Dear friends

At our Theology Day in October we began to explore our theme for the year ‘I see a new city’ based upon John’s Revelation. The day was packed with brilliant content which we will be getting online over the coming weeks. One of the contributions that I found particularly helpful was Dr Sarah Williams's interview. She shared examples from history of how groups of Christians had come together to see their places transformed socially, culturally and spiritually.

She shared, "So much can come out of such extraordinarily small beginnings when the imagination of the people of God is not hindered by the existing structures and forms but begins to dream and imagine what can be.” What was abundantly clear from Sarah’s interview was the importance of having a dream for the place where God has placed us. We can often underestimate just what God can do through us and at the start of this year perhaps we need a vision upgrade?

She continued to talk about what a move of God has looked like in history and she had this powerful challenge that we mustn’t hide away from the needs of cities or try and contain what God is doing but let it deeply impact our cities. She shared that revival is “much bigger than that internal life of the church. Our ghettoising, our separating ourselves off, is a real danger and it happens again and again… that we want to hold ourselves safe rather than engage in the foot-washing God-work in the world.”

If you have half an hour to watch the interview, then I would really encourage you to do so. It helps us, at the start of this new year, to be reminded of what is possible. It helps us get a vision upgrade.

We have added the video to our Gather Movement Summit page because this year’s Summit will be an opportunity to dig into some of the practical ideas around what our towns and cities could look like and an opportunity to put some of our dreams and aspirations into prayer and planning. Our saver tickets are available for just £75 until the end of January. I’d really encourage you to join us for this significant event.

Blessings
Andy Frost, joint CEO

P.S. We're also looking forward to the Intercultural Church & City Transformation happening this Saturday. This will be a really significant gathering. There are still a few tickets left and you can book your spot here. We look forward to sharing a report in our next e-update on some of the learnings.

Gather Movement Summit 2024

 • But what is the vision for that city? 

 

Book by the end of January for the saver price!

 

Short Stories from Unity Groups

How Do We Lead in a Time of Confusion? by Steve Botham
 

Upcoming Events

Our next Learning Community we'll be looking at Cultural Transformation with Bible Society's CEO Prof Paul Williams for a 2-hour special.

Every city has a sense of its own identity and purpose but how can city leaders help a city think differently?

'Working out a theology of city transformation in really practical ways through interactive discussion." - Prof Paul Williams

NB you now need to book to each Learning Community that you wish to attend.