; those with great faith and those with little.

Each week, we either meet online or in person. Post-Covid, we decided to keep our online gatherings, welcoming those who felt comfortable being in person and those who didn’t. During the hour, we read scripture together, have time for silent prayer and share openly with one another.

The disease of addiction wants us to isolate, so we need connection. Not only with God but with fellow travellers, and this is something Faith in Recovery provides. Our heart here is to support one another within all of life’s ups and downs, with love and without judgement.

One thing we have learnt is that trust is integral to recovery support, and that trust is built upon fellowship. When a few others and I were asked to lead Faith in Recovery, we were already part of a recovery community in Brighton. We felt it was crucial that, although first set up by the church, Faith in Recovery was also held by people on the same recovery journey. We found that this built trust and brought a collective understanding.

By churches running recovery support programmes, they are building a community within an existing church community. Those coming into recovery need support to rebuild what their addiction destroyed. By doing this programme within a church context, their relationship with God is also being restored. Becoming sober, clean, or changing an addictive behaviour is just the beginning of the recovery journey; remaining sober takes walking with God daily and having a recovery community supports this.

As Christians, we are called to search out those who are suffering and struggling, and to practise radical hospitality. Faith in Recovery is one of the ways that we’re doing this at St Peter’s.

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Leadership Development

RADICAL REST

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Many Christian leaders in my generation grew up with a distorted vision of rest and so it’s little surprise that burnout, poor mental health and relationship problems are as common as they are.

Very few of us see rest as a virtue. One key distortion of the principle of rest is its diminishment for the sake of productivity. Our time is finite.

We have just 168 hours in a single week in which we need to eat, work, nurture, worship, commute, relate... An addiction to productivity is leaving rest and recreation off the list. ‘I haven’t got the time to rest’, could be the mantra of the 21st century.

SUCCESS EQUALS SACRIFICE?

We have accepted the belief that success is the reward of hard work, and that hard work requires sacrifice. The thing that we tend to sacrifice most readily is rest, since we believe it has the least virtue of all our responsibilities.

Radical Rest

Network Wellbeing Chaplain, Will Van Der Hart explains why we need to give rest a re-think.

In truth, if society continues to promote outstanding personal impact as the ultimate measurement of success, humans will sacrifice more and more rest to realise that dream. What we struggle to accept is that most millionaires (if money is any measure) didn’t get up at 5am, and they don’t want you to know how lucky they were.

Of course, there is virtue in labour, and sacrifice in hard work. That was never in question. What I do want to challenge is the ‘inevitability of success’ principle: that my success in life, work or ministry will be proportional to the number of hours that I give over to my work at the expense of my rest.

Having grown up to believe we are ‘history makers’, it can be hard to accept that world-changing success is outside of our control, but that single fact could be the gateway to a life better lived. Extinguishing the ‘fear of being average’ threatens a loss of motivation. But we cannot continue to let fear be the energy that drives our achievements; faith and a countenance of peace should play that part.

WRESTLING WITH SHAME?

It is not uncommon for Christian leaders to have a code word for rest.

These are used in conversation with other ‘knowing’ individuals or to book diary slots: ‘personal reflection’, ‘family business’, ‘environmental prayer’...

It once seemed humorous to me, but now I just find it heart-breaking.

Overworking has become a form of self-sacrifice that draws admiration.

Not for the sake of altruism but as an attempt to show others how far we are willing to go to demonstrate that we are committed or hard-working. Is it any wonder that we work so hard to fill our diaries to avoid the judgement of others regarding our capacity for all-consuming work? Sacrificing rest has become a small price to pay for the sake of social approval.

REST IS A SUBVERSIVE ACTION

The Bible is littered with passages extolling the true virtue of rest, not least God’s own Genesis Sabbath. Without doubt, my favourite miracle of Jesus is the calming of the storm in Matthew 8. It’s a moment of subversive rest. Subversion is the art of contradicting the principles of a system, having a relaxing sleep in the middle of a furious storm. It isn’t what we would expect and so Matthew writes, in verse 24, ‘But Jesus was sleeping.’ Rest wasn’t a sign of Jesus’ weakness, it was a sign of his profound confidence, authority and power.

If we are going to live more restful lives, it requires us to subvert the cultural zeitgeist. This looks like a confident celebration of the times that we recharge, rest, and recreate. It is the recognition that we are paid to rest as well as work, and that all productive work requires us to take our self-care seriously. Ultimately, it is an act of obedience and witness to Jesus, who says in Matthew 11:28–30 (MSG), ‘Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.’

CALEB STREAM ORDINATION 2023

GRADUATES AT ACCELERATE GRADUATION 2023

TRAINING LEADERS FOR THRIVING CHURCHES

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

As we plant more churches outside of town and city-centres, our models and methods for developing leaders are constantly evolving.

Here’s how we’re doing it.

This year, Accelerate (formerly known as the Accelerator Programme) launched new training cohorts across two streams: Multiply and Neighbourhood.

The Multiply Stream is for leaders who will be leading resource churches in towns or cities with an aim to kick-start their own planting movement over the coming years. The Neighbourhood Stream is curated for leaders who are being planted in neighbourhoods such as estates, villages and residential areas with significant deprivation.

These two streams will support leaders to go deep and wide. Through bespoke training and planting, we are mobilising local movements, led by local people, to thrive for generations to come.

This year also saw the launch of two new streams for Kids Pastors and Operations Managers. These streams are six-week sprint courses designed to help new Network staff build community, learn from experts, and be encouraged as they start in their role.

In 2020, we launched the Caleb Stream with just one candidate. Three years on and the Caleb Stream has launched its fourth cohort with 44 candidates. This year, seven dioceses sent candidates for the first time, and we are now training Calebs across three locations – York, London and Nottingham – making it more accessible. Our prayer is for the Caleb Stream to be adopted as a centrally recognised pathway by the Church of England Ministry Council.

TRAINING LEADERS FOR THRIVING CHURCHES

CALEB STREAM ORDINATION 2023

ACCELERATE GRADUATION 2023

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Our vision is to see a generation of church leadership that reflects and inspires the diversity of the body of Christ. We spoke to Nichola Taylor to hear how the Peter Stream gave her the confidence to follow God’s calling on her life.

PETER STREAM ORDINATION 2023

A M IS A E R ST R E BE THE PET M M E TO PROGRA E R H A T E IN -Y ONE H IL S T AKEN W GLAND N E F UNDERT O H G CHURC PROCESS; E X IS T IN ENT M N R ND E C D IS N T IF Y A D TO ID E L IN G L A C D D E S IG N E N G IF T S A E EE G R A H R T U THE ENCO LE FROM TED N E S E O F P EO P R P DERRE C IA L M O S T U N E LY R A C IA L , S O M A N , .

S L GROUP C AT IO N A AND EDU

TRAINING LEADERS FOR THRIVING CHURCHES

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WHAT LED YOU TO JOIN THE PETER STREAM?

A few summers ago, at Focus, Nicky Gumbel and Justin Welby spoke about how the Church was failing to represent the communities they were serving in. They spoke about the Peter Stream – a stream that supported those from lower income groups, those who may struggle academically, or those who don’t often see themselves represented in Church. And in that moment, I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to me.

A few months later I was put into contact with the Peter Stream Chaplain, Julian. Quite a bit has happened since then (!), but I am now training for ordination, doing my first year of ordination training at St Michael and St George in White City.

HOW DID IT SUPPORT YOU DURING YOUR YEAR OF DISCERNMENT?

If it wasn’t for the Peter Stream, I would not be studying as an ordinand right now! If I’m honest, I found the discernment process extremely intense and extensive.

NICHOLA TAYLOR, FROM THE PETER STREAM

I felt I was being tested on my academic ability, rather than my actual calling. The choice to follow my calling was hinged on how clever I was. I’m not an academic person, so I felt like I was being set up for failure. It was disappointing.

I’m a single mum of three children. At the time, I was working full-time and studying, so I felt pretty burnt out. But the Peter Stream puts you into a group of similar individuals to go through the journey of discernment with, and I was able to share openly with them all. The group gave me comfort, and once I began sharing, others did too.

We built one another up.

Not just this, but academically, the tutors were a great support. If you don’t have a certain level of education, you will struggle with the essays. My tutors were rooting for me, while still helping me to discern my calling. They offered input while still making space for reflection.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF?

I often asked myself: how can I move into this calling but still be myself? And I learnt that the only way I can truly be Nichola Taylor is to follow the calling God has on my life – the Peter Stream has helped me to do this.

WHY DOES LEADERSHIP NEED PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE?

A big chunk of the congregation that I am helping to lead are single mums. That label comes with struggle, hurt, and challenges. I’ve lived that, so when you’re leading people you can identify with, it gives you a completely different perspective. And representation matters – when I was in church, there was no one I could look up to that talked like me or had similar struggles in life. I’d think: ‘Am I able to walk this path because I can’t see anyone who looks like me who has done it?’ That puts a ceiling on people, not just in church leadership but leadership in general.

You begin thinking: ‘If I can’t see it, then I can’t be it.’

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

This year, we launched Transform, our new learning community designed for churches to reimagine where they want to go, and be resourced with tools and models to enable change. In March and October, joined by over 200 Network leaders, we heard teaching from international contributors on the topics of ‘Missional Expansion’ and ‘Resourcing the Mission’. Together we spent time in worship, ministry and in cohorts; assessing, dreaming and planning how to put vision into action. We ask four churches what the impact has been.

AMY REDMAN, BLACKPOOL CHURCH

CHRIS MUIR, LOVECHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH

JON FINCH, SAINT MARY’S, SOUTHAMPTON

ANDY CARTER, CONCORD CHURCH, BRISTOL

One point that has stayed with me is, ‘You can’t lead where you have not been.’

That really challenged me.

I’m thinking about what I’m asking my team to do, and is that something I’m willing to do? One thing I’m going to implement is taking that time to listen to the Holy Spirit during team time. Sometimes we can get so caught in the efficiency of the work, so I want to step back and ask: are we listening to Him while we’re doing the work?

Following the last 24hrs, I think it’s time to look at our mission, vision and values.

They have served us so well, but looking at it as a staff team together, we’re asking if it’s still fit for purpose? Are we fit for purpose for the next ten years? What’s the next thing that God wants us to be doing in Bournemouth?

The area of developing our leaders who then shape our culture was particularly helpful. How can we get more intentional about how we care for them, how we help their discipleship and their formation. We believe that transformed people transform places. We can have great strategies but if we don’t have the heart and the health for it then it won’t work. Therefore, it’s been really helpful to think where we are, where we want to get to, what the steps are that we’re going to take to get there.

We’re really excited about how to communicate to our volunteers – how to clarify our vision, our values and our purpose, to engage them in feeling like they must be a part of what’s going on in our church. We want to help them see how God’s moving in their lives and allow them to tell their story as well.

TRANS

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TRANSFORM LEARNING COMMUNITY 2023

SFORM

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NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

Network Highlights

Only Jesus

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THE ORCHARD WOMEN’S CONFERENCE 2023

In October, 2,500 women gathered at the ICC in Birmingham for the fourth year of The Orchard – a day of worship, inspiration, and encouragement from John 15. Spearheaded by Rachel Hughes (Gas Street, Birmingham) and Amy Hughes (Trinity Church, Nottingham), we share our top five takeaways.

ONLY JESUS

01 WE’RE FULLY DEPENDENT ON JESUS

02 WE’RE FRUITFUL IN FALLOW SEASONS

03 WE’RE PRUNED FOR PURPOSE

Opening the conference, Amy Hughes unpacked the message of John 15:5 – that Jesus is the vine. The branch is totally useless without the vine. Branches have no life without the vine, and we don’t need to be more than a branch. What’s our part to play? To remain in Jesus, to stay connected and to cultivate moments of intimacy with Him. ‘Hear the voice of grace in your ear. You don’t have to be perfect, allow God to be the vine in our lives.’

A seminar explored how we can live fruitful lives. A panel being interviewed shared how joy and fruitfulness can land in unexpected seasons – even in the times of deep disappointment. God is just as interested in the fruit of character that is formed in hard times. Everyone around you is impacted by the internal work that goes on in our hearts, sometimes even more than the external fruit.

Rachel Hughes taught that every one of us – who is a follower of Jesus – will be pruned. This pruning is for a purpose. Ultimately, Jesus wants to prune us from our sin, and to prune us through our pain. We need to confess our sin to break the power of it. Through repentance we experience forgiveness, and through forgiveness, we experience freedom. ‘God uses our seasons of pain to train us, to prune us and to release Kingdom fruit through us’.

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NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

04 WE’RE CALLED TO ‘REMAIN’ IN A HECTIC WORLD

05 WE’RE DESIGNED FOR A FRUITFUL LIFE

Care for the Family’s Katharine Hill described the call we have – to be still, to know God and to flourish in a hectic world. How do we do this?

Firstly, do away with striving. Striving is not the way of Jesus. Jesus knew he had come from God and that he had nothing to prove. Secondly, pay attention to our busyness – we don’t do our best work in a hurry.

Create rhythms and routines to spend time with God – ‘to divert daily, to withdraw weekly and abandon annually’.

Author and Speaker, Jo Saxton shared that when we ‘abide’ in the vine, the fruit will come. There is a transformation that is inevitable – it may not be quick or easy but it is inevitable as we stay connected to Jesus. The question is: do you know what you’re called to? What your purpose is?

God has given us all unique character, relationships, skills, purpose, and action. God has given you these gifts and he is not intimidated by them – he made you that way. Will you allow Him to use you? It’s time to stay connected to the vine, pick up your gifts and let’s go!

THE ORCHARD WOMEN’S CONFERENCE 2023

ONLY REVITALISING JESUS CHURCHES

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THE ORCHARD YOUTH STREAM Alongside the women’s conference, 220 11–18 year-old girls gathered at Gas Street for their own bespoke youth programme. Here’s what some of them had to say:

“ I encountered the Holy Spirit like never before and I was totally reminded of God’s love!!” “ During worship I felt a hand on my shoulder. In that moment I felt at peace and anxiety free.”

THE ORCHARD WOMEN’S CONFERENCE 2023

“ It was one of the best days of my life because for the first time I heard Jesus speak to me! He said ‘I see you; I know you and I love you’. It was amazing. It was like all the pieces that I’d learnt about Jesus over the years all came together as one and made complete sense!”

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Deep and Wide

Sarah Jackson – CEO of Revitalise Trust – reflects on what today’s churches have been called to do – step into the mess, the brokenness, the chaos to bring the hope of Jesus in fresh and creative ways.

I hope this edition of Revitalise encourages you.

Despite the significant challenges we may face – Jesus is still very much on the move, bringing hope, freedom and transformation and we have the great privilege of glimpsing God’s hand at work in our Network churches across the nation.

Over the past few years, at Revitalise Trust we have sensed a stirring of the Holy Spirit, challenging us to be more intentional to reach those living on estate neighbourhoods and lower income areas marginalised by society. We know Jesus is passionate about every community in our nation, but we have witnessed a noticeable uptake in our pipeline of leaders who feel called to reach those on estate neighbourhoods. It feels like God is raising up outstanding leaders, both young and old, because He knows what is needed, if the sleeping giant of the Church is to be revived and every parish to be revitalised. If we are to see the evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society we need a revitalised church and that requires well-trained leaders.

Historically we’ve been known as a network of resource churches, but by God’s grace (and certainly not through our expertise!) 40% of our churches are serving communities that are often on the margins of society. As we try to respond to this call of God, we hope by 2030 to see 50% of the Network planted and revitalised in estate neighbourhoods and areas of deprivation. I am so grateful for the 15 leaders who have already been on our bespoke Estates and Neighbourhood Accelerate training platform since it was created two years ago; intentionally developed to equip upcoming church planters for this unique ministry, with resilience for the long haul.

Jesus spent his time on the margins, with the vulnerable, the outcasts, with those who felt like they didn’t belong or were ostracised by shame. Those the world marginalises; Jesus brings close to his heart; bringing lasting transformation at a personal and community level. That’s what this new raft of leaders have been called to. They are stepping into the neighbourhood with love and humble confidence, inviting people to experience the transforming hope of Jesus. It’s so inspiring to see.

GOING DEEP

There is a tsunami of unseen need across our nation, yet the presenting challenges in Estate Neighbourhoods can appear more obvious. Alongside the beauty and joy in these communities, there is often a deep systemic brokenness which only the unconditional love of God can begin to heal. We are seeing God’s economy at work through our church plants, not in a paternalistic way, but in offering a model of true family, where everyone has a place and voice at the table; where they can belong, be loved and flourish. I think of Pattern Church in Swindon, and how their Ukrainian refugee community has become a core part of their church family, bringing new energy and valued friendships. I think of the collaboration between churches in our Network, like St John’s Blackpool and Beacon Church, working in the most deprived ward of the country to support one another.

It’s costly and sacrificial, but I am inspired by the hope with which our church leaders and teams are joyfully serving in some of the hardest, most deprived places in the nation, telling me they are ‘loving it.’ It is also deeply moving to see how Love Your Neighbour is supporting local churches as they tirelessly love and serve their communities through food banks, debt centres, breakfast clubs, refugee cafés and new Spear centres opening to reach unemployed young people.

GOING WIDE

At Revitalise Trust, we are trying to listen to the Holy Spirit as we believe he is calling us to go both deep – into the pain and mess of communities – but also to go wide. The data is stark, we are experiencing rapid church decline in the Church of England and there is undoubtedly a spiritual crisis and hunger in our nation.

I am convinced in this next season we need to shift our mindset from one of addition to multiplication.

Multiplication in every area: of our leaders, our church plants, our Peter and Caleb pipelines, enhanced training platforms, developing the Transform learning community, turbo-charging Love Your Neighbour and raising resources for the churches on the front line. I am deeply grateful for your remarkable support, encouragement and ceaseless prayers, as together we seek to play our part in the evangelisation of the nation, the revitalisation of the Church and the transformation of society. In Jesus’ Name!

Play your part

“Christ is our example as He very literally transformed communities and reached those who’d been ostracised.”

Join us as we work towards hundreds of churches growing, multiplying, transforming lives and bringing hope, in every community. Let’s do something great together.

Become a Friend of Revitalise Trust today Revitalisetrust.org/friends

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Front cover: The Orchard 2023

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