Happy New Year from CRT! I am delighted to be kicking off 2018 by sharing with you some of the exciting things that have been going on with CRT since our launch just 6 months ago! On behalf of the team, I want to say a BIG thank you for your support and prayers during our start-up phase - we are all incredibly thankful and feel so blessed. I hope that after reading this newsletter, you will feel as encouraged as I do at all that God has done for us so far.
What's The Vision? “CRT’s vision is to play its part in the evangelisation of the nations, the revitalisation of the church and the transformation of society by planting 100 new resource churches in key cities across the nation. This requires a national recruitment of 500 leaders - including 100 pioneering ordained priests, worship leaders, youth pastors, student workers and social action leaders. In line with the CoE’s own strategy for church revitalisation and at the invitation of the local Bishop, CRT will plant a total of 41 new City Centre Resource Churches (CCRCs) in major cities and towns, which in turn will plant and resource a further 59 new churches in the next 9 years. Each CCRC will aim to plant into an area of social deprivation. Developing existing resources and building upon extensive church planting experience, CRT is excellently positioned to turn the tide of church decline and help raise up a new generation of worshippers in vibrant, thriving churches across the nation.”
In case you missed it, don't forget to have a look at our promotional video:
What have we been up to? Since the launch of CRT at Focus 2017, we are delighted to share that we are now officially registered as a charity, have recruited a staff team of 8 and have launched our first ‘Church Planter Accelerator Programme’ for our current planting interns (more to come on this in future newsletters!). A big highlight for us though was the launch of two City Centre Resource Churches in Derby and Coventry, here's a snapshot of their stories:
St Werburgh's, Derby: Once a Chinese Restaurant transformed into a place of worship! You read correctly! The redundant 17th century building had been empty since 1990 and turned into none other than an all-you-can-eat Chinese Restaurant. After being closed for many years, the Bishop of Derby invited Phil and Anna Mann to revitalise the building, transform it from its former restaurant decor and open its doors afresh once again to the locals of Derby. St Werburghs’ launch event saw an amazing 350 people attend (ranging from Bishops to many homeless people) and they’ve had 200 people going ever since! They have also had 50 people at their weekly prayer meetings, been involved with Derby Uni’s CU and have hosted their first carol services in December.
St Mark's, Coventry: Closed for 45 years until relaunch sees 400 guests pass through it's doors! St Mark's Church in Coventry hadn't been used as a place of worship for 45 years. But in September 2017, it reopened its doors for a new congregation and an incredible 400 people showed up for the launch event! Led by Phil and Rachel Atkinson, the church has gone from strength to strength and has started a a number of new projects. Some of their highlights have been: running an Alpha Course (with an attendance of 50 at the first week!), held a number of Christmas Carol services throughout December AND have an incredible student group of 45 (apparently the first student night was a pub quiz - sounds like a big hit to me)!
St Mark's even got a feature on BBC Midlands! Click the photo below to take a look: (Photo taken by Jonathan Self; www.jonathanself.co.uk)
What else has happened? Together with St Peter's Brighton, two Second Generation Churches were launcheda church partnership at St Matthias, Fiveways, and a church plant to Crawley! What does that mean? When a new church is planted, we call it a City Centre Resource Church (CCRC). A CCRC is a church planted into a highly populated area (e.g. St Peter's Brighton) with the aim to resource the local diocese by planting again (e.g the Fiveways partnership and the Crawley plant) into a diversity of communities, specifically prioritising areas of social deprivation. The churches that come from a CCRC are known as a Second Generation Church.
To find out more about St Peter's Church Plants and Partnerships, simply click the red button. Or to visit St Matthias or St John's Facebook pages, click one of their logo pictures below.
Click Here!
Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork! This section is a chance for you to get to know who makes up the CRT Team. With each Newsletter, you'll be introduced to a new member. To start us o, I'd like to introduce you to Kim and Louise: Kim Vaudrey joined CRT in July 2017 as Head of Implementation and is responsible for CRT’s operations and project delivery, including the Accelerator Programme. Having started his career in financial services in Luxembourg, Kim spent several years in the Hedge Fund industry as Director of Operations for a boutique advisory firm in Mayfair. He joined HTB in 2014 and worked in the Finance and Giving teams before his current role with CRT. Kim brings a wealth of operational experience from the world of commercial Finance as well as church-specific knowledge from his time with HTB.
Oh, and he speaks German, French AND Russian... impressive! Louise Burns is the Philanthropy Coordinator for CRT and became a part of the team in the summer of 2017. Since joining, Louise has been developing CRT's Fundraising strategy, looking after our portfolio of donors, undertaking extensive research projects and working on our reporting strategy. Louise has also designed a Curriculum Booklet for CRT's ‘Church Planter Accelerator Programme’. Since moving to London 3 years ago, Louise has worked in admin based roles in the Education and Charity sectors but says she is most excited to be embarking on this new career in Fundraising. Having grown up on the South Coast, Louise loves to visit there when she can to enjoy some seaside air, long walks in the Purbecks and of course, a sea view (Hengistbury Head and Old Harry Rocks come highly recommended!).
Thank you again for everything you've done to make this possible. We absolutely cannot wait for all that God has in store for us this year. We would value your prayers for 2018 as we develop the Church Plants. Please pray especially that God would release buildings, resources and dioceses. If you would like to get in touch, please do not hesitate to contact us via the email button below.
Lots of love,
Sarah Jackson CEO, Church Revitalisation Trust
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