Watch our Summer Update film celebrating what has happened so far this year HERE
We’re delighted to bring you some exciting highlights from the last year which were made possible because of your support.
There’s so much we want to celebrate and thank you for – from new church plants and leaders to communities being transformed by the power of Jesus. We’ve also seen Love Your Neighbour Hubs becoming centres of excellence across the UK.
Your continued support and prayers have enabled us to play our part in the revitalisation of the church, the evangelisation of the nation, and the transformation of society.
Our mission is to plant Resource Churches and hundreds of other churches and sites in key towns, cities and areas of high deprivation across the nation – church plants that will become hubs for resourcing, planting and regeneration within their dioceses and communities.
Leadership is central to the effectiveness of our church plants. Our training is designed to equip, resource and prepare a diverse group of church planters from all backgrounds to lead churches that will transform their local communities.
The HTB Network is a growing family of over 150 churches around the UK and includes 8 International Church Plants. CRT supports this Network by gathering and investing in its leaders and teams, providing ongoing training, ministry resources, and access to grants for strategic growth and social action projects.
Through our Love Your Neighbour social action initiative, we are helping churches of all denominations provide practical help and support to those most in need in our society.
Last year was a busy year for CRT. In 2022, we celebrated 29 church plants and revitalisations, bringing our network total up to 154!
Each of those 154 churches represents a community space where people can gather in worship, be supported in difficult times, and where the good news of the Gospel can spread further.
Some of the plants and revitalisations made possible by your gift were new, others were generational plants from other plants. Whatever their case, God has moved powerfully in such a short space of time.
Basingstoke Church has seen huge expansion and social impact since last year. The plant – which consists of four sites - focuses on families and has seen an overwhelming response from the local community.
As many as 100 people from the community have encountered Jesus. Not only are people coming to faith, but they have been able to receive practical assistance.
A lot of new mums came with the same feelings of loneliness and being overwhelmed.
Basingstoke listened to the needs of the community and were able to respond, launching a Tots and Toddlers Group. With upwards of 40 families attending, starting a second group is on the horizon for Basingstoke!
Risen Christ Wyken has seen some huge strides. Children’s attendance has gone up tenfold!
Meanwhile, the church performed their first full immersion baptism, with the newly-baptised man now stepping up as one of the main leaders of the new men’s ministry.
After attending the Accelerator Programme and planting into Wyken, minister Paul Pavlou has had members of the community notice the transformation of the local area.
“We have had several people approach us with comments like ‘we can see what you’re doing here is good and that it’s making a difference’.”
– Paul Pavlou Risen Christ, Wyken
As our City Centre Resource Churches have grown, they’re planting out from the heart of the city towards the neighbourhoods on its margins.
Currently, 13% of our network churches are Estate Churches. Of these 21 Estates Churches, 13 are in areas of deprivation.
We anticipate that by the end of the decade, almost half of our network will be in neighbourhoods that fall within the top 10% of the deprivation index*
We believe that God is inviting us to join him on the margins of our society and draw these neighbourhoods into the heart of our network.
If we achieve this as a network, planting into marginalised neighbourhoods will go from being novel to being normal; and these churches will move from our margins to our heart.
An estimated 20% of the UK population live in poverty, but they’re not on the margins of God’s Kingdom and will not be on the margins of our network.
13% of our network churches are Estate Churches
Of the 21 Estate Churches (13%)
13 are in areas of deprivation
20% of the UK population live in poverty (estimated)
We anticipate in 10 years
If you’d like to read more about the statistics of the Neighbourhoods involved, use the Parish Finder tool on Church Urban Fund’s website – HERE
50% of our network churches will be in deprived neighbourhoods
The Peter Stream
Developing leaders who sense a calling to Ordained leadership in the Church of England, but are in one of three key under-represented groups, namely racial, social and educational.
The Caleb Stream
For those aged over 55 with significant life, leadership and ministry experience and the time post-retirement to lead a church in one of the 6,000 Church of England churches without a focal leader.
The Accelerator Programme
Designed to equip church leaders to planting in estates, towns and cities across England.
For churches to thrive, they NEED to have exemplary LEADERSHIP.
This year, 73 leaders have joined one of these three pathways: 22 on the Peter stream, 27 on the Caleb stream and 24 on the Accelerator Programme. All three pathways have grown significantly since their inception. 2018 saw our first cohort of 4 Peters, and our Caleb Stream uptake has nearly tripled since your funding last year, up from 10 in 2021. Similarly, the Accelerator Programme has grown from just 3 in 2017 to now 24. Growing a pipeline of highcalibre, diverse men and women and seeing them robustly trained is a crucial part of our broader vision to play our part in the evangelisation of the nation, the revitalisation of the Church and the transformation of society.
“I first heard about the Caleb Stream and thought ‘no way; I’m too old’.
Then, God made it very clear through scripture and conversations with friends that I should. God has been preparing me since I was first called in the 1980s.
I’ve always sensed the call of God on my life, and now there’s more of a recognition because I’m wearing the collar.”
– John Birkett
“The Peter Stream helped me to understand what calling is and what vocation meant.”
– Peter Stream Candidate
With the ordination process taking up to 4 years, the seeds our supporters have planted will bear fruit today and tomorrow.
Thanks to you, we’ve been able to invest a considerable amount into our network, helping the teams on the ground gain access to resources, advice and support, so that they are equipped as they reach out into their communities.
This year, we hosted the first gathering of our new learning community, Transform.
We saw over 200 leaders and more than 50 churches represented, travelling to London for 2 days of worship, with input from a number
of powerful speakers, cohort time, and learning how to lead healthy and effective missional churches. This presented a great opportunity to strategies and learn from each other, and the feedback didn’t disappoint. Our next Transform will be happening in October, and we can’t wait to hear how those who attended in March have grown and implemented what they learnt in their own churches. Watch a film sharing feedback from some of our attendees: HERE
“The speakers brought such richness and great content and great teaching and they’re marrying that with all the knowledge and the wisdom and the enthusiasm that we get from the network has just been like a dynamite combination.”
– Ali Hill St Win’s, Totton
“It was a real gift to have that space to think strategically about these next 6 months. What really matters for us, what’s going to help us shift the culture… to have this space to breathe, pause, pray, and say: ‘okay, God – who are you calling us to be?”
– Joel Sales Pattern Church, Swindon
Just as we hoped, last year, we were able to launch the CRT Toolkit. This online platform gives networkwide access to over 150 church leaders and their teams, providing them access to seminars, videos, and other training materials to
ensure that their church can provide optimal services. With a shared resource platform, churches across the network are able to remotely access any tools they might need, whenever they need them.
Some expressed an interest in making services more accessible to children, whereas others needed some assistance with the logistical and operational tasks. There was something for everyone through the variety of courses, including Kids AP and Ops AP, and those who completed the courses gave fantastic feedback of the value
of the courses they attended.
We were able to train church teams to do everything from delivering engaging and meaningful services to the youth, to giving budgeting and fundraising advice.
We hope to deliver these courses in areas of ministry that need specific attention. This year, we will be focusing on youth training.
With your support, we were able to launch the Hub Accelerator last year. The Hub Accelerator is a 7-month course in which Love Your Neighbour Hubs can up-skill in Mission, Strategy, and Operations.
We work closely with the social outreach arm of CRT to provide wrap-around care to those who need it, and the Hub Accelerator has proved a great way for Hubs –no matter what their size – to gain resources and knowledge.
We rolled out the Hub Accelerator last year, with 16 Hubs of different denominations across the UK taking part. Within the first year of the programme, our Hubs built 50 new local partnerships with the NHS, Schools and councils helping them reach new groups.
This enabled them to provide an additional 412,932 meals to those in need and increase community volunteer hours by 17,804 hours –on top of their regular provision.
We saw the results of what this investment means in Hillsong Liverpool. The team were able to identify the changing needs of the community – notably, the financial struggle that working people were facing.
Those that might not qualify for a foodbank were left in limbo, so Hillsong Liverpool stepped in. They adapted their services to a social supermarket model, meaning that shoppers could maintain agency, dignity, and choice while shopping.
They’re now able to welcome all, from students to those on a low income. The sense of independence that shoppers feel is crucial to breaking the cycle of food poverty, and also creates a strong sense of community for those attending.
“Hopefully, we wouldn’t need it in the long run. But we want to be here to provide that wraparound care when it’s needed.”
The pilot was an ambitious project, but its success has led us to onboard a new cohort for this year’s Hub Accelerator which started in June.
Read more about the Hub Accelerator: HERE
“The Hub Accelerator has been really good for us to narrow down and see exactly what need we want to meet, find a good target group, and find out how we can better serve them long-term instead of just meeting their shortterm needs.”
– Hillsong, Newcastle
Our wrap-around care is continuing to be delivered to those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine through Love Ukraine, and those in areas of deprivation through Love Cities. Over 110 people have been partnered with host families through Love Ukraine, getting the support, care, and structure to their lives that were shaken after the outbreak of the war last year. We’ve heard beautiful stories of communities rallying together and people coming to faith after encountering the kindness and love of Hubs and Churches.
You can read these stories and more: HERE
We’ve also been able to give grants to Churches and Hubs up and down the UK who work in areas of deprivation.
Working through our 3 Cs – crisis, cause, and care – Hubs and Churches have been equipped to help those in need, tackle the roots of social deprivation, and provide care to those in need.
Your prayers and support have made this a remarkable year for CRT. Together, we are changing the trajectory of Church decline, planting spirit-filled churches into towns, cities, and neighbourhoods, and raising up new and exceptional leaders.
We have an audacious vision to see 1,500 churches planted and revitalised and 3,000 new leaders developed by 2030.
We believe that – through your partnership and prayers – this is possible, and we’ll see the Church move into growth. Thank you.
In order to achieve this our income will need to grow over the next 3 years:
2023 – £9.9m
2024 – £10.9m
2025 – £11.6m
If you’d like to support us in this, please visit crtrust.org to sign up to our newsletter, donate, or find more ways to get involved.
None of what has been achieved would be possible without the generous support of our donors and supporters.
“The ministry of CRT continues to go from strength to strength, and God’s favour is evident. In particular, I am delighted to see how the relationship between Love Your Neighbour and each of our plant churches is developing, and also the continued expansion of the Peter and Caleb streams.
I have the privilege of convening the regular senior leaders’ Zoom calls through the year, and I’m always struck by the variety of what God is doing through each church across the country, combined with a sense of “family” and being “in it together.” ”
- Archie Coates Vicar“We have been delighted with the roll out of Loop to 40 Network churches. Loop is an in house data collection and reporting platform, built to help our network churches measure their impact with the goal of being able to see what God is doing to and through our churches.”
- Ben Bridges Head of Impact“I’ve loved being able to hear from churches across the network when working on our annual magazine, REVITALISE. From the resource churches to rural plants, it’s amazing to hear the impact that’s being made.
Another highlight was being at the Peter Stream ordinations at St Paul’s Cathedral – the stream continues to grow, and I love hearing each Peter’s story.”
- Hyeri Heath Content Producer
“We are so grateful to God for the impact that ‘Transform’, our new Learning Community, has already had on churches in the network. Since the first gathering in March, where we looked at the theme of ‘Missional Expansion’, we have heard stories from across the network of how the keynote sessions, cohort time and in-depth mentoring have deeply impacted their ministry.
We’re looking forward to our next gathering in October.”
- Tom Lane Head of Network Development
