Soul Action Go Local Section 2: Scaling up – Doing a ‘Soul In The City’ by Soul Survivor

PART TWO: SCALING UP

SCALING UP: HOW TO DO A SOULINTHECITY section one: Getting started

SOULINTHECITY was a massive citywide mission that took place in London in 2004. Involving 772 of London’s diverse churches, around 9,500 London churchgoers and 11,663 young Christian people from around the country, SOULINTHECITY brought the good news of Jesus to the UK’s capital city in words and actions. In this first section we’ll give you a bit of a look at the values and theology that started the whole mission.

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Chapter 1: Introduction The reaction to SOULINTHECITY 2004 has been immense. Testimonies poured into the Soul Survivor offices, thousands of Londoners saw and heard the good news of Jesus, young Christian people were inspired and whole communities were served. Yet perhaps one of the most significant responses to the event is only just beginning to be felt. Seeing young people who are passionate about Jesus serve a whole city seems to have had an infectious appeal. Churches all over the UK, and now from Africa, Canada, the US and Europe, have expressed the desire to see a SOULINTHECITY happen in their localities. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been amazed by such a positive reaction. We want to encourage church leaders interested in organising a SOULINTHECITY type initiative by sharing our experience of the questions, concerns, values and skills needed to set up such a big event. However, this case study isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supposed to lay out a blue print for you to copy. The very nature of SOULINTHECITY LONDON 2004 meant many things were planned around the specifics of London. The mission was tailored to the workings, people and communities of our capital. Because of this, many things are not instantly transferable to other contexts. Nevertheless, the basic principles are very relevant to a number of cities and countries. It is these issues that we focus on in this document: issues concerning values, leadership, communication and finance. Provided in conjunction with this case study are various resources that were developed for SOULINTHECITY 2004 (see appendices to this section). These are historic documents, that although refer to events now finished, will continue to help provide clear guidelines, ideas and structures to any future mission. What is important is to emphasise that although SOULINTHECITY 2004 was a success, it is fair to say that we learnt many lessons. Hopefully some of these lessons will be communicated to you in this case study in your efforts to bring Jesus to your own towns, cities and countries.

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Chapter 2: First things first The whole idea of setting up a citywide mission, with hundreds, or maybe even thousands of young people, loads of churches and an array of supporting organisations may seem just a little daunting. However, before you even start working out what projects would work best in what area, or how transport arrangements should operate, its essential to get a few key things sorted. Our theology and our values should inform all that we do in planning and implementing a mission. Once these items are agreed and set out, everything else, from appointing coordinators to establishing a marketing strategy can proceed coherently and consistently.

Values Soul Survivor has certain key values that were incorporated into the structure and style of SOULINTHECITY. The basic values involve the importance of worship, teaching and ministry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all things that were focal points of the morning celebrations. However, these three key values also undertook a change in form as delegates set off to communities around London during the afternoon and evening projects. Their actions during these projects became as much a part of their worship, learning and ministry as did their time spent in the morning celebrations. Out of both of the celebrations and projects flowed a growing passion for evangelism. Hundreds of young people had the opportunity to share their faith, gaining a desire to see people introduced to Jesus. However, other key values were integral to the planning and organising of the mission: Prayer:

Everything from initial vision through to finance was based in communication with God

Relationship: All involved from Partner Churches through to Associate Organisations work with us, to achieve specific and agreed ends. Importantly we try to work with and alongside other agents in a relational, rather than formal way. Compassion: Acting like Jesus by not judging the communities we intended to help, but serving them with compassionate acts of service. Evangelism:

Everything about SOULINTHECITY was geared to showing and telling people about Jesus. Whether

through words or actions, the projects, events and presentations were intended to introduce people to the hope of Christianity in their present and future life. Delegates:

Central to all Soul Survivor events is the primary value of ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience

for all delegates. Similarly, making sure that these delegates have a positive experience of God flows from this value.

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Furthermore certain key concerns gave the mission a typically London feel as we sought to empower the local churches to get on board and share their expertise with us.

COMMITMENT TO LOCAL CHURCH SOULINTHECITY aimed to be committed to serving the local churches. This was not a top-down initiative, but rather a grassâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;roots or bottom up way of organising. Ideas for projects, leaders, general project research, planning, implementation and follow up was done by the excellent 772 partner churches.

CHURCHES WORKING TOGETHER Many of the churches involved in organising projects and hosting delegates worked together. This meant churches in the same area came together to coordinate their efforts and set up projects (or resource existing ones). An amazing sense of unity and friendship was created by this

ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED SERVING, NOT IMPOSING Officially SOULINTHECITY had 26 partnering organisations. Soul Survivor viewed itself a resource to the local churches, organising a mission simply to serve and greatly resource the ongoing efforts of London churches with thousands of young people. This same servant hearted attitude was adopted by all the organisations involved, meaning that no one particular agenda was being imposed over and above that of the aim to see churches empowered in reaching out to their communities.

EMBRACING DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURALISM London is a centre of cultural and ethnic diversity. The same is true of its churches. One of the most important aspects of SOULINTHECITY was that it embraced all styles, denominations and types of church. The mission partnered with 772 of the capitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diverse churches and as such reflected the essential diversity of London.

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Chapter 3: Theology We’ve found the following pointers pretty helpful over the years in developing a theology that has guided the work and actions of Soul Survivor. This has basically defined what we believe and therefore how we act. As we undertook SOULINTHECITY naturally our perspectives grew and ideas evolved. However, we found that the following key issues emerged to form our belief about why we were doing SOULINTHECITY.

Worship As we sing songs of praise and spend time worshipping God corporately we are increasingly hearing God’s call to go beyond church walls. Our understanding of worship has become as much about glorifying God in song as it is about glorifying God with our actions. This is in line with teaching Jesus gave regarding the greatest commandment: “The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matt 22:37-39). Jesus seems to be saying that loving God and loving our neighbours amount to the same thing. This wasn’t a new revelation. Isaiah and Amos consistently hammer home a similar point: festivals, conferences and church services make no sense to God if we ignore our neighbours. Serving and loving those around us glorifies God as much as singing songs and attending festivals. The two go hand in hand to begin to form the basis of a life of worship.

Incarnation God becomes a man. Not only does he become a man but He gets deeply involved with specific people, communities, ideas, debates and groups. Theologians use the same principle when speaking of mission and evangelism. As such, a key issue for SOULINTHECITY was effectively incarnating the gospel, God’s message of salvation, within London’s specific communities. A major help in this respect were the many partner churches that were located and already worked right in the heart of the mission area. These churches knew the communities around them intimately and helped the thousands of delegates relevantly ‘incarnate’ God’s message of salvation in their areas. For some it was showing God’s love through acts of service, for others it involved putting on massive youth concerts and for others still it simply involved caring for people.

Words Works and Wonders There’s not any one specific way we have to do mission. There are loads of ideas, styles, structures and plans that have been thought up and put into practise – some more successfully than others. At Soul Survivor we tend to focus on a rounded approach to worship, mission and evangelism that uses the words, works and wonders paradigm.

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Words: using our mouths to express love to God, to tell others about him and explain the gospel. Works: using our actions to worship God and to show others that they are loved too. Wonders: letting God use us to speak, touch and reveal things to people. Often this can involve prophesying over people, praying for healing or simply saying something significant, whether we know it is miraculous to them or not. Our aim during SOULINTHECITY was to see these three work together to bring the message of God’s love to London communities. We don’t favour any particular one of these methods; they are all equally valid. However, SOULINTHECITY highlighted that sometimes works, or our actions, allow us to go on and speak the gospel more effectively and with greater love as we begin to spend time with the people we were serving. Values and theologies differ from place to place. These are indicators or pointers. They are recalled here as they are things we found effective and helpful in the planning and implementation of SOULINTHECITY. However, this isn’t the only way to do mission. We’re still learning from the experiences of 2004. What is extremely important is that each event meets the needs of the particular community it aims to serve and reach out to. This contextual approach must inform the ways in which the values and theology are developed and applied.

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SCALING UP: HOW TO DO A SOULINTHECITY: SECTION 2: PLANNING SOULINTHECITY evolved over a period of several years. The vision was launched in 2001 and three years later was finally realised. The mission brought 11,663 young Christian people to the capital, accommodated them in makeshift ‘Tent Cities’, transported them to 432 projects around the city and worked with 772 churches and 23 partner organisations. Obviously some immense planning and coordination went into organising this event. Literally hundreds of people became involved with various organisations taking on specific roles at different parts of the two weeks of the mission. However, at all stages of planning and preparing, the vision, outlined above, was the benchmark by which all decisions were made This section will hopefully introduce you to some of the key areas within which extensive planning and pre mission organisation was needed. Again, these are just pointers and should act as a guide for you to follow up and consider when planning your own events. Similarly this isn’t an exhaustive list, but an indication of what went on in the years and months prior to the event.

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Chapter 1: The Vision ”The rich mix of London's churches are on a constant mission to serve and witness to the 9 million people that inhabit the complex and multi-layered communities that lie within the M25. Soul Survivor propose to serve these plural efforts to communicate the gospel by relocating its annual summer conferences, with thousands of young people, to 12 days of coordinated activity, established in partnership with local churches, to augment and catalyse existing outreach. By painting community centers, reclaiming parkland from rubbish, or clearing graffiti from a shopping parade, the mission creates a lasting legacy of physical change in the community1” “Together, we will communicate the good news of Jesus with our words and with our actions2”. Developing a vision and communicating it well was an essential aspect of the mission. Soul Survivor committed to both encourage and inspire churches to get on board with the concerted initiative and also provide young people who would be prepared to give up some of their summer to serve these churches. Defining the vision and ensuring people understood its aims meant delegates and churches could effectively buy into SOULINTHECITY, knowing wholeheartedly what it was about. Similarly the vision acted as a lens through which all decisions in the planning process could be made. If something appeared to not endorse the vision of equipping churches in their ongoing efforts to communicate the gospel, then it could be reviewed and changed. In essence the vision defined everything SOULINTHECITY achieved. It is also by this vision that SOULINTHECITY could be evaluated.

1 2

Text from the Pre SOULINTHECITY leaflet. See appendices to download. Text from the ‘Partner Church Pack’. See appendices to download.

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Chapter 2: Prayer Prayer is defined as one of the key values of Soul Survivor, and the place at which the SOULINTHECITY mission was born. Obviously we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t particularly want to put on events with huge budgets without first receiving a confirmation through prayer. Similarly once the vision for an event has been launched, the continual process of including God within our decision-making and as the focus of the events is essential. In organising a massive event like SOULINTHECITY, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so easy to forget the reason behind our actions. For this reason SOULINTHECITY had a specific prayer coordinator who would be at the end of a phone ready to receive news that he could get a specific team of people to pray about. Although the team involved in the actual situation would no-doubt be praying, the very act of handing that responsibility over to a designated team meant that problems and issues could be continually brought to God. Amazingly, with the policy in place, several key issues seemed to be resolved quickly and effectively. On top of this system were the specific prayer events organised before and after the mission that bought young people from London and delegates together to pray for the capital and for God to work through SOULINTHECITY. A section of the website, along with regular prayer updates and newsletters encouraged delegates and churches to be praying for the events and to inform Soul Survivor when prayer requests had been answered. These events, updates and newsletters acted as key ways of publicising the heart of the mission; that God would be known to London and its residents. Furthermore, during the events, delegates were encouraged during the morning celebrations at their tent cities to pray for the projects that they were heading to in the afternoons. Pouring our hearts out for God to meet the people of London through SOULINTHECITY was a key factor in the mission. God reassured, challenged, provoked and met with us all in this process. First and foremost this mission sought to bring news of God to London, it was ridiculous to continue organising it without referring to Him on a daily basis.

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Chapter 3: Making Boundaries Before you begin contacting people, advertising the event and getting organisations on board with the vision, its essential to define what you want to achieve and where you want to achieve it. On an extremely simplistic level, this meant defining that the mission was for London and that London included any town or community within the M25 (a road network that surrounds London). This may seem obvious but, making boundaries by outlining what you will and won’t be doing will prove to be extremely helpful later on. One of the major areas in which the SOULINTHECITY team identified boundaries was in respect of the afternoon/evening projects. The organisational team had no responsibility for organising afternoon/evening projects. This was a specific role designated to partner churches that signed up to be involved in the event. This was done for a specific reason. Attempting to organise over 400 projects all across London from a base of Watford (some twenty miles from the city centre) would not only be a logistical nightmare, but would also be contrary to the values of the mission. SOULINTHECITY simply wanted to encourage and resource churches in their on going mission efforts. Naturally part of this involved using existing church projects and the local knowledge and expertise of particular churches to decide what projects they themselves would undertake. These projects did have to fulfil certain requirements in reference to child protection and health and safety, plus the SOULINTHECITY team offered support for the churches. However, limiting the responsibility of the organising team to simply recruiting churches and giving them guidelines and basic assistance proved to both release the organisational team from a logistical problem and endorse the qualities, skills and competencies of the local partner churches. Similarly making boundaries was an essential aspect of organising the different groups and areas of London involved within the mission. Instead of seeing London as one whole piece of an extremely complicated puzzle, the city was broken up into seven sections. These became separate and definable regions with their own partner church contacts, coordinators and hosts. Breaking up London in this respect meant that the SOULINTHECITY team interacted with the leadership teams of these regions rather than each of the 772 partner churches individually. Essentially making boundaries involves defining who is responsible for what and when. An initial document outlining the aims and objectives of each of the groups involved, noting their specific responsibilities is an extremely helpful start. This doesn’t mean that the initial vision cannot be broad and overarching, but that in practise a statement like … “To serve the communities of London and to give them a good experience of the Christian church” (Taken from a SOULINTHECITY Mission Model document)

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â&#x20AC;Śis fleshed out with achievable and manageable objectives that are incorporated into working plans and relationships.

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Chapter 4: Communications Essential to the planning and organising of SOULINTHECITY was the role of effective and relevant communication. This happened at various levels. Internal communication involved conversation and delegation from the ‘hub’ (the central coordinating Soul Survivor office) to other ‘external’ staff including local centre coordinators, and hosts. External communication involved everything from marketing the mission to delegates through to contact with associate organisations, partner churches and representatives from public life too. Defining audiences and communicating clearly to each is an essential aspect of any similar initiative.

Internal During the run up to the events a regular Monday morning conference call was held involving key members from the Soul Survivor team, the local centre hosts and representatives of other partnering organisations. These calls served to bring all of the diverse key leaders involved in the mission together to share and communicate not only the good things that were being organised, but also to voice concerns and problems. An effective communication policy meant that internally team members knew of decisions and were familiar with who has responsibility for what.

External Communicating the vision effectively to external parties was an essential part of the success of the mission. Whether this was with partner churches, associate organisations, councils, the police, resident associations, the press or the printing firm meant expectations, responsibilities and vision were all outlined and made clear. Especially in the case of partnering groups and churches, values and vision needed to be effectively communicated and shared. In reference to councils and the police effective communication meant serving a need and proving that the 11,663 delegates would be a benefit to London’s communities. Communications also involved instilling the idea and a passion for the mission in the hearts of possible delegates and London churchgoers. This meant we were keen to avoid confusing churches, delegates and other parties with duplicate mailings. However, the logistics of organising a SOULINTHECITY project meant that churches were bombarded with information including resource packs, event guidelines and health and safety policies. It is possible that all this documentation proved a little confusing and combining mailings and information might have gone a long way to offering a more coherent vision and plan to involved churches. Similarly we were keen to give delegates as much information as possible, though in actuality tent cities, partner churches and the projects they organised were not all confirmed at once, or at the time of mailing delegates. Therefore some delegates may have unfortunately felt a little in the dark before they arrived. This confusion was distilled considerably when the delegates arrived on site and took part in the first evening celebrations. At this

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point the leaders of the meetings successfully attempted to communicate the vision and allow God to inspire the delegates about their roles in the weeks ahead. Communicating this vision and allowing the delegates to get excited about the week was one of the most important aspects of the mission.

Recognising problems SOULINTHECITY didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get everything right. One major example involved the t-shirts that delegates wore during the events. These helped to identify the delegates when they were out serving in particular projects. Financially the t-shirts were made viable by gaining sponsorship from a company who could advertise themselves during the mission. However, with hindsight, the association of a car company with the spreading of the good news of Jesus in word and action had obvious communication difficulties. The t-shirt logo potentially confused London residents as to who was involved in organising the servant hearted projects. Looking back, although the financial aspect of the sponsorship was extremely beneficial, the company sponsoring possibly had little in common with the values and intentions of SOULINTHECITY.

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Chapter 5: The Multicultural Challenge London is a massively diverse city. Within the capital are people of all nations, backgrounds, experiences and nationalities. Essential to the success of SOULINTHECITY was that this fact of diversity was not overlooked. Soul Survivor has been amazingly blessed to have recognition and relationship with church groups and organisations beyond the walls of the Church of England. In this respect SOULINTHECITY interacted and worked alongside some of the major Black Majority churches within London. Pastor Jonathan Oloyede of Glory House became deeply involved in the heart of the mission and acted as a Local Centre Host encouraging the church networks he is a part of to get involved and back the mission. In addition to this delegates were given hints and tips about being culturally sensitive in their evangelism. The Delegate Handbook included articles about not only leading people to faith, but also ensuring that their actions were loving, non judgemental and respectful of people with other religious beliefs. This was just a small aspect of the challenge faced by the mission that sought not only to unite the diverse churches of London, but to effectively serve, in relevant ways, the diverse communities and peoples of the capital.

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Chapter 6: Marketing A whole marketing strategy emerged for the two-week mission that incorporated all types of possible promotional and advertising material. Initially flyers, announcements at Soul Survivor related events and the website attempted to create a buzz that would not only get delegates to sign up and come to the mission, but raise the wider profile of the event. Effective marketing is an essential part of organising a successful event. Everything from text through to images and design should really be tailored to your target audiences to ensure that a response is generated. Because of the multicultural nature of the event SOULINTHECITY even produced brochures and adverts tailored especially for different audiences. Separate areas of publicity were: Brochures

(encouraging people to sign up as a delegate)

Flyers

(advertising the mission)

The websites (being the focal point of delegate/general public information about the mission) Adverts

(in Christian magazines)

Radio

(interviews, adverts on Christian radio all promoting the events), DVD,

Posters

(made available to partner churches and individuals to put up and show support of the mission)

Billboards

(in the run up and during the mission certain billboards in London advertised what was going on)

Many other types of creative and edgy publicity material were generated including a teaser DVD. Furthermore organising ramp up events at important or publicly recognisable venues, notably the official launch at St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cathedral, served as great opportunities to publicise the events. Similarly SOULINTHECITY managed to gain official endorsements from a variety of public and religious figures, including the Prime Minister and Archbishop (the head of the Church of England) that gave the events a level of public credibility and respectability. Beyond this during the afternoon and evening projects, which were located at hundreds of different places across the capital, Partner Churches produced their own publicity material advertising the evening concerts, community BBQâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, workshops and performances. All of these things, though detached from the Soul Survivor base, served to inform local people about what was going on in their community. What is important is that an event has an appropriate marketing strategy. A mission such as SOULINTHECITY that bought 11,663 young people to the capital was achieved and successful partly because the marketing strategy adopted made our delegates excited about the prospect of coming into London.

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Chapter 7: Press and Media For SOULINTHECITY, a specific Press Officer was employed. She helped build the profile of SOULINTHECITY by relating to local and national newspapers, radio stations, television and secular and Christian magazines. The point of all these reports, press releases and interviews was to get knowledge of SOULINTHECITY to the people who needed to hear about it; potential delegates and London church goers. During the event, Christian, local and national papers ran stories about the afternoon and evening projects, all of which were strongly positive, noting the impressive humility and servant hearted nature of young people who would pay to come to inner city London to wash cars and clear out gardens. Template press releases were drawn up and specific press releases were sent to local papers featuring successful projects in their areas. As one of the points of the mission was to equip local churches, SOULINTHECITY encouraged Partner Churches to write, produce and send out their own press releases detailing what they were doing in their part of London. Similarly national papers featured interviews with Local Centre Hosts and other figures, and press releases included the appearance of the public figures at a project, or large scale successful projects. In this way what the press releases reported were relevant and accurate to the journalists who would receive them. The attitude adopted towards the press was not one of scepticism or caution. However a strategy was prepared and all members of staff were briefed in talking to journalists ensuring that any calls received noted the enquirers details and asked the reporter to repeat statements to ensure effective communication. Beyond working with external organisations, the Press team coordinated daily reports from projects that were shown to all the delegates during the morning celebrations. These short reports highlighted how the mission was going and managed to give all the delegates the feeling that they were part of a massive initiative. The Press Team was also involved with adding testimonies and stories to the websites during the duration of the mission to emphasise the impact that the mission was having. These gave delegates, and those supporting the events, concrete examples that God was moving in London and that SOULINTHECITY was having an impact. One major success of this area was the relationship developed with Premier, a London wide Christian Radio station. Premier became an Associate Organisation and advertised the events to their listeners. This allowed SOULINTHECITY to become known amongst a wide variety of audiences within the London church, many of whom would have not usually been involved in the normal networks of Soul Survivor. One great aspect of this relationship were the broadcasts and reports that delegates produced for the radio during the mission itself. These told listeners what sort of projects they were involved in and gave reports as to what God was doing within

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the city that day.

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Chapter 8: Income Generation and Budget A mission covering the whole of London needed a fair amount of funding to finance the plan. Besides having two fulltime staff members working on the accounts and income generation, a Finance Working Committee was set up. Within this group were key representatives from the SOULINTHECITY leadership team, plus external advisors who were brought in for extra expertise and guidance. The remit of this particular group, although sounding fairly simple, was extremely complex, with their decisions resulting in significant impacts on the scope and style of the mission. They had two key responsibilities

a) Income Generation: This involved ensuring that finance was raised to support the costs of the mission. Part of this involved seeking sponsorship, working out funding strategies, applying for grants, working through donations and producing ideas for fundraising. One of the major ideas to come out of this group was the SOULINTHECITY Challenge that encouraged delegates to raise money through sponsored events for the costs of the mission Finance to pay for SOULINTHECITY came from a number of sources. Individuals donated money, and Partner Churches were expected to raise finances to cover costs of the mission in their area. Similarly applications were made to grant making trusts and sponsorship deals were struck. On top of all this were the fees delegates paid to come and be involved in the events themselves.

b) Managing the Budget In addition to raising the funds, the group had the responsibility of ensuring the funds were wisely spent and that the costs incurred were within the budget. In this sense the committee could identify areas of need or alternatively identify areas where costs were unpredictably escalating. A key aspect of managing funds involves investigating costs and making wise decisions. One of the major lessons to be learnt from SOULINTHECITY was learning to deal with the tension of perceived vision and financial reality. Even though the working group sought to face financial reality when problems arose, there were still days when God defied all expectations and a cheque for thousands of pounds would arrive at Soul Survivor. However, funds were still problematic and one word of wisdom suggested that cutting costs and scaling down should be done sooner rather than later. In all, a tension had to be maintained between managing a tight budget and trusting that God would provide what was necessary for the initiative to go ahead.

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Chapter 9: Working with Associate Groups Partner organisations or “Associate Groups” played a distinctly important role during SOULINTHECITY. These organisations provided much needed resources, skills, expertise and advice during the planning, implementation and follow-up to the mission. Many of the organisations were based in London or, at the very least, had histories working within communities of London. Their assistance and help made the mission the success that it was. As with the role of Soul Survivor these organisations were encouraged to see their role as one of serving the local churches. No one organisation could claim SOULINTHECITY as their initiative. This was an encouragement to local churches, and Associate Organisations were simply there to resource and serve these local communities. The whole attitude of the mission encouraged grass roots ideas and control, not top down “we know best” styles of planning from designated “expert” organisations. This shared vision, established from the start, meant that these groups all coordinated their efforts and made resources available to Partner Churches during the mission. All of these groups were coordinated by a the SOULINTHECITY team to ensure effective use of their skills and abilities.

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Chapter 10: Working with external organisations Inevitably SOULINTHECITY couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t simply work with Christian organisations. Relationships with the police, national government and local councils had to be developed and sustained during the course of the mission. Similarly hundreds of smaller residential associations, elderly groups and community programmes were contacted and involved in SOULINTHECITY. Again the attitude adopted towards these organisations was one of friendship. Police and councils offered advice and decision-making involved incorporating the ideas of these external agencies. As with the Associate Organisations, SOULINTHECITY recognised that other external, often secular, organisations, have a massive knowledge of London and the needs of the capitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s various communities. Naturally, these groups had ideas and suggestions that proved to be really successful when incorporated into the mission. Links with national and local government were all established and developed by the SOULINTHECITY team. Local councils and police would then interact with Local Centre Hosts and their teams in the planning of large outdoor events or concerts. On an even more local level, Partner Churches with established links into the community could use the extra manpower and impetus provided by SOULINTHECITY to really serve community groups around them. On this level Partner Churches looked to forge links with all kinds of groups and establish working connections with them. Importantly maintaining allegiance to the overall vision proved to be essential during SOULINTHECITY. Working alongside external organisations in a friendly and relational way endorsed the values and priorities of the mission. These values encouraged an attitude that sought to serve local churches and local communities.

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Chapter 1 1: Ramp-up Events Importantly, before the actual mission SOULINTHECITY organised ramp up events and celebrations to encourage delegates and Londoners to be praying for the summer mission. A massive event at St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cathedral (a notable public venue in the heart of London) launched the mission that was then supplemented in the run up to the summer by separate launches in the different defined local centres around London. Significantly these acted as adverts and profile raisers for the mission bringing church leaders and members around the London area together to pray for, learn about and discuss SOULINTHECITY. Organising ramp up events was also a great way of testing the capabilities of different centres. Helping organise events that needed production teams, speakers, bands, publicity and all kinds of support and endorsement in effect meant testing whether local people/Christians/churches were interested in the mission and had the ability to organise quality events. In short these celebrations and prayer meetings could act as mini pilot events to help iron out problems that may have occurred during the mission itself. However, more importantly these ramp-up events were amazing opportunities to express the vision and instil the values of the mission in the local centres and to any delegates who turned up. Thus local church members would be excited to hear that thousands of young passionate Christians would be coming from all over the country to help in their small communities. Plus they would hopefully go away feeling valued and inspired. Of course all of this also meant the events were covered in prayer from delegates, churches and local Christians. By continually praying for the events SOULINTHECITY raised the expectations of people, encouraging them to believe that God could and would do something quite significant during the mission.

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Chapter 12: Accommodation For the five days that delegates were with SOULINTHECITY they were accommodated in one of three tent cities across the city. The three sites, Middlesex showground in Hillingdon (West London), Gilwell Park in Epping Forrest (North East London) and Eltham College in Greenwich (South East London) provided the space for delegates to sleep, eat, rest and hang out. Each site, being fully enclosed and manned by round the clock security had full showers and toilets, food facilities, a couple of cafĂŠâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, an information tent, a marketplace and most importantly a big top that could host morning and evening meetings. Although these Tent Cities were fully autonomous, the delegates across London were united every morning in celebrations beamed by satellite across the capital and displayed on massive screens. Each site provided its own worship time before joining together to hear Louie Giglio teach and encourage the delegates to continue serving and worshipping. Even though the Tent Cities were spread over London, the delegates knew they were part of a massive citywide initiative by seeing thousands of other delegates on the screens and hearing the stories of what God was doing throughout the capital. Importantly, as the delegates returned back to the Tent Cities from their evening projects small teams of welcomers congregated to applaud them as they arrived back. Making sure that the tent cities were safe, fun and welcoming ensured that the delegates felt valued and could have a really positive experience whilst at SOULINTHECITY. Planning accommodation meant interacting with councils, local communities and the police to ensure all by laws were kept. This was especially significant in reference to sound restrictions. Certain requirements meant that loud music and public performance, if allowed at all, had to be limited to specific times.

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Chapter 13: Travel Organising transport was possibly the biggest logistical nightmare thrown up by SOULINTHECITY. Moving delegates from 3 different Tent Cities to sites all across London involved major headaches and problems. As such, the planning and organisation that went into preparing the transport of delegates was immense. Initially private hire buses were thought to be the best option. This however, proved a major expense and eventually the only viable option proved to be moving the thousands of delegates around London on public transport. Amazingly every single route was planned and timed. There were 600 teams of delegates going to 432 separate projects in 32 of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boroughs. This meant that in all over 500 routes were planned and timed. Each route had to be appropriate, so that delegates werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t travelling for excessive amounts of time. Similarly they had to be safe, meaning the delegates were not put in danger or in obscure locations. On the ground the transport arrangements were coordinated by Small Team Leaders who were responsible for a group of up to 25 delegates. They were handed directions, maps, tickets and a host of other information to help them get to their destinations. In addition to these were transport coordinators, navigators and a specific manager who attempted to ensure the smooth running of the whole transport system. In the unlikely event that a delegate or team got lost a free phone number was available to delegates (printed on the back of their passes) that they could contact. If delegates or teams got totally lost or were in trouble they were located by trackers (people in London who would go and find the them) who would then escort them to their destination. Anyone who was present at SOULINTHECITY will know that on the first day of the mission a small number of teams had severe problems getting to their destinations. However, by the second day these issues were effectively resolved. By the second week of the mission the transport system appeared to run fairly smoothly. Planning ahead was essential for this aspect of the mission. Well briefed Small Team Leaders and Transport Navigators/Coordinators meant that the majority of delegates had an extremely positive experience during SOULINTHECITY. Even those who spent up to three hours on a coach managed to enjoy themselves and many Small Team Leaders reported that long waits or problems helped to bond team members together. Planning transport at an event depends entirely upon the nature of the town or city you are looking to work in. Similarly the more delegates you hope to include, the more logistically challenging will the transport issue become. Risk assessments, briefed team members and contingency policies are all necessary requirements for this aspect of a SOULINTHECITY style mission.

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Chapter 14: Delegate Safety Although this is the last heading in this section, it is one of the most important. Soul Survivor is committed to valuing and providing a positive experience for our delegates. Part of this concern involves providing delegates with space to meet with God and experience the Holy Spirit in a way that is not pressured or hyped up. Providing a safe, friendly and exciting environment for our delegates has always been a key priority for Soul Survivor related initiatives. This key concern was especially significant during SOULINTHECITY where delegates were subject to fairly long days, serving communities they were likely to not know and travelling around the capital. Part of ensuring this process involved risk assessments of every project, evening event, transport route and tent city. In addition to this partner churches agreed to SOULINTHECITY values that meant delegate safety was a priority during all events and projects. The Partner Church Pack, given to all churches involved, included Health and Safety and Child Protection Policies created by SOULINTHECITY to give all the projects and events the same key tools for dealing effectively with arising problems. In this respect it was up to partner churches to ensure these child protection policies were instigated. In addition to this, all Small Team Leaders went through a generic process of being checked with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to ensure they had no history of criminal activity. They were also required to sign the SOULINTHECITY child protection policy. Other workers in specific projects (those dealing with childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groups, after school clubs, vulnerable people) would also need to complete a CRB check. These policies were in place to ensure that delegates were safe and that appropriate mechanisms were in place if any delegate, or individual, made a disclosure either about their home lives or something that had occurred during the mission.

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SCALING UP: HOW TO DO A SOULINTHECITY SECTION 3: THE ACTUAL MISSION Prior planning is essential in running an event like SOULINTHECITY. However, there is a real need to also focus on managing the actual events themselves. Rain storms, or unexpected transport problems need to be managed effectively and quickly to minimise disruption to the projects and ensure delegate morale is high. Contingencies, definition of roles and identifying working structures of leadership all help in the event organisation and execution process.

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Chapter 1: Differing Roles: Churches As above the importance of defining and creating boundaries for different roles is essential. Adequately defining what is expected from each group, host, coordinator, organisation etc… helps to drastically reduce problems that may emerge. Defining roles helps to work out… •

Who’s responsible for what

•

Who pays for what

•

Reduces conflict when problems emerge

•

Allows overall vision to be managed effectively

•

Means external communications are not duplicated or contradictory

Role of Churches The 772 partner churches who signed up to be a part of SOULINTHECITY played an amazing role during the mission. Ultimately SOULINTHECITY was about these churches and resourcing their efforts to impact their bit of London. Because of these churches we also estimate that many other congregations throughout London got involved in the mission and took part in events. In essence it was the local church and it’s members that acted as the cornerstone of the mission. These churches and their congregations used the mission as a catalyst to take their efforts and ideas further and helped make the mission the success it was. All the churches that signed up received an extensive Partner Church Pack (included in the attached Resources CD –ROM) that outlined their responsibilities and the expectations that Soul Survivor had of them. These responsibilities covered five key areas:

a) Prayer Backing the mission before, during and after the event with prayer meetings, continuous prayer events and schedules. In addition to encouraging churches with their own initiatives and providing advice on how to do so, SOULINTHECITY resources and joint projects were advertised. SOULINTHECITY Associate Groups organised 40 days of 24-hour prayer and worship before SOULINTHECITY. There was also a continuous 24 hours a day 7 days a week prayer initiative that went on during the whole 12 day mission itself. On top of this was a further 40 days of 24-hour prayer after the mission. The SOULINTHECITY team created newsletters, web updates and encouraged each local centre to identify a prayer coordinator to oversee prayer for the mission in their particular part of London.

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b) Finances Partner Churches were asked to make a financial contribution to the costs of SOULINTHECITY. No specific sum was suggested, and it was up to the discretion and budget of each church to decide how much and in what way they wished to support the mission. SOULINTHECITY did ask that a minimum of two financial gifts were made, of which the first was requested upon registration, indicating a churches prayerful and practical support for the mission. The second gift, which was hoped to be more substantial, was encouraged to be made during May 2004 to cover increasing costs of the overall mission. The second request proved to be quite a challenge to some of the churches involved and so the Partner Church Pack listed some ideas to aid congregations in meeting their commitment to give financially. Partner churches had responsibility for the budgets and financial viability for all projects that they organised. That meant that any projects they undertook had to be self funded, with SOULINTHECITY providing resources in the form of delegates and expertise. However, SOULINTHECITY did provide occasional grants to projects and Local Centres had a budget that they could use to distribute to churches in their area. Also churches were expected to feed the delegates that they were responsible for. This was often done with amazing generosity by the local congregations. These meal times proved to be great opportunities for the young delegates to meet the members of the churches they were serving, often helping to break down age barriers with young people mingling with older members of the churches who had spare time to come along, cook and clean up.

c) Links to Local Centres SOULINTHECITY didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t impose a template on how to run a mission. The onus for project creation and ideas rested with the Partner Churches. Through discussion with the Local Centre, the hope was to shape projects that joined up the ideas of other churches to create unique outreaches determined by the resources and needs available in each given neighbourhood. The mission created an opportunity to put forward a project idea that would further or deepen the work of current outreach. Using a Project Proposal Form churches filled in details of their project, the resources it required and the number of people available in a congregation who would be willing to take part in making it happen. This form was sent to the Local Centre who decided which projects to allocate delegates to and informed churches about relevant Associate Group resources.

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Projects requesting delegates needed the involvement and scrutiny of the Local Centre. Local Centres assessed the work to be done and materials required to ensure that commitments could be fulfilled within the ten days. They also sought to ensure Health and Safety measures were taken into account to prevent physical harm or exhaustion to delegates for whom Soul Survivor were ultimately responsible. Churches could also register existing projects with the Local Centre as part of SOULINTHECITY. These could be conducted without teams sent by the Local Centre, but manned by members of the congregation.

d) Involvement in the mission Partner Churches were encouraged to get their local congregation members to join up and take part in the events. This was essential in ensuring the mission had a specific London flavour. Other methods and events were suggested to make sure that churches made full use of the two week mission including holding regular prayer events, fundraising schemes, getting congregation members to join project teams or Soul Survivor teams (first aid, enabling, welfare) and making church resources available to the Local Centre.

e) Follow-up The mission was primarily about empowering the ongoing work of London churches, so projects that included elements of follow-up were encouraged. SOULINTHECITY oversaw the putting in place of a follow-up team to assist with this, aiming that every person who made a commitment or expressed an interest during SOULINTHECITY received a phone call within the following 24 hours. This was in order to find out if there was more practical help they required or to hook them up with a local church in their area.

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Chapter 2: Differing roles: Delegates The 11,663 delegates were the hands, feet, eyes and ears of the mission. They served on projects in churches throughout London and gave infinite amounts to the success of the mission. The delegates were the mission’s major means of contact with London communities and residents. It was this army of Christian young people who spread the good news of the gospel to the parts of London that they were sent to. Because of this the delegates were equipped in various ways: •

A Delegate Handbook, including tips on evangelism, cultural sensitivity, dos and don’ts and a full timetable of events.

•

All morning meetings served to encourage and inspire the delegates with relevant teaching, worship and ministry

•

SOULINTHECITY ensured delegates were fed and health and safety procedures were in place

•

Small Team Leaders underwent training and were an invaluable resource to their teams

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Chapter 3: Differing Roles: Small Team Leaders The 1058 Small Team Leaders were young people, aged over 19 who applied to come to SOULINTHECITY as leaders. Many of these people were youth group leaders, but many more just came along to help out. Their primary responsibilities involved looking after small teams of between 15 and 25 delegates. This meant they had responsibility for delegates from the time young people left a tent city in the morning, until they returned again in the evening. Specific roles included: Ensuring their team was transported safely Ensuring delegates were happy and morale was high Ensuring the delegates had something to do at the projects Ensuring an effective and positive relationship was developed with the church Ensuring health and safety requirements were met Dealing with any pastoral problems of delegates Being general problem solvers Small Team Leaders also played an essential relational role. They ensured that the values and principles of Soul Survivor and the concern for safety of delegates was effectively outworked in the Partner Church and the projects teams were serving on. They also made sure delegates respected the church and project they were assigned too, ensuring the teams were resourcing and not hindering a particular church or project.

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Chapter 4: Differing Roles: Local Centres For the sake of coordination, best practice and maximum impact seven Local Centres across London were established to liase between the local level and the Soul Survivor Hub. These centres took account of all of London’s 32 boroughs, covering a massive 25 or so miles from the centre of the city.

Local centre regional map The Local Centre worked out the detail of each project with the Partner Church: from research and identification of projects and resources and relationship building, through to the detailed logistics required in conducting the project itself. SOULINTHECITY donated £25,000 to each local centre to cover the costs of organising evening events and concerts. This money was used as the Centre decided, with some occasionally being given to churches to use in organising and setting up afternoon projects. The Local Centre had a ‘Host’ acting as manager, with a management team made up of people from across the geographical and denominational span of the Local Centre.

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The Local Centre Host liased closely with Partner Churches, assisted by Local Centre Coordinators and a board of leaders made up of people actively involved in Christian service in their local area. Local Centres in conjunction with the Hub aimed to: 1) be the glue between local churches, organisations and local voluntary bodies; 2) publicise the mission to churches, bringing them on board; 3) help Partner Churches identify and organise projects and evangelistic events; 4) provide all groundwork and administration for the mission, including build up events 5) fundraise and identify resources, including training, and match to needs.

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Chapter 5: Differing Roles: Associate Organisations and Soul Survivor Associate Groups were Christian organisations that were involved in SOULINTHECITY on a London-wide basis to resource the efforts of the Partner Churches and Local Centres by providing training, advice, printed resources, fun days, help with follow-up, etc.

Role of Soul Survivor Soul Survivor had ultimate responsibility over the whole mission. This meant not only booking in delegates, but recruiting and coordinating Local Centres, creating resources, dealing with marketing and media exposure, fundraising, organising delegate transport and accommodation, liasing with authorities, ensuring insurances and appropriate cover was in place and overseeing the vision for the mission. Many people were involved with the role of Soul Survivor in coordinating SOULINTHECITY. Not only did the actual Hub employ some forty people working on bookings, transport, organising accommodation and project allocation, but there were several working groups overseeing all areas from finance through to networking, operations and communications. The following diagrams explain an aspect of this structure and the Soul Survivor responsibilities:

SS Trustees

SS Executive Director

Mission Director Mission Director PA

Mission Manager

Various

Working

Groups

and

Managers

High-level Soul Survivor management Structure

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Centre Hub

Core Activities

Marketing

Central Events

Values

Relationships/Inferface

Afternoon Projects

Weekend Event

Morning Celebrations

Local Councils

Administration

Media

Evening Event A

Evangelistic Meetings

MPs

Accounting

Networking

Afternoon Event B

Quality

Mayor Office

Area Co-ordinator

Christian Advertising

..... Event .....

Safety

Associate Groups

Operations

Website

..... Event .....

Teams (Training and Welfare)

Secular Advertising

Follow up co-ordinator

Prayer Groups and Networks Other Christian Organistations Local Centres (Partner Churches) Police

Local agencies

Soul Survivor Responsibilities As the diagrams explain, the role of Soul Survivor was a varied and hectic one. Churches and Local Centres had no contact with delegates until they arrived at projects. Therefore Soul Survivor played a primary role in envisioning all groups involved, and had to work to maintain a sense of excitement in delegates, churches, Local Centres and associate groups from the initial launch through to the post SOULINTHECITY events.

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Chapter 6: Leadership Structures One of the key values of the mission involved empowering delegates and churches. Although Soul Survivor was responsible for envisioning and overseeing the vision behind SOULINTHECITY, it was the local churches who provided projects and passion, whilst delegates brought a whole lot of man power, excitement and zeal. The overall aim was for the mission to be owned by Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s churches, and although the list below helps point out financial responsibility and accountability, it fails to highlight the real impetus behind the mission, that of the local churches and thousands of delegates.

Leadership Structure: SOUL SURVIVOR HUB: The team based in Watford, plus input from Finance Working Group and Management Teams had overall control of the budget and delegates. Most immediately the Hub connected with Local Centres.

ASSOCIATE ORGANISATIONS Working at all levels, these organisations supplied training, equipment and resources for Local Centres, Partner Churches, Small Team Leaders and Delegates.

LOCAL CENTRES The seven areas of London that had appointed hosts and teams to oversee their part of the capital. These centres were responsible for budgets, churches and projects in their area.

PARTNER CHURCHES There were 772 official Partner Churches that had signed up to the initiative that would undertake projects or resource existing ones. These churches received delegates and put them to work in the projects

SMALL TEAM LEADERS The point of contact between the host churches and delegates, ensuring that teams of young people arrived safely at the projects and were happy with their roles throughout the day.

DELEGATES Over 11,000 young people (combined with 7500 London church goers) had responsibility for making the projects happen by serving in the projects of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local churches.

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For a more complex and detailed mission structure see the Pre SOULINTHECTY Info Booklet in the Appendices. Chapter 7: Daily Structure Every day during SOULINTHECITY followed a similar daily structure. This involved a morning meeting, afternoon and evening projects, transport and late night evening entertainment for delegates back at the tent cities. Delegates were informed in the Delegate Handbook, during morning meetings and via their Small Team Leaders of what was going on when, and where they had to be at what times. This is the timetable from Week A of SOULINTHECITY.

Week A

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

25 July

26 July

27 July

28 July

29 July

30 July

31 July

Camping

Morning

meetings at

Tent Cities

Projects

ng meetings at Tent Cities

by 10am Projects

delegates

Week B delegates arrive

arrive EVE

Week A delegates leave

for Celebration

Evening

Projects/

SOULINTHECITY

meetings

evangelistic gigs

evangelistic

evangelistic gigs

evangelistic

Celebration

gigs

at Tent Cities

gigs

Follow-up/follow-through across London

First Night 7:00pm Delegates would arrive at their Tent City throughout the day, but in effect the week was launched at a evening meeting at each campsite. The whole tone and environment created by this first meeting intended to not only help delegates relax, but also to get a major feel for what was going to happen throughout the week. It was important to include this time of worship, teaching and ministry to ensure delegates had time after their arrival to focus on the purpose of the week. It acted as a major time of envisioning, building expectation about what would happen throughout the week.

Morning Meetings 10:00am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12:00pm For the first night of each week of the mission, and each morning, there was a meeting in each Tent City for worship, teaching and ministry. Worship was led by Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, Mark Beswick and others. Louie Giglio provided teaching each morning. There were three Tent Cities that were all linked up by satellite, so all GO:LOCAL SCALING UP SECTION THREE ALL CHAPTERS www.soulaction.org | info@soulaction.org Soul Action, Unit 2 Paramount Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, UK WD24 7XF

teaching sessions were shared across the three sites. Worship leaders and speakers rotated between all the Tent Cities whilst the satellite link made it possible to have news updates on what was happening in the different areas from around London each day. On top of this were video teams who visited projects throughout the days and recorded what they had seen. These stories, images and testimonies were broadcast at each of the tent cities ensuring that delegates had a common experience wherever they were based. Knowing that the mission may seem pretty daunting to some, and pretty tiring to most, it was essential that God was allowed to move, inspire and envision the delegates from day one of the mission. This was the purpose of the first night and morning meetings. Importantly the teaching was pitched so the delegates knew they were valued, appreciated, working on a massive project and that God was with them.

Lunch and Transport to Projects 12.00pm–2.00pm Delegates were responsible for their own lunch. Lunch packs were produced through a private sandwich company, priced at £2 each for a sandwich, bag of crisps, piece of fruit and a drink. Lunch needed to be coordinated with transport arrangements, so delegates were encouraged to know their transport time slot and had to arrange to get lunch in plenty of time to meet their team and get to the afternoon projects.

Afternoon Projects 2:00pm–5:00pm Delegates were sent out in Small Teams from the Tent City to assigned churches to arrive and be ready to start by 2pm. It was attempted to have everyone allocated to projects relating to the preferences in their booking forms – however, this didn’t always happen. No journey was planned to take more than an hour so delegates could be ready for getting down to work in their projects by 2.00pm. The projects ranged from simple gardening, litter clearance and graffiti removal right through to redecorating houses, setting up Nail Bars and working in community centers. All these projects were either organised by, or already associated with, a local London church. The delegates proved hardworking and extremely capable in getting down to do some pretty strenuous and tiring work.

Dinner and Evening Projects 5:00pm-8:30pm (some were later) Partner Churches had already agreed to provide meals and a comfortable area for delegates to chill before the start of the evening projects. Evening events varied so it was unlikely that delegates would be at the same thing each night!

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The evening events were usually gigs, café bars, barbeques or other inclusive events that people could be invited to. Often testimonies were given and people heard the gospel and a brief explanation as to why SOULINTHECITY was going on. Like the afternoon projects these events were planned by Local Churches and Local Centers – delegates were there to provide manpower and help where needed, but also to mingle with the local people who had come to the events and generally enjoy themselves. On one night of each week each Local Centre organised a bigger evening event involving bands and all sorts of performances. Often for these larger events a well know local venue was used and delegates or teams who were serving within that Local Centre could go along to these bigger events.

Travel back to sites and evening entertainment 8.30pm–10.00pm (and later too) Return transport began from 8/8.30pm though was sometimes later depending on the nature of the evening project. Small Team Leaders ensured that their teams were in full attendance and that delegates knew collection times. The evening transport proved to be a time when delegates reflected on their days and encouraged one another. Many groups were heard singing on trains and buses and sparked loads of conversations with Londoners through their eagerness to bless anyone they came across. Once back at the Tent City delegates could enjoy a late evening chill out with hot and cold drinks, snacks and cakes for sale in the Tent Cities very own café venues. Also, on returning to Tent Cities delegates were cheered, applauded and encouraged by a welcoming team. This was to ensure that delegates knew they were valued, even if the day had been a long hard slog! Throughout the five days, it was planned that delegates would be given one night off so they weren’t too tired from being part of the mission.

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Chapter 8: Projects and Events The afternoon projects and evening events were the responsibility of the Partner Church and Local Center. Projects ranged in content massively involving everything from a bit of litter picking to a temporary nail bar. Partner Churches, being involved in their communities, looking for ways to expand their efforts, researched and worked with people in their area to plan, promote and do the projects that delegates came to serve on. In essence each of these projects was a Noise style project. Whether churches were engaged in community action initiatives or not, resources provided from the Local Center and Hub encouraged them to think how they could meet a need and bless people, whilst showing or telling them about Jesus at the same time. If you’re planning a similar event, check out the Noise section of this CD ROM for ways to take your projects and events further, involving your community and doing it well. This framework has been adapted since 2004, with an extra focus on planning, so take a look! However, in essence the afternoon projects and evening events that took place during SOULINTHECITY attempted to do the following things:

Meet a Need Many of the projects were about meeting needs, both those defined by the Church and the community. Churches know their areas and have links with the residents and communities around them. Whether projects were already underway before SOULINTHECITY or whether they were developed specifically to serve an area for the mission didn’t undermine the fact that the projects looked to meet needs and address some of the social issues facing London and it’s residents. Summer holiday Kids clubs, cleaning up a few gardens or parks and graffiti removal were all needs defined by the churches and the community in the attempt to make a difference to an area.

Bless others The projects also intended to simply bless Londoners. On a short-term mission it’s sometimes hard to simply meet needs. Where some longer-term projects were facilitated with extra volunteers, over the course of the mission shorter-term initiatives were arranged and organised that intended to simply ‘bless’ the community. Music events, nail bars, community barbeques and the evening performance events, youth clubs and cafes, were facilitated by delegates intending to offer something ‘good’ to the London community. Although not strictly meeting a need, these events were ways of building community within the area, getting alongside local people and simply blessing them because we could!

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To show and tell people about Jesus Both the evening events and afternoon projects in blessing and serving people were intended to show - and offer opportunities for delegates to tell - people about Jesus. The focus was evangelism through words and actions. Mike Pilavachi summarized the theology behind this combination of word and deed in his talk at that launched SOULINTHECITY: “I’d love us to think of this as a worship festival. We’re going to worship the Lord over these days. And the way we’re going to worship Him? We’re going to worship Him by cleaning peoples gardens and by painting estates and by mending fences and clearing out peoples rubbish and by doing children’s holiday clubs and by playing football and basketball in the parks and having skate parks and doing all sorts of other stuff like that and ultimately engaging with people in London. And that is worship - as we’re doing it for Jesus. Before we do it to anyone else or for anyone else if we see it as ‘Jesus this is for you, we’re doing this for you’ then it is our worship. As Jesus said: ‘when you do this for the least of my brethren you do it to me” (Mt 25v40). “I long that we really see Jesus Christ, his image, in the people we go and serve. We’re going to serve them but we also want to explain why we’re serving them, in a way that is kind and not combative or confrontational. Explain that we know Jesus and we love Jesus and we’re doing it because Jesus tells us to. Jesus tells us to be kind and compassionate and to care for people. We’ve said this as a mantra and we’re going to say it one more time: everyone in Britain seems to know what the church is against. We’ve been really good over the years at telling everyone what we’re against and signing petitions and ‘tut tutting’ about this and shaking our heads about that, which can be right – to stand up for righteousness and truth. But you know what, its time people know what we’re for. That we’re for love and mercy and compassion and grace. That we are for people and not against people. No one we are going to meet is our enemy. The trouble is we’ve looked at people whose lifestyles, whose values, whose beliefs are different to ours and some of us, as Christians, we’ve looked at upon them as our enemies. They are not. They are people that Jesus loves. And he wants us to love them. And he wants us to care for them. And he wants us to lay down our lives for them as he has laid down his life for us.” As part of this T-shirts and literature provided by SOULINTHECITY offered Londoners a point of connection to the mission. The T-shirts delegates wore created, not only a sense of identity for teams, but also for people to recognise that SOULINTHECITY was a concerted and planned effort across the city. Similarly a leaflet was produced that told regular Londoners who came into contact with delegates what the point of SOULINTHECITY was. This directed people to a specific evangelistic website and tens of thousands were given away. One of the benefits of this resource was that even the shyest delegate could give a complete stranger something that explained the gospel and the purpose of the SOULINTHECITY projects and events.

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Maintain safety The final thing that defined both the afternoon projects and evening events was the condition of safety. Each project and event was risk assessed, ideally (but not in every instance) all team leaders and people involved in children’s projects were CRB checked and all delegates had signed self disclosures and child protection forms as part of their application to take part in the event. One of the key values behind the events was to ensure delegates were safe, having a great time and growing in their relationship with God and each other. A major aspect in achieving this was ensuring these policies and ‘best practice’ procedures were in place.

Possible ideas and events The following is a list of successful projects and events that were undertaken during SOULINTHECITY. These should give you some ideas, but obviously research the needs and interests of your own community before setting up or planning any specific projects yourself (see the Noise section of this CD ROM to help you do just that). There were 432 projects in total, so this is just a few of those!

Gardening Projects Clearing up parkland

Kids/youth work

Painting fences/gates

Summer play clubs

Helping the elderly with overgrown gardens

Sports events Cafes

Projects on Estates

Fun days

Graffiti removal Clearing alleyways

Events

Cleaning stairwells

Community barbeques

Cleaning lifts

Music concerts

Litter picks

Nail Bars/Beauty Salons

Painting murals

Street performance

Painting railings

Sports competitions Clubs and dinners for the elderly

Home projects

DJ/Dance/Performing Arts workshops

House clearance Decorating

And loads more…

Building furniture DIY related help

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Chapter 9: Evangelism Finally, at the heart of the SOULINTHECITY was a commitment to evangelism. Although we’ve already mentioned evangelism in terms of theology and the key ideas behind the projects or evening events it’s important to come back to this notion time and again. Although SOULINTHECITY wasn’t a mission in the traditional sense, the hope and prayer of the events was age old; that many of London’s residents would meet Jesus. However, the attempt was made to hold a balance between words and actions. The projects and acts of service brought a level of integrity to our words. In serving people, meeting their needs and taking time to get to know residents with no strings attached meant that if they asked about Christianity or faith it was on their terms. Similarly we didn’t want to confuse the message of our faith with simply doing good things for people. The gospel message is one of grace and so at many evening events and through a specific series of talks by well-known evangelist J John at a central London venue during each night of the mission (St. Paul’s Cathedral), the gospel message was presented clearly through words and performance. Obviously the distinction between evangelism with words and actions is never that clear cut. As people encountered others who were prepared to serve and talk to them they potentially also encountered the gospel message too. Our hope was that through our lives, words and actions people would meet with their creator.

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SCALING UP: HOW TO DO A SOULINTHECITY SECTION 4: FINISHING WELL After such a massive initiative it was good to end well. SOULINTHECITY tried to do this in several ways: by celebrating the events with a massive gathering in Trafalgar Square; by forming a post event strategy; inviting evaluations and encouraging churches to keep their mission efforts going into the future.

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Chapter 1: Trafalgar Square Celebration The Saturday following the end of the second week of SOULINTHECITY saw a massive event organised in Trafalgar Square, central London. Within half a mile of the Houses of Parliament thousands of young Christian people whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d served on the mission came together with London churchgoers to celebrate what God had done over the previous two weeks. The event involved worship and teaching, along with time set aside to share testimonies and again explain the gospel message and invite anyone who wanted to to become a Christian. The whole thing almost brought the centre of London to a stand still as tourist buses, business men and shoppers mingled through the crowd to find out what was happening. The event was an amazing way to finish the mission, but took an immense amount of planning. From council and Police permission to external production agencies and a whole fleet of voluntary stewards, plus a reception for all leaders involved, the efforts put into a final celebration shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be underestimated. However, this final event served as both an end to, and a launch of, SOULINTHECITY. As delegates celebrated what God had done, church leaders and churchgoers across the capital were working on how such a collaborative and active mission could be sustained in the communities of the capital.

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Chapter 2: Post Event Strategy Post event strategies for SOULINTHECITY come under several forms. Debrief and evaluation, continuing what was achieved and learning from what happened are all major aspects of a post event strategy that can be read in the other chapters of this section. Initially however, the post event strategy was all about following up contacts and commitments. Over the events, projects and J John’s ‘Life Values’ sessions at St Paul’s Cathedral, many people made commitments to follow Jesus. If someone became a Christian at one of these events they were asked to fill out a contact card. This was then passed on to a team in a church local who would intend to follow up these commitments with a phone call within 24 hours. The point of this post event strategy was to connect people with local churches and get them to start a process whereby their profession of faith leads to a changed life. In short, discipleship. In a sense this was one of the most significant parts of the post event strategy, with many committing to attend a church or get involved further with Christianity.

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Chapter 3: Debrief and Evaluation These are two essential aspects to any event or initiative. There is a real need to sustain relationships with those who were involved in SOULINTHECITY and value their opinions and experiences of what happened. Debriefing with all Associate Organisations, the police and local centres allowed effective evaluation of SOULINTHECITY to take place.

Debrief Everyone has their opinions about an event or initiative. It’s wise to listen to these voices. It’s especially wise to listen to the voices of those who were involved. The management team based at the Soul Survivor Hub formally met with the Metropolitan Police, and other organisations to ensure their thoughts and comments were fed back. Such de-briefs helped to start an evaluation process that looked at the wider role of the mission in various London communities. Did anything change, was there an impact and how did residents feel? Partner Churches were asked what they thought, alongside reports of delegate experiences and activity. On top of this, staff members and their individual roles were analysed and chatted through to aid future planning and support for staff members.

Evaluation As the Noise sections of this guide highlight, evaluation is a major way to understand what was achieved in order to do things better next time. A number of the Associate Organisations involved in SOULINTHECITY commissioned their own post event reports and appraisals, detailing what happened and giving an honest look at some of the problems encountered during the event. Many of these things are listed more fully in the ‘Lessons Learnt’ section and are proving to be ways in which we can adapt what we do in the future to make our events safer and communication clearer. There were many ways to evaluate what happened. From informal conversations and email feedback, through to the more formal reports of the Evangelical Alliance and Shaftsbury Society (see appendices). Some of these may be disheartening, whereas others may be extremely positive. However, we want to encourage constructive criticism, giving us scope to learn how we can improve such events and mission in the future. Asking local people, church leaders, delegates, small team leaders, local centre hosts, Soul Survivor staff and representatives from Associate Organisations what they thought about the events and their achievements is an essential task to undertake and should be factored in as an essential aspect of the mission. For SOULINTHECITY unbiased people visited loads of different projects in order to speak to all of the groups listed above. As such their evaluations and reports took a mass of interests into account and have provided fuel to understanding how

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more inclusive planning, preparation and communication can happen.

Churches One of the cries of the mission was ‘no more hit and run’, a reference to the London church’s desire to sustain community involvement. As such, churches got involved in the evaluation process, looking at the projects that they put on and asking local people what they could have done better and what they’d want to see in the future. Many churches simply used questionnaires to get a wide range of quite specific data that could then be used to generate future projects and ideas.

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Chapter 4: Ongoing role of churches: SOULINTHECITY LONDON ”SOULINTHECITY worked best with congregations already engaged in their communities. How will long term, ongoing integration be encouraged, not just for two weeks, but as a habit and attitude that permeates all day, every day?” This concluding comment from the Evangelical Alliance/Shaftesbury Society Evaluation report indicated what was happening amongst London churches as a result of SOULINTHECITY. Many realised that the two weeks had begun something that they wanted to sustain. After the initiative, two of the Local Centre Hosts involved in SOULINTHECITY were invited by a group of senior leaders from across the church in London to continue to build on the relationships established between churches during the mission. As such SOULINTHECITY LONDON has been set up and is carrying on where the original mission left off. You can check out what is going on it the capital at www.soulinthecity.co.uk, but so far churches have been organising weeks of servant hearted projects and events and in 2006 a SOUL WEEK mission has been planned. As more churches get involved, the new charity, with it’s own London based management team and steering group is beginning to fulfil some of the longer term hopes that various evaluations and reports identified flowing the SOULINTHECITY 2004 events.

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SCALING UP: HOW TO DO A SOULINTHECITY SECTION 5: Lessons LEARNT As the evaluation section makes clear, there were areas where SOULINTHECITY learned some major lessons. Rather than think we’ve got everything right first time it’s important to go back to your experiences, ask the people you were serving (and all others involved) what worked, what didn’t and why? In an event the size of SOULINTHECITY it is inevitable that problems occur and some things could have been done better. This section contains some of the major lessons that SOULINTHECITY learnt during the mission, both positive and negative.

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Chapter 1: The not so good stuff Undoubtedly, if SOULINTHECITY in London were to happen again it would look very different. This isn’t to say that everything that was done went wrong. Far from it, there were many real successes. However, being realistic means that we recognise what didn’t work and make those things known to people who are considering a similar initiative. That’s the intention of this page, to seek good practice and make any similar events safer and better. The list below is not exhaustive. If you were involved in SOULINTHECITY you may have experiences and opinions of things not present here. Hopefully however, we’ve caught some of the major issues and lessons that were learnt.

Registration It’s fair to say that delegates, especially those arriving for the beginning of the first week of the mission, were a bit in the dark as to what they were doing, when they were doing it and who with. Registration, where delegates arrive at the campsite, intended to clear up some of these questions, but a crashing database, combined with the sheer scale of queries, issues and understandably concerned delegates meant that many young people were not assigned to projects until just before they had to depart to various areas of London the following afternoon. Despite the efforts of Registration Teams at the various tent cities many delegates were left uninformed about their role and queues to clear up queries were long. As we learnt throughout the mission, SOULINTHECITY was all about the delegates and volunteers getting into London communities. We had to ensure delegates felt ownership over the events and that their roles were clearly defined. Because of issues with everything from databases through to time restraints, necessary information that should have been communicated clearly was not always available until the last minute. Ideally, before delegates arrived on site they would know everything from where they were camped to what projects they were assigned to, who their Small Team Leader would be and where they were expected to meet for the first of the afternoon projects. Any future event would need to address these issues and communicate them clearly before the event so ALL delegates could prepare and know what was going on in advance.

Transport Another of the major issues to arise at the beginning of SOULINTHECITY concerned transport from the Tent Cities, to projects and back again. Obviously London is a massive place and the complexity of the transport networks mean that it is a lot easier to get out from the centre than into the middle. Unfortunately, the lack of a central Tent City to house delegates meant the challenge was to work out routes into the centre of London that would be already extremely busy. The chosen routes involved public services. Underground and Bus routes were checked,

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timed and written out for Small Team Leaders who would then guide the teams through London to the various afternoon projects and evening events. It was decided no team should be expected to travel for more than one hour to get to their projects. Although over 80% of teams did arrive at their destination on time, several teams were stranded for a couple of hours on transport routes. Unfortunately this meant projects were undermanned and some delegates were potentially annoyed with the system and event. As the event went on the issues were resolved, partially by hiring extra bus services to take delegates straight to projects. Transporting 11,663 delegates across the capital was a huge task and so we expected issues to arise. However, some may have been foreseen and dealt with through further testing of routes. Another comment that could have improved the system was the role of local people and local knowledge in planning the routes. If contacts in projects and churches had been asked at an earlier stage route planning may have been less problematic.

Role of Delegates One the most important lessons learnt, that has already been indicated, was that of the role of our delegates. Essentially Soul Survivor set out to ensure that delegates were safe, had a great experience and were inspired to take some of what they had seen and learnt back home. The majority of feedback received was overwhelmingly positive. Delegates said God spoke explicitly to them about worship, lifestyle, justice and the community - which is amazing. However, other delegates were really tired, felt overworked, didn’t specifically know what they were doing or what was expected of them and were glad to be going home. Many felt they could have received a bit of training, especially in the areas of evangelism and how to talk about Christianity. Although the mission was about service and delegates were expected to ‘work’ in projects, because of the structure of the events, many delegates were not getting back to tent cities till quite late and were then having to be up early for morning celebrations and travel back to projects. Factoring more time for meals and relaxation time in the evenings, along with better communication could well helped to have improved some of these concerns.

Keeping it simple Maintaining simplicity amongst the complexity and confusion of event planning on the scale of SOULINTHECITY is a major task. One of the problems encountered during the mission was the attempt to give delegates options as to what they’d like to do during the events. Upon booking, young people could indicate what sort of project or initiative they’d like to be involved in and so the publicity produced served to raise the expectations of delegates. The hope to give delegates a variety of choices in reference to projects proved to be a major administrative problem and the ability to act on requests was limited. Unfortunately this created disappointment amongst some of the young people.

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Planning communication SOULINTHECITY generated a mass of publicity and communication material. Everyone from London congregations and potential delegates were sent literature, adverts and flyers. However, although the material was of good quality, it’s likely it overwhelmed some of our audiences. In essence the communications strategy needed to be clearer to ensure mailings weren’t duplicated and people weren’t being bombarded with too many pieces of paper.

Security Everyone involved in leading projects or overseeing delegates/children was CRB (Criminal Records Bureau Check that shows any previous criminal convictions and/or allegations) checked and had signed child protection and self disclosure forms. However, there are certain issues of security and safety that could have been more carefully thought through. Some delegates found themselves confronted by groups of local young people and felt intimidated or threatened. Although such issues are almost inevitable in this type of event, and although safety and security guidelines recommended that delegates always travel in groups, certain incidents did, unfortunately happen. Potentially having larger groups with several leaders in certain areas may have served to restrict these types of problems. However, it is important to say that the vast majority of delegates were never involved in any security incidents, with their being only one or two cases of this type occurring.

Staff The staff of Soul Survivor and Partner Churches worked extremely hard in organising and coordinating the event. Especially at an early stage, and in reference to the role of Local Centres, job descriptions and responsibilities needed to be clearer to ensure specific areas were covered and work was done. It has also been commented that staff be given more support during their involvement in the events, making sure they weren’t working excessively long hours and taking too much responsibility.

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Chapter 2: The better stuff Throughout the mission SOULINTHECITY learnt several really positive things. Amazing stories and testimonies came up as a result of the event and many people made commitments to follow Jesus. On top of this we learnt some practical and theological lessons too.

Church Diversity One of the best things to see was that the mission encapsulated a massive diversity of London’s churches, all working together to bring the message of the gospel to the city. From the outset it was genuinely hoped that SOULINTHECITY would be an expression of the body of Christ in London. In many ways, and with the involvement of loads of different church networks, from traditional Anglican through to Pentecostal, SOULINTHECITY incorporated a massive diversity of people, cultures and their churches.

Projects In an event this size it’s always hard to know what sort of projects would work and have an impact. In general terms we saw a massive array of servant hearted projects that all succeeded in serving and blessing local people. One of the great things was the amazing creativity shown amongst the lists of projects that took place. Amongst these however, certain projects seemed to make a real difference. Visual Projects: Initiatives that during the project and on its completion made a real visual difference to a community were really effective ways of making a difference. From cleaning graffiti off stairwells to removing rubbish from local parks, these projects potentially had lasting benefits to local people who were really pleased to be involved in the event. Interactive projects: Projects that looked to involve local people were some of the most successful in the mission. Whether it be a community clear up or a parent and toddler scheme these projects got delegates and residents alongside each other, talking about the local area and giving people in the community the incentive to get involve making a difference in their own streets and estates. Established projects: Many projects had been established by churches and were part of the longer-term work of the church in the community. These projects, from youth clubs, holiday events and regular community action initiatives were already well ‘boundaried’, with ways of working that delegates could easily fit into. The projects obviously benefited too with extra resources and hands available during the two weeks of the event.

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Evening Events Other than the afternoons of servant hearted action, the evenings were full of some fantastic events that through performance, teaching and testimony conveyed the gospel message. These events, including barbeques, cafes, youth events, music performances and even nail bars were intended to simply bless the communities of London. Some of the best and most successful ideas allowed delegates to spend time socialising with local people chatting to them about what was going on and why. One of the major positives was that many of the evening events were specifically tailored to local areas. Local bands and artists were involved and the events were relevant to the people who were invited along. Most of the events were really attractive, well advertised and were done really well. Loads of the evening events were a real success simply because they focussed on what people would want to do. Rather than inviting people into the church for a prayer meeting, many of the events were on the streets, with free food, music and a chance to have a good time! This proved to be a really positive aspect of SOULINTHECITY, Despite the success of some of the bigger evening events and celebrations in centres across London, it seems it was the smaller events that were really impressive. Church organised barbeques and fun days allowed the community to interact and get to know their church and the young people serving them. In this sense these projects helped to do break down social barriers and bring the church to the heart of the community.

Evangelism and worship Perhaps one of the biggest positives to come out of the events were changes in our attitudes. Essentially God motivated many of us to see a heart for justice and evangelism as an outflow of our lives of worship. In essence many of us learnt, or confirmed what we knew, that worship, mission and justice are inseparable and God requires us to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;act justly and love mercyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Micah 6v8) as we try and follow Jesus in all areas of our lives.

Last, but no means least The last thing that seemed to work was that people did become Christians and were introduced to Jesus. This was the heart of the mission and from the stories and statistics it seems that around 1200 made first time commitments to Jesus, with over 4800 other people responding in some way at an evening event. For all the work, planning and lessons learnt, this result of the mission is still the defining statistic.

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Chapter 3: What delegates and residents said During and after SOULINTHECITY Soul Survivor collected stories and testimonies recording what God had done over the mission. These were recorded in the ‘Urban Legends’ book, released back in 2005. Here, we give a taster of some of the comments and stories from that book to highlight some of the amazing things that God did through the mission. In a sense these are the lessons learnt by delegates, residents and all of us who were involved in SOULINTHECITY… “At first I didn’t understand how I could find Jesus in a dirty market but at the end of the week I understood it was God saying to me, ‘I told you I'd meet you here.’ I learnt to see Jesus in serving others, including my team mates.” Ashleigh, delegate based in Barnet. “I find it hard to conjure the words to do the week justice. I feel overwhelmed that Jesus was so present and that so many people came to serve and worship him. People saw that Christians weren't in it for themselves” Dave, Small team leader, based in Abbots Langley “I used to think being a Christian was about going to church and stuff. What we’re doing is an act of worship and I kind of never saw it like that.” Adam, delegate based in Brentford.

My Best Moment today... We asked delegates what their best moment of SOULINTHECITY was. These were some of the responses: Neighbours who had never spoken to each other for 22 years and didn’t know each other now do! The barbeque at the end of our week painting benches in the Brunel Estate. We invited all on the estate and when normally no one used the area we’d been working on, it was full of people chatting, laughing and having fun. Loads of the people who came out asked about the church and what we’d been up to. God waking me up on the tube just to give me the opportunity to talk to an older lady who’d drifted from church years ago. The barbeque tonight in Peabody Avenue, Westminster, where a boxing promoter did a boxing demo and gave his testimony. 10 people became Christians. THEN after chatting to bus drivers at Uxbridge tube station, they offered

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to take us all the way home on a double decker bus – just for us – dropped right outside the gate – God is Awesome! Seeing 5 people saved at my projects. Loads of people, 28 giving their lives to God. Seeing the community that had built up over the week between church members, delegate and local people. The atmosphere was fantastic! 9 people became Christians on Ladbroke Grove. Having a gang-leader say, “There’s electricity here, isn’t there?!” during our worship session tonight. Chatting to a woman who then gave her life to the Lord! Hearing that there had been no fights this week on our estate and being asked (repeatedly) when we are coming back A guy called Frankie came to our youth project yesterday, amongst many others. I had the chance to share the gospel with him… he was so open to it and God was clearly moving in Him. Today, Friday, he prayed a prayer with me in a back alley of Finchley and made a commitment [to Christ] – PRAISE GOD! – Now he wants to go to church and we’ve exchanged details. A woman in a wheelchair committed her life to Christ at Ham! Making loads of new friends. It’s been great seeing young children coming to the Lord, also just that we have been able to finish our tasks which is great too!! Two little guys called Robbie (12) and Alex (8) gave their lives to God and asked him into their hearts this week. And the best moment today was seeing them worshipping God at the evening celebration! George our Council guy who was helping who said he didn’t believe in God came tonight to our event. He even prayed with us – so exciting!! We have been helping at a kids football club in Wandsworth and the son of the woman who ran it became a Christian on Wednesday night – he is only 10 but accepted Jesus Christ for himself. GO:LOCAL SCALING UP SECTION FIVE ALL CHAPTERS www.soulaction.org | info@soulaction.org Soul Action, Unit 2 Paramount Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, UK WD24 7XF

Two guys in our area, Sweets Way, Barnet, became Christians Loads of kids/young folk from Ham becoming Christians tonight and being really sad to say bye to us. Especially as at start of the week they would hardly speak to us! It’s shown that there is more that young people can do than graffiti and hanging out in gangs. Many of the local youths have responded positively to our work – even those known to be involved in notorious gangs. Watching 40 kids off a rough estate in NW London sitting there in the presence of God as we worshipped in front of them and watching their faces change as the glory of God fell around. Seeing everybody of the rec’ ground at the community BBQ – locals, SOULINTHECITY people and churchy bods – but most importantly those that are normally ‘excluded’ and left out – and praying for Max the dog – it was a measure of the success of the project because no-one wanted to say goodbye!

And the residents... Many local residents were asked to fill out feedback forms and give their comments, these are just a few of the many responses:

Place: Carville Hall Park North, Brentford The clear up operation of rubbish, trees, etc. from the back of our houses is wonderful. It lets in more light and deters intruders hiding amongst the trees and bushes. People/kids used to use the high rubbish pile to climb over peoples fences for shortcuts, etc. now they’ll think again as they can be seen from far away, also people can see over their back fences and see a nice, clear, tidy area and not everyone’s rubbish.

Place: Hamilton Crescent, Harrow What a pleasure to meet such a great group of young people. Helpful, polite, considerate and very hard working. A wonderful example of ‘how things ‘always’ used to be (I am 66 years of age, with a good memory).

Place: Tooting SITC is marvellous. It has been a joy to work with the young people. The only thing is they are almost too thorough. 2 girls spent a day and half scraping a 2-metre wall 1 metre high. It could have been done in 2 hours but they said they wanted to do a perfect job. The owner turned around and said you don’t have to do it so well and they still carried on for a few more hours. … the boys are just as keen, were weeding somebody’s front garden, all flagstones, and they turned around and said have you got any weed killer? I said ‘look we can only do so much. If you just get rid of the weeds then it’s GO:LOCAL SCALING UP SECTION FIVE ALL CHAPTERS www.soulaction.org | info@soulaction.org Soul Action, Unit 2 Paramount Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, UK WD24 7XF

up to the owners to apply weed killer, or grout in the joints.’ What was their answer? ‘No if we do the job we should do it properly!’ I love their attitude. I often work with people who do the least amount possible and you have to keep doing extra, but they’re wonderful kids. I don’t know how they do it. “Their energy! They are taking 4 ½ hours per day to come down here and get back to their camp and they only manage to get in 3 ½ hours work here. They don’t get back till 10.30 at night. They’ve got blisters, sunburn! Amazing!

GO:LOCAL SCALING UP SECTION FIVE ALL CHAPTERS www.soulaction.org | info@soulaction.org Soul Action, Unit 2 Paramount Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, UK WD24 7XF