The official magazine of The eden neTwork
ChurCh:
the heartbeat of community
Teenagers:
the good influence
Midlands: EdEn’s coMing to town
contentS 4-5
going where we’re mosT needed
6-7
Teenagers: an inflUence for good
8-9 10
| eden |
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The official magazine of The eden neTwork
deeP rooTs fresh growTh
12
UrBan hero awards london
whaT makes a healThY UrBan chUrch?
13
seTh Pinnock oUr new midlands regional direcTor
Trading UP sam findlaY
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION 14 eden fir Vale geT social
COVER STORY
Editor: Clare Hester Art Director: Dan Hasler Graphic Design: Matthew Varah Wilson Eden enquiries: t: 0845 194 8668 e: info@eden-network.org www.eden-network.org Eden Network’s National Office is based at The Message Trust at: Lancaster House Harper Road Sharston Manchester M22 4RG
INTRODUCING
What iS the eden netWork?
WE CREATE TEAms of pEoplE Who puT doWn RooTs in Tough uRbAn CommuniTiEs, pARTnERing WiTh loCAl ChuRChEs And REAChing ouT To young pEoplE And fAmiliEs.
Our passion is to reach out to young people and their families, from within the community. Because our team members choose to live longterm in the neighbourhood they can really understand the problems of those growing up there; they can become trusted friends as they daily express the love of Christ. From our early days in the council estates and inner city streets of Manchester we’ve grown into a vibrant network spanning cities and regions including London, the North East and Yorkshire.
For a full list of Eden locations go to our website: eden-network.org/teams
www.flickr.com
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PHOTO CREDITS: Creative Commons License 2.0
COVER/CENTRE SPREAD: Jeremy Brooks p10: Heart - Morgana p11: Waka Jawake, Gene Hunt, Nicola Since 1972,
The great twentieth century theologian Karl barth began his life as a local pastor in switzerland. He endured a lot of friction in his first job because he refused to be at the beck and call of his comfortable congregation, preferring to spend his time being a pastor to the men of the local factories. In his later life, as an academic, he continued to draw on these experiences. One of the most memorable metaphors he used to describe what the church ought to look like, was the image of the heart. The heart has a two-fold action: expanding and contracting. These actions correspond directly to the life of the church – both drawing tightly together and thrusting out to the body’s tissues, organs and various extremities. Just as a human heart performs the critical lifegiving function of pumping oxygen around the body, so the church brings vitality to the local community. Or at least it should. If it’s healthy. This is why Eden is absolutely committed to working with, for, in and through local churches. After all, how can we expect to bring health to the community if its most vital organ is fighting for its own survival?
So, you won’t find an Eden team anywhere in the country that isn’t working through what it means to be church. It’s an integral part of our ministry of loving, serving and sharing in the struggle for the transformation of the wider community. In this edition of EDEN you’ll be able to find out more about how our teams around the country are seeing lives changed, churches grow and communities being transformed.
When the CHURCH Works like a HEART.
matt Wilson National Director Follow his tweets @mattwi1s0n
“
so the church brings vitality to the local community. or at least it should. if it’s healthy
.”
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GOING WHERE WE RE MOST NEEDED Earlier this year the End child Poverty campaign released an updated map of Britain showing the places where the problems of child Poverty are most acute. It was fascinating to see how the presence of Eden teams often corresponded directly with the places at the top of the Child Poverty chart. The top 3 – Tower Hamlets, Manchester and Middlesbrough – are all places in which we’ve been working hard for several years now. Several other Eden locations feature in the top 20. So it’s clear that our teams are placed exactly where they’re most needed. But there’s much more work to be done. Throughout 2013 and 2014 we’ll be doing all we can to form Eden teams in as many of those needy parts of Britain as possible – places like Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow.
GLASGOW
Plans are well underway for the development of Eden teams in Glasgow. Our hope is to launch teams as a followon to a large intensive mission in the city around the time of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
GREATER MANCHESTER
Manchester remains the epicentre of Eden’s work around the nation with teams present in 8 locations and 2 more in the pipeline.
MERSEYSIDE
We have committed to launching Eden in 3 disadvantaged communities. The first to go live was Eden Netherton in the north of Liverpool. Norris Green and Birkenhead will follow in 2014.
WEST MIDLANDS so it’ s clear “ that our teams are placed exactly where they’re most needed. But there’s SOUTH WALES much more work to be done.“
We are excited about the new opportunities for Eden and for the wider work of The Message across the Midlands. Find out more about the vision for Birmingham and beyond in our interview with new Regional Director Seth Pinnock on page 13.
We continue to ask God for open doors and to reveal his timing for the commencement of Eden in South Wales.
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NORTH EAST
FRIENDS OF THE POOR
Our 2 existing teams in Blyth, Northumberland and in the Easterside Estate south of Middlesbrough will soon be joined by a third – this time in the Ragworth area of Middlesbrough.
YORKSHIRE
The Eden teams in Sheffield and Bradford will soon be joined by a team located in the Wheatley Park area of Doncaster.
HUMBERSIDE
Our team in Hull is urgently in need of more team members – the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few!
EAST MIDLANDS
Serious talks are underway with Nottingham Diocese to consider how Eden could be used as a model to revitalise communities and churches in the north of the city.
LONDON
There are currently 6 Eden teams in the capital – North, East and West London. Two more are in development, the first designed to reach the estates of Shoreditch and the second in the Walworth area of Southwark.
Full Profiles and stories from all our Eden team locations are available at: eden-network.org/teams
wealth attracts friends as honey draws flies, but poor people are avoided like a plague. Proverbs 19:4 the Message The embedded poverty that we see manifest in communities around our nation is rooted in generations of injustice and exploitation. The problem is too big for any one group to solve. Therefore we must work together bringing our unique gifts into the equation. This begs the question – what is Eden’s contribution? The answer is simple: we are called to be friends of the poor. Eden’s approach to ministry has evolved over the years, from an early gung-ho activism to a deeply committed sense of long-term participation in the transformation of the most challenging neighbourhoods. This transformation takes place life by life, family by family, and street by street. It is founded in something we call the Proximity Principle – which is basically the opposite of what you may have heard described as Professional Distance. All our Eden team members first establish geographic proximity, by being resident in the neighbourhood they are reaching out to. Then they develop the vital relational proximity by opening their lives to people in the community around them – expressing the same unconditional love that Christ has expressed to us.
eden | 5
TEENAGERS “Her parents started to get involved with the church through Emma,” said Rev. Stuart Gregg, leader of Buttershaw Baptist. “She was baptised here the year Eden started working with the school and since then her father has joined the Eden team.”
RighT: on the finish line with team l-R Alex, Aaron, Rob and Joe
“She goes out on a limb to help everyone and anyone,” said her dad Tony Wilkinson. “She has inspired me to be a better person.”
Emma, 14, Yorkshire we met Emma in 2010 at BBEc high school at the cU,” recalls gav Humphries, Eden Buttershaw team leader. “we drew her a map to our church and she did the rest.”
“Eden has made a massive difference to our community and we have moved back onto the estate ourselves now to be a part of that,” said Emma, now 14. “I now lead the CU and we are looking for ways to love others wherever we can at school. Eden is doing the same thing on our estate. My vision is to be a church leader one day and to be able to minister to people and to tell people the good news about Jesus.”
“At the time she was starting a group at school called the Peer Pastoral Team, designed to care for her fellow pupils. This led to invitations to lead assemblies and even teach RE lessons to years 7, 8 and 9, as well as receiving prayer requests from students and teachers. She organised out To find t Eden a gala day, raising over u o b more a aw, go to £350 for good causes.” tersh
But
twork/ eden-ne aw buttersh
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This pAgE: Aaron with the new trainers Eden bought him for the marathon
Aaron, 18, SALFORD last year i did the marathon with two team mates, alex and Rachel.” recalls Rob Mcgibbon, Eden Eccles team leader. “A couple of the lads in our youth group saw how much money we were able to raise for the project and wanted to do it with us this year. So, Aaron and Joe signed up and cracked on with their training.” “Aaron’s story is quite special,” says Rob. “ When we met on the street four years ago he could hardly hold eye contact, let alone a conversation.
AN INFLUENCE FOR GOOD out To find t Eden u o more abs, go to Eccle twork/ eden-ne s eccle
i didn’t do well in school and got rubbish grades, just like my mates. none of us were getting jobs and life each day was quite boring.
“Then Andy shared his testimony with me and I went along to his church. After a couple of cell group sessions I made a decision to find out more about Jesus. I spent time reading the bible too. For everything I was going through, there was an Since then he’s been to every answer in the bible for it that event and youth session we seemed to jump out at me. I have put on. As we’ve given got baptised and the things that him time and attention he’s were troubling me in my head come so far! Last year, he stood started going away. up on stage and shared his story with over 1000 people! And, since he started training for the marathon in October, he’s given up smoking, which is massive for him.” Aaron has become really motivated, but not just to get fit, he ran the marathon to raise money for the local Eden team. “He really wants to put something back into the community,” says Rob. “He recognises how we’ve helped him in his life and this is his way of helping us to carry on doing what we do.”
Luay, 17, Teeside
I started to feel more secure. I was spending more and more time with better people who were making good decisions. Tony and others at the church have helped me get onto my joinery course with a company that might lead to an apprenticeship and hopefully a job. I don’t need to worry about my past any more and I’m forgiving people. My life used to be all about myself and I never used to do anything for my Mam, not even go to the corner shop for her. Now I know for a fact that my attitude has changed because I looked back on the last month and realised I had started to take my little brother and sister to school and pick them up. I’m more respectful, I don’t have an attitude anymore. But I’m not perfect, I know I still fail!”
out To find t Eden u o b more a ide, go to Easters twork/ eden-ne ide r easte s eden | 7
Eden Notting Barns
Eden Netherton
“since moving to london in the 80’s our vision has been to grow an urban church that represents the local community.
“i’ve lived round here for 30 years and have been pastor for the last 8.
Jackie Blanchflower, Allan Flannigan, Pastor, LONDON Pastor, LIVERPOOL Latymer Christian Fellowship Emmanuel Baptist Church
“Initially, we lived about a mile away from the church building but quickly realised that our home was in another world from the local estates. So, as soon as we could, we moved onto one of those estates and have lived there ever since. “Living in the community sends a message to our neighbours that we really are a community church. Also, it takes time to build relationships and being ‘on the patch’ accelerates that process. We also get amazing insights into the diverse people groups living on the estates – we’ve counted more than 30 distinct ethnic groups. We’ve learned how to push through where there are cultural and language barriers. “Having the Eden team has now enabled us to connect with lots of new people, especially youth involved in, or at risk of being involved in, gangs as well as their parents or carers. We love partnering with Eden and echo what one lad said to Jamie, our Eden Team Leader, ‘You’re the best thing that has ever happened to the Lancaster West Estate.’” 8 | eden
“I’ve seen the trends come and go – different evangelistic attempts to see the community saved – often for the money spent on them they’ve had minimal effect. The Eden approach which involves taking time, moving in, becoming part of the community fits with where we are going. “God was talking to me about long-haul commitment, and I looked around at Eden’s teams and I saw they were not imposing their tight idea of doing church a certain way. They move in, see what’s going on in the community, are the salt and light and wait to see what they can do. They are in no hurry to make their mark then leave for the next thrill. “Yes, these areas are tough. Sometimes it’s 5 steps forward and 15 back. It’s hard and difficult at times. These estates are full of people whose lives are wrecked and the biggest hope for people is to move out. Somehow we have to get it to a place where people want to stay. That takes really deep commitment.”
Eden Preston Road
Eden Merseybank
mick can see the impact the new preston Road Eden team has had in his community already, in just a year.
“our Church started 120 years ago with one man, oliver brockbank, opening his house to ordinary working-class people who weren’t going to church.
Mick Fryer, Vicar, HULL St Aidan’s church
“I passionately believe in incarnational theology,” says Mick, “and we are seeking to be an incarnational church in the parish – so our DNA is very similar to that of Eden. Eden is a natural fit for us. But because we cover the whole parish, not just the Preston Road estate, we haven’t been able to meet the whole spectrum of needs. “I always knew it was going to be a long haul but the progress made in this first year has been tremendous. As active members of our church, the team, although small right now, has already raised the profile of the church on the estate through its schools work and holiday clubs in the community centre. The agencies that work on the estate have been very aware of Eden’s presence and, because of budget cuts, the team is being approached to help plug the gaps and support vulnerable families.”
Anthony Delaney, PASTOR, Manchester. Ivy MANCHESTER Church
“So our heritage is all about reaching the unreached. On the surface today’s Ivy may look a lot different, with meetings in the local cinema, local bars and even a nearby warehouse, yet the heart to reach the unreached remains the same. That will always be our heartbeat. “We want to make Jesus accessible to all we come in contact with,” says Anthony, “so everything we do is geared towards people looking to find a way back to God. Through our partnership with Eden we now have a living bridge to one of our local estates – known as the Merseybank. The Eden team essentially extends our presence into the estate seven days a week, which means that people are aware of us and curious to find out more on a Sunday.”
Through our partnership with Eden we now have a living bridge to one of our local estates eden | 9
TRADING sam findlay graduated from bible College and went straight to work in a large church in birmingham, where he was Children’s director, in charge of around 120 kids every week. But it wasn’t long before he traded his life in the big city for an invisible estate in the North East, joining Eden Blyth. “A lot of people thought I was crazy leaving a nice big church for a small church on an estate up here in Blyth,” said Sam. “But God asked me to move, so here I am! “We meet young people who have got really tough home lives and we want to show them that God really cares for them and really values them,” said Sam. “They know nothing about God and so much of what we do is simply providing them with the opportunity to hear about God where they are at and not prescribe what it should look like.” 10 | eden
“All you need,” said Phil Sheratt, Eden Blyth’s church leader, “is a beating heart that cares and believes that people, when they encounter God, will change and that people’s lives are better for knowing Jesus.” In contrast with running a huge team, Sam’s role is now about doing ‘life’ with people. This involves running most sessions himself, whether it’s
all you need
beating heartthat cares is a
and believes that people, when they
encounter god, will change and that people’s lives are better for .”
knowing Jesus
P 11+ youth drop-ins, discipleship groups or one to one mentoring. Since Sam joined Eden Blyth a few months ago he’s been able to build on what Phil had established and they can now provide a youth drop-in weekly, which sees up to 20 young people at each session. “It is such a privilege to let the next generation experience God,” said Sam. “Some of the youth we know leave for school at 9am and cannot go home till 10pm because parents are at work late. They love having somewhere safe and fun to go instead of being on the streets. We do games, craft, play pool or just chat with a slice of toast and a cup of tea. On the Friday nights we do hockey, nail bars and team games too, to get them connecting. It’s a place where they can hang out, be heard and feel part of the community.”
To find out more about Eden Blyth, take a look at eden-network.org/blyth
DEEP ROOTS JOYCE
Joyce is an amazing neighbour and along with the rest of her family has lived on Merseybank for 7 years. Joyce brings many talents to the team, a real fun people person, at home with young and old. As well as an experienced and skilled educator and dramatist Joyce is great at making everyone feel welcome and valued. Joyce runs the local community learning hub, a daytime small group, community lunch on Sundays, children’s activities and regular taxi services to and from different church events whilst studying and being a mum. Squeezing the juice out of life, Joyce seizes every opportunity, connecting people, making things happen and her Jollof rice is to die for.
Annie and Joyce, residents of the Merseybank estate, had been independently praying for Merseybank and asking the Message to send an Eden team for a long time. When Steve and Sarah Small, moved onto Merseybank as Eden team leaders, an exciting twist in the tale occurred when they both felt God calling them to be part of the team as well, bringing them together for the first time. “Between them they have brough a great wealth of local knowledge, wisdom, prayer, insight and determination to the team,” said Steve, “and share a passion to see God transform Merseybank.” Annie has lived on Merseybank for over 16 years with her family and really gets God’s heart for her neighbours. Annie’s passion is contagious and through championing prayer and listening to God, Annie is shaping how Eden Merseybank can ‘do good better’. Annie helps the team connect better with their neighbours especially young people. Annie is currently working hard at getting a new youth initiative started involving the Eden Bus as well as partnering with Besom to redistribute furniture and goods to where there is need.
Both Annie and Joyce are invaluable to the Merseybank community, church and Eden team. To find out more about Eden Merseybank, take a look at edennetwork.org/ merseybank
ANNIE
FRESH GROWTH
EdEn | 11
one of the high points in Eden’s calendar is the glitzy urban hero Awards hosted annually in manchester by Eden’s parent charity The message. it serves to celebrate, with a lot of noise and story telling, the lives of the young people we work with and acts as an annual fundraiser to continue and expand what Eden does. One of the exciting things about 2013 is that Eden London has reached such a stage in its development that it’s able to put on its own Urban Hero Awards. The London teams are doing a fantastic job through their various programmes across London. Over the last three years they have met hundreds of young people through activities like schools work, sports sessions and mentor programmes. There will be no shortage of young Londoners to put forward for each of the awards.
“...it will celebrate the achievements of teenagers that so many are quick to write off...“ 12 | eden
“London teenagers get such a bad press,” says Dan Haigh, London’s Regional Director, “and that’s not been our experience. This event will highlight what we are all about, it will celebrate the achievements of teenagers that so many are quick to write off. Kids who have overcome hardship, with the help of our teams, are beginning to realise their full potential and we want to publically affirm that.”
ABOVE: The 6 Urban Hero Award winners from the 2012 event
London’s Urban Hero Awards will be held this Autumn, in a corporate hospitality suite at the Emirates stadium. Tickets will be limited to 200 guests and sponsorship opportunities will be available. Be sure to sign up to London’s news updates to be the first to hear more details. Contact daniel.haigh@eden-network.org for more information. To find out more about our London teams, go to: eden-network.org/london
h c n u a l s g i G Massive tive in the Midlands. Eden’s latest initia
AboVE: The team fro
m Midnight Oil 20 12
seth pinnock (left), our new Regional director for the new message Charity in the midlands, will be using his massive midnight oil event over the summer, to raise awareness that Eden’s coming to town. “Birmingham is a buzzing hubbub of different cultures,” said Seth. “It’s thought that the city will have more ethnic minorities than English people soon. With these diverse pockets of different cultures and religions and not much overlapping in terms of territory, we need unity amongst local churches more than ever.” Hailing from Birmingham originally, Seth had settled more recently in London before heading north to take up his new post. Seth has had a vision to develop and enhance young people’s Christian faith since he was at school and whilst at University, his Midnight Oil ministry,
which he’s led for the last few years, took off. Seth will use his established networks, combined with that of the Message and Eden, to pursue the vision for the region. Over the next few months Seth will be working with Matt Wilson and Andy Hawthorne to detect where God wants Eden to position teams and recruiting the leaders and volunteers for the region. Plus working to roll out other Message Ministries across the region. He wants to provide a platform for people to get involved with the hard to reach communities. In particular he wants to unite those that already know they want to relocate onto an estate, but have been waiting for an opportunity like this to get plugged into. To find out more about The Message Midlands, and specifically Eden in The Midlands, go to eden-network.org/midlands If you want to get in touch with Seth you can contact him on seth.pinnock@eden-network.org eden | 13
Social Transformation Almost all of our Eden teams have Facebook pages, but the team page for Fir Vale, Sheffield, is by far the busiest of them all. Pretty much every day the team post mini-testimonies of the things they see God doing in their community. Here’s a snapshot…
Eden Fir Vale 2 days ago
Great ‘Make Your City Shine’ lesson in Fir Vale Secondary school today. Exploring topics of motivation, inspiration and helping others.
Eden Fir Vale 6 days ago
Prayed with a family on my street for the first time this week. All at once in our own languages then finished up with ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’ in Slovakian! The Dad could really do with a job, if anyone’s up for praying for him, or they might have to leave Fir Vale, which would be gutting for me!
Eden Fir Vale
Eden Fir Vale 1 days ago
Great helping a group of students at Whiteways Primary improve their schools woodland area today.
Eden Fir Vale 4 days ago
Good time yesterday playing cricket with children and youth on wensley park, thankful for the great weather too :-)
Eden Fir Vale 1 week ago
Litter picking on a windy day with a crowd of hyperactive kids armed with litter pickers... what else would you do on a Sunday afternoon?
2 weeks ago
Please pray for ‘Flourish’, our new group for local girls. The first session is tonight, and we’re baking cakes!
Eden Fir Vale 3 weeks ago
Got given a present by the Slovakian family over the road for no apparent reason. I asked why, they said, ‘you family.’ :0)
You can ‘like’ Eden Network on Facebook at facebook.com/EdenNetwork or use the Facebook search bar to find your local team.
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Eden Fir Vale 3 weeks ago
Exciting milestone day today for Restore, our missional community. First time gathering for prayer and praise in the community centre! And some curious locals wandered in, joined in and stayed for litter picking and lunch as well!
Eden Fir Vale 4 weeks ago
Thankful for the chance to pray with a lad for his injured ankle yesterday whilst playing football in the park. He was back on his feet in no time and running rings round me again!
s on this
0 mins of o halves
cluded for
WWW.EDEN-NETWORk/RESOURCES £10
formation Vol.1&2 DVD A 10-part double DVD group training resource for those involved in seeking to bring about holistic transformation in challenging neighbourhoods.
£10
reSource bank DVD Effective methods and wise advice for those working to reach urban youth, from street-level first contact to mentoring and discipleship.
BRAND NEW
In this volume, Looking After
LookinG after The Mind & Soul, we cover the mind & SouL: one of the most common, but formation Vol.3 also highly sensitive, areas
£10
FIVE GROUP TRAINING SESSIONS EXPLORING ISSUES OF EMOTIONAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL WELLBEING
LOOKING AFTER THE MIND & SOUL FORMATION: VOLUME 3
e Mind t ve, areas round being. t become an we ffectively ex der Hart ake sense
GREAT TRAINING DVDS
urban ministry resources from the eden network
LOOKING AFTER THE MIND & SOUL FORMATION: VOLUME 3
of ministry – namely the issues around mental health and spiritual wellbeing. How can we ensure that we don’t become casualties of ministry, and how can we respond compassionately and effectively to people around us with complex emotional needs? Rev. Will van der Hart and Dr. Rob Waller help us to make sense of these questions.
concrete faith
by MATT WIlSON It’s packed with inspirational and personal stories and shares the lessons learned and challenges faced by Eden teams over the last 15 years.
Paperback: £6.99
Kindle edition: £5.99 (from amazon.co.uk)
There are 5 training programmes on this DVD volume: 1. Staying Sane in Ministry 2. Depression, Anxiety & Worry 3. Mental Health Networking 4. Help! I want to hurt myself 5. Drugs and Alcohol Each programme contains 25-30 mins of training content divided into two halves of 12-15 mins. Detailed discussion notes are included for each of the 5 programmes. eden | 15
chewy@eden-network.org