The UK’s first “Simeon Chaplain to Older People,” working in the market town of Alton in Hampshire, broadcaster Debbie Thrower was for many years a face of both BBC and then ITV in the South. She trained as a newspaper journalist, but her broadcasting career began at Radio Leicester, and Radio Solent. She was a […]
Graham Cray is a Bishop in the Church of England and currently Archbishops’ Missioner and Leader of the Fresh Expressions Team. Previously he was Bishop of Maidstone, Principal of Ridley Hall Cambridge and Vicar of St Michael le Belfrey in York. He is also Chairman of the Trustees of the Soul Survivor Youth Ministry.
In 2004 Michael Harvey gave up a high-flying job in the City of London to teach church leaders to see new possibilities, using an approach that has quickly become established as Back to Church Sunday. Now through his Unlocking the Growth Seminars Michael likes to challenge churches of all sizes to double their congregation in […]
With extensive experience of Christian leadership at senior levels in para-church and local church, Olaf’s vision is to see a nation of ‘churches, leaders and Christians connected to the Person, Power and Mission of Christ’. God impressed the message of ‘connection’ on him in 2008 from John 15:17, since when the resources of C4L have […]
The issue of disconnecting and reconnecting is one that continues to challenge the church scene in the UK and it is good that attempts have been made to find some hard data for the UK. The charity I serve, CWR, made a small attempt to address the issue by running a series of workshops entitled, Closing the Back Door of the Church in 2006-2008. The presenter Ron Kallmier was staggered to see some 200 attend the workshops, which were in the end limited to 40 a time to facilitate interaction. We co-authored a book of the same name published book by CWR in 2009. My reflections come from research and writing on the topic, and chats with friends who would be in the ‘disconnected’ category.
If you do an internet search on ‘lost and found’, you will discover many songs containing these three words, by artists like Katie Herzig, Lianne La Havas, and these lyrics from Leona Lewis:
‘Lost then found…Love in the ending, we could be lost then found’[1]
Over two thousand years ago, Jesus used the same three words in His love song to the world. There was no tune to the song perhaps, but He declared His love for those who become lost and set out the mission for the church, to reach out for lost people. [2]
Two things are still true: people become lost and people want to be found.
Useful Links Alpha Back to Church Sunday Care for the Family Christianity Explored Connect4Life resources for Disconnected and Reconnecting people CWR Emmaus Course Freedom in Christ Jeff Lucas book on creating a ‘Prodigal- Friendly Church’ Out Of Ashes Revival Media
Headline findings on Disconnection Survey Countless Christian parents and church leaders suffer the constant pain of lost contact with their prodigals. Back in 2007, research from Tear Fund showed 16 million people have stopped attending church – the lost generation. Findings from new research just released by C4L gives in depth insights from people who […]
