Heres HOPE

Here’s
ROY CROWNE

HOPE brings so much creativity to
the mission of the Church. I hope this
book will help to kindle fresh ideas
and effective action as we continue
to grow healthy churches that
love and serve their
communities.
Lynn Green
General Secretary of the
Baptist Union
God is building his Church.
It has been amazing to see how he has
fanned into flame an idea that began
over a cup of coffee to help his
Church make a difference in
communities throughout the country.
This book will help many more
churches catch the vision.
Mike Pilavachi MBE
Soul Survivor
‘Here’s Hope’ captures so much of what
God has achieved through HOPE over the last
decade. Packed with stories of local churches
responding to the needs of their communities in
wonderfully creative and inspiring ways, while
reflecting on lessons learnt and biblical principles which
should be followed. Roy Crowne’s Holy Spirit-inspired
leadership has enabled this relatively small organisation
to have an influence way beyond its size. As Rachel
Jordan-Wolf takes over the leadership of HOPE in the UK
and Roy sets his sights on other nations, I watch with
anticipation of what God has in store.
Having served at HOPE
Together over the years Roy Crowne
has garnered so much knowledge and
information about how the Church can serve
together to make Jesus known. In this book he
shares some of his wealth of information making it
such a valuable resource for anyone who wants
to touch a hurting world with the love of Christ.
I find Roy’s commitment and dedication to
the mission of making Jesus known
very inspirational.
Agu Irukwu
Redeemed Christian Church
of God, UK
Steve Clifford
Chair of the HOPE Board
2010-2020
I’m hugely grateful
to Roy personally for mentoring
me in my early days at YFC and for
his continued input today. Speaking
on behalf of many churches throughout the
UK, we are profoundly grateful to him for
building a ministry in HOPE Together
that has had a significant and lasting
impact on the Church.
Roy and I share a passion to see
the gospel shared. When we
dreamed about churches doing more,
doing it together and doing it with
words and action, Roy was our first
and only choice to take it forward.
I’m thrilled to see what God has
done and continues to do
through HOPE Together.
Andy Hawthorne OBE
The Message Trust
Gavin Calver
CEO of the Evangelical
Alliance UK

Here’s
ROY CROWNE

Together
Copyright © 2022 HOPE Together
Published by HOPE Together
HOPE Together
8A Market Place
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV21 3DU
hopetogether.org.uk
Researched, compiled
and edited by
Catherine Butcher
Designed by
Darren Southworth
S2.Design 020 8771 9108
Photos: : Alamy, BBC/Bob
Cosford, CMS, iStock,
Wikipedia
Printed by
Belmont Press
T
his book is dedicated to all of you
who have walked with me through
my ministry. You have been there
every step of the way in so many
different ways. I am so grateful to
God for each and every one of you.
This is our story.
Roy Crowne
Unlike most books, any part of this
publication may be shared without
prior written permission from
HOPE Together. We want to spread
the lessons we have learned as
widely as possible – but do let us
know what you are using, where
and when so we can pray that
God will bless you too.

Here’s
Foreword 4
Chapter 1 Relationships Rule 6
Chapter 2 Words & Actions 34
Chapter 3 Do It Together 56
Chapter 4 The Local Church is King 74
Chapter 5 Prayer 88
Chapter 6 Keep Flexible & Fast 102
Chapter 7 Establish a Rhythm of Mission 114
Chapter 8 Seek Prophetic Insight 136
Chapter 9 Listen & Learn 150
Chapter 10 I’m So Grateful 174
History of HOPE 190
Appendix 192
Final thought 197
3

FOREWORD
THIS BOOK ISN’T REALLY
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
A PERSON.
IT’S MORE AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
A MOVEMENT
CALLED
HOPE...
4

I t’s a story told at pace – a run not a jog. Because it’s the story of God
on the move through his people for the sake of the world. It’s an
inspiring story where the cast of characters are those who live on the
streets and in prison cells; those who don’t always have enough food and
those who have been excluded from education. It’s a story of hope whose
background is our towns and cities, villages and isolated areas. It’s a story
of hope given to young and old, rich and poor,
Roy has enabled it. By bringing people together, by investing in relationships, by taking
risks, by admitting when he’s wrong, by relying on others. And most of all by relying on
God, so the rhythms of prayer, faith, love and companionship – across denominational
boundaries and historic racial divides – and an openness to the leading of the Holy Spirit
characterise every chapter. It’s an extraordinary story of hope.
Roy draws little attention to himself. But we realise such a story of hope is reliant upon a
joy and confidence in the gospel, a serving and honouring of others, and a commitment
to something much bigger than a successful ministry.
What made sense to me was the news that Roy trained as a mechanic. The mechanic
makes the thing run. The mechanic tunes the engine for the journey, makes sure all the
component parts of the engine are in good working order – and not just work on their
own – but they all work together. The mechanic draws no attention to themselves – it’s
all about what they make possible – the effective working of the vehicle. So it can do
what it was built for. Roy has, through his ministry at HOPE, repaired, tuned and enabled
the engine of the Church to do what it is made for – to bring the hope of God to the
world he died to save. He has helped make the engine work. Roy is a gift to the Church
because he is a mechanic for the Church of Jesus Christ.
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury
5

Chapter 1
Relationships
RULE
Mike, Roy and Andy
6

HOPE
TOGETHER
GREW OUT OF
FRIENDSHIP
AND
TRUST
For me and Mike, Christianity
was something completely new.
Our mate Andy was growing
up in a Christian family, but
at about the same time,
he too responded to God as
a teenager. He says, ‘I went to a
gig with my local youth group and
was surprised to discover that
they were a cool Christian band.
An American guy preached,
and I gave my life to Christ.’
S
The
HOPE team bringing leaders together
in 2011 at Jesus House
tanding in a field on the edge of a
Christian summer camp in Cornwall,
I started to talk to God in a way I
had never done before. For the first
time, God was up-close and personal.
My life was never going to be the same
again.
About the same time a Greek Cypriot
guy called Mike had been searching for
something spiritual. He recalls: ‘Some
Christians came out of the woodwork and
explained to me the gospel, and I realised
that Christianity wasn’t about rules and
regulations and going to institutions, but
it was a relationship with a person. I met
Jesus as a result of that and I gave my
life to him.’
Decades before we met, God was at work in each
of our lives equipping us to work together with a
common vision: to see our country transformed
by Jesus.
HOPE Together grew out of the friendship and
trust that had grown between we three guys: me,
Mike Pilavachi and Andy Hawthorne. By the time
HOPE began we were all at the head of different
youth ministries. I was national director of Youth
for Christ (YFC), Mike was director of Soul
Survivor, and Andy was director of The Message
Trust. Rather than be seen to be competing, we
decided to work together, and the only way to
do that was to be in relationship. Busy people
with full diaries have to be intentional about
developing friendships. We met twice a year, just
for 24 hours, to chat and invest in our friendship.
Because of those times together, we trusted one
another and knew each other’s strengths and
weaknesses. We were able to laugh at each
other’s idiosyncrasies, and we developed a
high level of trust, which meant we could work
well together. As our relationship was built on
friendships and trust, we could believe the best
of each other because we knew each other.
7

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
IT WAS DURING
ONE OF THOSE DAYS
TOGETHER
THAT WE BEGAN TO
DREAM...
Andy had run a clothing business in
Wythenshawe with his brother Simon
for 13 years. That helped him learn about
line-management, accounts, personnel
matters and so on. The brothers had been
key to Message ’88, which was seen as a
breakthrough moment for the churches of
Manchester. They got behind the project in a
big way, running 300 missions in the build-up
to the event and packing the Manchester
Apollo for five nights with Christian bands,
theatre companies and special guests. An
estimated 20,000 young people heard the
gospel message through Message ’88 and
The Message Trust was born.
Mike had given up work as an accountant and
had been a youth worker at St Andrew’s Church
in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, which was led by
David Pytches and Barry Kissell who launched the
New Wine Christian conferences. In 1993, Mike
launched Soul Survivor, a five-day charismatic
Christian festival aimed at young people, which
grew from 1,896 delegates to 30,000 in its
heyday.
8

Cockney
ROOTS
I
was born in Hackney in the
East End of London. We were
a regular Cockney family: Dad
was a Fleet Street printer and
Mum was a seamstress. They
weren’t Christians and when
my brother went to Sunday school once,
he didn’t like it, so I never went.
MY
ATTITUDE TO
RELATIONSHIPS
STEMS FROM
EAST END WAYS.
MY GRANDDAD WAS A
BARROW BOY
SELLING FRUIT
& VEG.
Church wasn’t completely foreign
territory for Dad. As a youngster he’d
sung in the St Paul’s Cathedral choir.
He earned half-a-crown for singing at
a wedding and a shilling for a Sunday
service. He got to the cathedral using his
roller skates, holding onto the back of
a London bus. But the choir wasn’t
a route to faith – just another way
to make some pocket money.
Looking back I can see how my
attitude to relationships stems
from East End ways. My granddad
was a barrow boy, selling fruit and
veg. He had the edge on his rivals
because he talked to his customers
and got to know them. That built
friendships and customer loyalty. When
I was a youngster needing pocket money,
Dad sent me to Dalston Market to ask the
local traders what jobs I could do for
them. Relationships mattered.
9

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
Roy as a Youth for Christ evangelist
IN THE EAST END,
YOU KEPT YOUR
NOSE CLEAN
AND KEPT SAFE BY
KNOWING THE
RIGHT
PEOPLE
WHO WOULD COVER
YOUR BACK
For a Cockney, relationships are king, not
qualifications; it’s who you know, not what you
know.
Education was important to my parents,
but it was having the right contacts and trusting
relationships that got you by in life. That value
system translated into kingdom values for me
later in life.
We moved out of the East End to
Borehamwood when I was about 12. I started
going to Hillside Secondary SchooI, one of the
original settings for British TV drama series
Grange Hill, pictured below.
When I was 16 I met Jesus through a guy
called David at school telling me his story.
He wasn’t in my friendship group. He didn’t
play rugby and wasn’t one of the ‘cool guys’.
But when I was reprimanded for laughing in a
French lesson, I was moved to sit next to him
for the rest of the term. I soon found out he
was a Christian and, as he talked about his
faith, I began to ask questions. David then
invited me to a Christian camp. Christianity,
the language, everything was new to me, so
it was a bit of a shock to be woken up by the
camp leader at 7am. We’d only been asleep
and quiet for about an hour... and he was
waking everyone up, Bible in hand, ready
for a ‘Quiet Time’.
There was a talk one evening and the speaker
called for a response. I just went for a walk
instead and talked to God in a way that
I hadn’t done before. It was the scariest
moment in my life, being aware of the spiritual
world and of God, knowing that God had
gone out of his way to meet me in a field in
Cornwall. I have never been the same since.
10

Moorlands College where Roy trained
In the two weeks after that
camp I read the Bible right
through to find out what had
happened to me. I read that
Christians are meant to be good
news. Now I had a mission and
purpose for my life, so I went to see my school
headmaster and asked if I could take an assembly.
He didn’t like taking assemblies so he said ‘take
two’ – and I let them have it! Going public about
your faith changes everything. My whole mission
was to convert the school. I was passionate about
seeing things change.
I MET
JESUS
THROUGH A GUY
AT SCHOOL
TELLING ME HIS
STORY
Outside school
I got involved in
youth work and the
church youth group
grew. After I finished
school I started work as
a mechanic while training as
an engineer, but I knew I didn’t want to do
that for the rest of my life. I was doing what they
called a sandwich course. I went to college two
days a week and then worked as a mechanic the
rest of the time. Working in a garage for five years
is a lesson in itself. I loved it. The language is a bit
choice at times but you discover a whole stack of
stuff about people.
I WAS NICKNAMED
‘PILGRIM’
BY ONE OF MY
COLLEAGUES
He taunted me to see if I would crack. One day
I’d had enough. I hurled a hammer across the
workshop – not something I’m proud of, but,
when it crashed among the tyres and tools, it put
an end to his goading. From then on I had his
respect rather than ridicule. I was no longer in
a holy bubble; he had seen I was real.
11

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
My faith was put to the test on the rugby
pitch as well. On the pitch they called me
‘Vicar’. I was prop forward in the scrum and
they’d say, ‘Give it to the Vicar – he’s got
God’s power’. And if I got tackled, they’d say,
‘Satan got you that time’. In the bar afterwards
I drank shandy because I felt I should. They’d
talk to me about all their issues. But when
they went off for a night on the town,
I didn’t go. I knew it could end up
being extreme and I drew the line
at that. I didn’t say, ‘I’m holy’.
Iwas with them, but I knew
where the lines were and
that got their respect.
When I was about
21 I asked my
church leaders what
I should do and they
said I should study
theology and mission.
They’d obviously heard me
preach! Telling Dad was
the hardest thing
to do; having a
‘vicar’ as a son
wasn’t something
he knew how to
handle. He had
been proud
of me as an
engineer. How
could he tell his
print union mates,
his son was goingg
to study theology?
VICAR
GOD’S
POWER
– HE’S GOT
Roy and Flo with sons John and Michael
GIVE IT TO THE
Roy and Flo on their wedding day
I trained at Moorlands Bible College, which
is
where I met Flo, now my wife. I vowed
when I went to Moorlands I would give that
time to God and I wouldn’t get into any
relationship. But we clearly became attracted
to
each other.
12

Flo is from a farming family
in
Northern Ireland; one
of
11 children. During
our time at Moorlands
she served in a drug
rehabilitation centre.
She’s passionate about
caring and loving people,
and thought she was
on her way to Africa – but we just connected.
We married a year after leaving college.
I worked with a church for that first year after
college, then joined Youth for Christ as an
evangelist. I was part of Eric Delve’s ‘Down To
Earth’ mission team, along with another young
preacher called J John. J John’s goal was to
be an evangelist to the nation. I was different.
My aim then and now is to mobilise hundreds of
evangelists each to be evangelists to the nation; to
put mission on the agenda in every church. J John
went on to set up Philo Trust, and I stayed with
Youth for Christ. Over the years I’ve deliberately
invested in dozens of young evangelists and have
sought to encourage the gift of evangelism in
churches across the country. That’s where the
Talking Jesus course, Amplify and Revelation Trust
come in – but I’ll get to that later.
CHRIST
I WAS WITH
CHRIS
YOUTH FOR
FOR 28 YEARS AND BECAME
NATIONALDIRECTOR IN 1996
Many of the relationships that were vital in
developing HOPE Together, began as I toured the
UK as an evangelist working with churches across
the Christian community.
13

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
Small
BEGINNINGS
R
elationships have continued to be
at the heart of all HOPE Together
does and the relationship of trust
between Mike Pilavachi, Andy
Hawthorne and me was the
vital starting point. We weree all
passionate about churches in the UK reaching
their communities with the good news of
Jesus, bringing lasting transformation. We got
to know each other by working together,
listening to God and dreaming dreams.
THE PREMISE FOR NEW
PROJECTS
IS ALWAYS TO START
SMALL
But big doors swing on small hinges! HOPE
Together has its roots in a city-wide mission in
Manchester in 2000. I know that’s
not small, but
we were all leaders of national ministries and we
learned some important principles as we focused
on one city. Throughout the years of ministry we
learned to be faithful in the small things that God
gave us to do. As Jesus said in the parable of the
shrewd manager: ‘Whoever can be trusted with very
little can also be trusted with much’ (Luke 16:10).
We
learned to lay down
some things for the
greater good. If you had gone to Manchester
in 2000 – yes, The Message was involved, yes,
Soul Survivor was involved, and yes, Youth for
Christ and other ministries were involved, but
you wouldn’t have known it. We weren’t actively
promoting our ministries. We were there genuinelynely
serving the city, not our own ministry agendas.
As leaders we need to be prepared to lay things
down for the greater good of the Kingdom.
God will take care of our ministries. The growth
in The Message, Soul Survivor and Youth for
Christ was exponential from that point.
14

Words & ACTIONS
We learned that both words and actions are
part of the good news we share. Around
10,000 young Christian volunteers worked
in partnership with Greater Manchester
churches in the summer of 2000, serving the
city together on social, environmental and
crime reduction projects. Many of the volunteers
took part during their summer holidays. The project
was seen as a massive success, not least because,
during the 10 days of work in one estate, Swinton
Valley, there were no recorded incidences of crime
and, following that summer of 2000, the police
reported a sustained reduction in crime.
evangelism
THROUGH
WORDS,
WORKS
AND
WONDERS
In 2001 YFC worked with Soul Survivor and
Tearfund to bring young leaders, aged 16-24,
together for a training weekend in Rochester.
The theme was: ‘Evangelism through words,
works and wonders’. It was one of many events
to equip emerging leaders to have an impact
on the world, and part of my ongoing passion
to mentor younger leaders.
15

MUMMY,
MUMMY,
THE
CHRISTIANS
ARE
COMING!
Around 55,000 people from
across Manchester attended
the open-air festival that took
place in Heaton Park the
following weekend, featuring
evangelist Luis Palau, and
performances from The Tribe,
Michael Tait and TobyMac.
In Manchester, when the coaches
rocked up to clean up one of the estates
every day for a week, one kid was heard
running home shouting ‘Mummy, mummy, the
Christians are coming’. The impact of words
and
action together was a real positive. Some
critics said that it was a ‘hit and run exercise’,
but
it wasn’t. After just a week of hundreds
of young people visiting the estate every day,
serving the community and telling the Jesus
story, we managed to plant an expression
of church. It could have taken 20 years to
achieve that.
The summer of 2003 brought the three
ministries together again: The Message took the
lead with the Luis Palau Association, and together
we mobilised a stack of young people to see the
impact of the gospel in words and action firsthand
through a week-long, city-wide venture
called Festival:Manchester. More than 5,000
young people got involved in a total of 317 local
community projects, many in association with the
Greater Manchester Police.
Ministry
among young people had already shown
us the impact of a residential week. Often much
more is achieved in one week than in the other
51 weeks in a year. A week together can be lifechanging,
as it was for me and for hundreds of
young people who came to YFC’s Fort Rocky or
the Soul Survivor summer festivals. God seems to
use these intense periods of time to bring about
lasting change. It’s the same when churches run
a mission week together or Summer Fun Days.
The intensity of working together on an event like
Festival:Manchester, putting faith into words and
action, can have a significant long-term impact.
16

Greater
TOGETHER
We also learned that
we are greaterer
together than we
are apart. Churches
h
were
realising
that
it was not enough just to serve
the
community, or simply to preach
the
gospel. To follow Christ’s
example, words had to be backed
up with actions, and those who
served had to be prepared to give
a reason for the hope they had.
Good examples are the Trussell
Trust foodbanks, which began in
2000, and Street Pastors, which
began in 2003.
Several years later politicians were talking
about the ‘Big Society’, which aimed to
encourage people to take an active role in their
communities, transferring power from central to
local government, supporting social enterprises
and
encouraging volunteering. Although the
‘Big
Society’ idea came and went, churches still
continue to work together playing an active role
in their communities. That works best when local
church leaders have forged strong relationships
of friendships and trust with each other.
The model of ‘words and action’ evangelism, with
churches working together,
which characterised
the city-wide events, inspired many similar events
across the country, including London’s Soul in the
City in 2004. In each case, the local churches led
the way, working together across denominational
and ethnic boundaries, bringing together local
communities by delivering social action and
community-building projects. These ranged from
environmental clean-ups, painting projects, car
washes, barbecues, children’s activities, fun days
and youth concerts.
17

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
THE
IMPACT
OF A FOCUSED SEASON OF
EVANGELISM
CAN’T BE
UNDERESTIMATED
But the impact doesn’t last forever.
r.
Each
generation needs a fresh experience of working
together and making Jesus known. When
you look back at the fruit from a season like
Billy Graham's 1984 Mission England campaign, aign,
you can see many lives changed as people of all
ages responded to Jesus. Many Christians also
responded as God called them into ministry.
Seeing an evangelist in action had an impact.
Now young people often want to be worship
leaders, because that’s who they see profiled.
That’s why I was right behind Amplify, which raised
the profile of the evangelist’s gift. Every generation
needs to see the power of working together in
mission with words and action making Jesus
known. That means doing something fresh
every 10-12 years or so.
We will explore the words and action theme more
later. But let’s go back to the roots of HOPE 08.
18

SOUL in the City
B
uilding on the Manchester model, in
2004 11,500 Christians from across the
country headed for London to work
alongside 9,500 local churchgoers in
52 partnerships across 34 London
boroughs. Together these Christians
spent two weeks serving different
communities around London, ending with a prayer
and worship event in Trafalgar Square. We called
it Soul in the City and this time Soul Survivor
was the lead partner.
There were Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists,
Pentecostals, House Churches and New Churches
all working together; a third were from black
majority churches. One thing we learned was that
the small churches grab ideas like this quickly. The
larger churches are more suspicious. It wasn’t until
really late in the day that Holy Trinity Brompton,
Kensington Temple, All Souls Langham Place, and
other big churches came on board because they
saw it had gained momentum and was going to
have an impact as God’s
people came together.
AS IN manchester,
IT WAS A WHOLE MIXTURE
OF SOCIALACTION
AC
PROJECTS,
GOSPEL
PROCLAMATION,
AT
CELEBRATION
AND CHURCH UNITY
Mike
tells the story of a bus driver who came
along to a meeting because he was curious about
the enthusiastic kids on his bus. He gave his life
to Jesus. One council hadn’t allowed a church to
use the community centre for eight years, and
then a group of kids went and redecorated and
renovated the centre, and as a result, the council
said to the church, ‘You can use the community
centre whenever you want. Can we talk about
how we can work together?’
19

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
AS THE CHURCH
SERVED
ED
THE COMMUNITY,
THE WAY PEOPLE
VIEWED THE CHURCH
CHANGED
As Mike says, ‘It was humbling to
realise
that together we serve in our weakness.
It wasn’t rocket science, it was basic stuff: tell the
people Jesus loves them and show them his love
yourself in ways that people can understand.’
Again, we kept to the same premise – words and
action together – extravagant acts of love serving
the community, at the same time as preaching
the gospel, and working together in relationship.
Depending on where it was, there would either
be more extravagant acts of love and social
engagement or more proclamation. We were
passionate about holding the tension of the two,
but you couldn’t control it in a local expression.
Churches can always do the social engagement
part. The intentionality of communicating the
gospel is always the challenge.
After Soul in the City we were getting invited
to do city-wide events all over the place. We
thought it was crazy as we began to ask ‘Could
we do the nation?’ It seemed a bit too grand as we
were just directors of youth ministries. But in the
end we thought, if we don’t do it, no one else will.
I remember having
a cup of coffee with
Mike and Andy at
Soul Survivor and
almost casuallyally
saying ‘OK, let’s
give it a go!’
One event stands
out, which I look
back on when I’m tempted to doubt that God
called us to this crazy journey.
When Mike, Andy
and I agreed to go national with what we’d been
doing, we asked a friend to pray for us. As he did,
oil seemed to come from his hands to anoint us.
It was an amazing moment, which I’ll never forget.
I can’t explain it, but it gave each of us the
assurance that God was calling us and equipping
us for the task ahead.
20

08
0
Count us in!
We began by drawing
on the relationships
we had across the UK,
asking every leaderer
we knew ‘Will you do
mission?’ It seems like
a bit of a no-brainer really, as they should alll say
‘yes’. Rather than telling us we were mad, and
it was never going to happen, people of everyery
denomination, stream and ministry started
saying ‘count us in’. They had seen the success
of mission together in words and action in
Manchester and London, and an amazing range of
denominational leaders, ministry leaders, several
politicians and leading police officers got behind
us, giving their backing to a year of mission: doing
more, doing it together and doing it in words and
action. What if people across the UK were to see
the Church as the Bible teaches it is meant to
be, reflecting the love and passion of God?
We decided to go for it.
We couldn’t continue using the Soul in the City
name as we wanted villages and towns to take
part as well. A research group suggested that
‘hope’ was the key message the Church should
bring to the country; so HOPE 08 was born, with
the strapline ‘in our villages, towns & cities’.
‘HOPE’
WAS THE key MESSAGE
THE CHURCH SHOULD
BRING TO THE
As three friends we
understood the way
each other functioned.
We had built strong
relationships and had
worked on significant projects
together. We were committed to
working with the tension of words
and action, and we knew that the world needed
to see the body of Christ working together. That
was the backdrop for HOPE 08. The range of
endorsements received is an indication of the
relationships we had built over many years.
COUNTRY
21

Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
PRAYER
Our relationship with God
through prayer was always
going to be a key to the success
of what we were planning.
HOPE 08 was publicly launched
at a Trumpet Call prayer event in
Birmingham in 2006 in front of an audience of
3,000-4,000 people. Prayer triplets and groups
formed to pray for the year of mission.
During HOPE 08, Mike, Andy and I remained
in our ministry roles with Soul Survivor, The
Message Trust and Youth for Christ. Steve
Clifford, who was a Pioneer Network church
leader at the time, became chair of the charity,
and Ian Chisnall was appointed as national
coordinator to lead a small team to serve local
church expressions of HOPE 08.
launch
As with Soul in the City in London,
HOPE 08 has my full support.
Sir IanBlair
Metropolitan Police
Commissioner
2005-2008
HOPE 08 provides a practical way
for Christians up and down the country to
demonstrate their faith by offeringservice to their
local community. Co-ordinated resources and support
are available so it is easy to get involved. It is my
hope that many churches will take up this invitation
so that the hope we proclaim in words may be
matched by our actions.
The Rt Rev StephenCottrell
Bishop of Reading
2004–2010
The HOPE 08 dream was to take the good
news of Jesus to 500 villages, towns and cities
across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
with local churches working together like
never before for one whole year rather
than the few weeks we’d spent on
previous missions in Manchester,
London and elsewhere. In fact it
ended up being nearly 1,500 areas
taking part.
HOPE 08 is bringing people
and churches together, serving
God and the local community.
It is amazingto see so many
people from across the
country involved.
We are seeingmore and
more people based in local churches,
workingto makeadifference across
their communities. I welcome the
contribution of HOPE 08.
Rt HonStephenTimms MP
Chief Secretary of
HM Treasury
2006-2007
22
Rev Nicky Gumbel
Alpha

The Trumpet Call prayer event in Birmingham
THE GOAL WAS TO
INSPIRE
LOCAL churches TOE
SERVE
E
THEIR communities
Local involvement was backed by the national
initiative itiative with the HOPE brand bringing it all
together. Local churches built relationships with
the
police and local authorities to help address
issues such as debt, hunger, homelessness or drug
and alcohol addictions. There were schools and
university missions, fun days, barbecues, kids’
clubs, estate clean-ups and much, much more...
Steve Clifford, chair of the HOPE Board
In June
2008 Prince Charles hosted a reception
at Clarence House for the HOPE organisers and
volunteers. This invitation came out of the blue.
As
far as we know, Prince Charles had been
visiting a local allotment project and asked why
people
were involved. That’s when HOPE was
mentioned and the invitation came as a result.
In December 2008 we also had an invitation from
Prime Minister Gordon Brown to a reception for
HOPE workers at 10 Downing Street. Civic and
royal endorsements have played a part through
the history of HOPE and I’ve been grateful for the
relationships that have made these connections
possible.
Roy and the Rt Rev Richard Chartres with Prince Charles
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What a brilliant initiative.
Pete Greig
founder of 24-7 Prayer
Lessons
LEARNED
HOPE 08 is a really remarkable vision that has
grown out of the success of a number of local urban
projects. Christians have to learn how to give an absolutely
clear answer to the question, 'Why is this good news?'
Soul in the City and all the related enterprises that have been
going on are a wonderful example of how to give such an
answer, in terms of the buildingof responsible positive
communities. Now this vision is being extended, with great
boldness to the whole country - and even more widely.
It deserves the warmest welcome. I thank God
for the inspiration that has driven it and wish
every blessingto all involved.
RowanWilliams
Archbishop of Canterbury
2003-2012
J
ust as Andy, Mike and I had
learned to lay down our
ministries for the greater good,
local churches learned to work
together for the benefit of their
communities. When church
leaders want to grow their own churches
they need to be very focused, but if you
are looking at a town or city, you have to
compromise individual church ambitions
for the greater good. Leaders need to
set aside their own personal agendas,
build relationships with each other and
trust God to look after their church.
That’s what we learned nationally
and it’s vital locally too.
When church leaders work together,
sometimes they can focus on those
coming to faith, concerned that they might
end up in a church with a different tradition.
That’s when good relationships between local
church leaders are vital.
For me partnership is really at the heart
and I want to invite and encourage
every person who knows and owns the
name of Jesus Christ to become
a partner of HOPE.
John Sentamu
Archbishop of York
2005-2020
God looks after those that meet him through
the work we do together. Leaders have to
find ways to see the strengths and not the
weaknesses in each other. In joint mission
you have to find away to recognise the
various gifts and opportunities different
churches bring to the party.
▼
24

Revive RUGBY
On Wednesday 14 September 200505
more than 150 Christians from 43
different churches in Rugby met to
launch Revive, a new grouping of
Christians working together to raise
the profile of the churches of the town. Described
by the Bishop of Coventry Rt Rev Christopherr
Cocksworth as ‘a new ecumenism’, Revive stilll
models trusting relationships between church
leaders and united Christian action and outreach
in various forms. As Flo and I live in Rugby we saw
the start of Revive, and HOPE embodies some of
these principles worked out at the local level.
More than a dozen town-wide ministries and
organisations in Rugby are networked with Revive,
typically organised under the umbrella of a lead
church. These include The Christian Bookshop,
Christians Against Poverty Rugby, Make Lunch,
Hope4, Bless Rugby, Gift of Years Rugby, Oasis
Counselling Services, Rugby Food Bank, Rugby
Street Pastors, Rugby Youth for Christ, a Winter
Night Shelter and more.
Most of the churches and denominations in the
borough of Rugby are networked with Revive:
Anglicans, Assemblies of God, Baptists, Catholics,
Elim, Independent Evangelical churches, Methodists,
Congregational, Society of Friends, Orthodox, New
Testament Church of God, Redeemed Christian
Church of God (RCCG), Salvation Army, and the
United Reformed Church (URC).
They share a common vision: To know Christ
and to make him known through empowering
individual Christians and churches. There is no
‘basis of faith’ to sign. The aims are simply to:
Christian leaders in Rugby
• Encourage each Christian to develop the
heart and mind of a disciple.
• Encourage the community of God’s people
in the Rugby area to work together to fulfil
the Great Commission.
• Encourage each church to reach out
appropriately and effectively to the wider
community, reflecting their own character.
Regular church leaders’ breakfasts encourage
fellowship and prayer, building strong
relationships, respect and trust between the
leaders and their churches. As a result, when the
local authority makes plans for civic events, they
often contact Revive and give the local churches
the opportunity to take a lead, at Remembrance
and Christmas celebrations for example.
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Chapter
1
Relationships Rule
THE ADDED VALUE TO THE
local church WAS THATT
HOPE 08
MOBILISED PEOPLE TO
MISSION
GIVING CHURCH MEMBERS
NRS
experiences THEY NEVERER
HAD BEFORE
▲
Sometimes it did bear fruit where they
would see people coming to faith in Christ
and joining their church. But the bigger
impact was often that, as a result of the mission
experience, the local church saw what was
happening in its community and realised they
could go on meeting those needs. If you’d asked
them up front to commit to serve for the
next
ten years they would have walked
away. But because they had experienceded
something positive in a 10-day period, they
then
committed to doing it longer-term.
A network of more than 150 volunteer
HOPE Champions dedicated themselves
to
promoting HOPE 08 in their areas.
They organised events, liaised with
workers and beneficiaries of HOPE
projects, and represented HOPE 08 to
their local churches and communities.
We began to build relationships with these
HOPE Champions, and they were valuable
sources of information and feedback about
HOPE activities on the ground.
26

Small is
BEAUTIFUL
Andy Hawthorne, Jane Holloway and Ian Chisnall
W
e wanted to keep
everything simple
and
to encourage as much
participation as
possible. Taking a step
of faith, we challenged
the whole Church to a whole year of mission,
holding the tension of words and action as we
worked together. We decided to give away
the HOPE 08 logo so any church could use
it free of charge and without a formal
sign-up process. We weren’t prescriptive
– we simply wanted to empower churches
to do more; to do it together and to do it
with words and action. The support staff
was kept to a minimum with a minimal
budget and we said we were going to close
down after one year. We didn’t want to become
an institution.
WE
CHALLENGED
THE WHOLE
CHURCH
TO A WHOLE YEAR OF
MISSION
Soul Survivor, the Message Trust and Youth for
Christ released Mike, Andy and me as well as
other staff to do the work of HOPE 08. As always,
we worked on the basis of relationship, with key
people being released by other organisations to
be on the HOPE Board and Leadership team.
They included Steve Clifford from Pioneer, Rob
Cotton from Bible Society, Laurence Singlehurst
from Cell UK, Matt Bird from Make It Happen,
Paul Bayes from the Church of England, Eustace
Constance from Street Pastors, and Jane Holloway
from the World Prayer Centre.
It is hard to imagine now,
but back in
the day, news from organisationss was
almost always sent out by ‘snail mail’.
To keep costs down, HOPE 08 made full
use of new technology with information
shared by email and text-messaging.
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Chapter
1
NEARLY
Relationships Rule
23,000
COPIES OF THE
COPIES OF THE
PROMOTIONAL DVD WEREE
GIVEN AWAY
AND JUST UNDER
30,000
000
0
AND JUST UNDER
COPIES OF THE hope 08
resource book WERE
SOLD
This resource book was very significant in
providing legs to the vision and cohesion
to what was happening in so many villages,
towns and cities across the country. It also
made sure we had major buy-in from agencies,
who advertised in the book. It featured extensive
resources and ideas, with chapters devoted to
every key feature of the HOPE year. HOPE 08
banners appeared outside churches all around
the country too so there was a strong sense of
unity. HOPE websites provided news and ideas
for organisers. An outward-facing website
www.HOPEinfo.co.uk, which was created and
maintained by the Christian Enquiry Agency, was
awarded the 2008 Christian Web and Blog Award
for Best Christian Social Action Website.
HOPE Revolution was the
official youth arm of HOPE 08
and, throughout the UK, young
people took active roles in
leading HOPE events. The HOPE
Champions said that the majority
of people reached by their HOPE
08 activities were under 20.
By the end of the year, we were stressing that
‘HOPE is not over; it’s over to you.’ There was no
money in the bank. The team had been disbanded.
We still had the legal entity, but we had lost all the
data. We had shut up shop. It was over.
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HOPE
EVALUATION
W
e commissioned the think tank
Theos to evaluate the year. Of
those surveyed, the results said:
82% insp
86%
58%
91% 47%
hope 08 HAD
inspireD THEIR
CONGREGATION
INDICATED THEIR CHURCH
WAS GOING TO Do more
AS A RESULT OF hope 08
INCREASED THEIR
CHURCH’S ENGAGEMENT IN
58% evangelism by worDs
INCREASED THEIR
91%
CHURCH’S ENGAGEMENT IN
evangelism by action
were praying more
than before DUE TO
THEIR WORK WITH hope 08
88% DENOMIN
+
50%
SAID THEIR attituDe
TO OTHER GROUPS &
DENOMINATIONS improveD
SAID THEIR attituDes
TO secular institutions
LIKE LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
POLICE & MEDIA HAD
improveD
The stats showed that HOPE 08 was a catalyst
to bring the Church together holding the
tension of words and action. Churches that
were great at proclamation worked with those
who were more used to social engagement, and
people saw that you don’t need to divide, with
the proclaimers over there and the extravagant
acts of love over here, because that segregation
is not true to Jesus’ ministry.
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Chapter
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Relationships Rule
Over to
J
YOU
ust when we thought it was all over,
we received feedback from the group
of bishops and denominational
leaders who had endorsed us:
‘WE DON’T
THINK IT SHOULD
BE OVER. THERE IS
still a place FOR
HOPE
GOING FORWARD’
Stephen Cottrell,
now Archbishop of York
Pastor Agu Irukwu
We felt it would be a challenge to go back on
our commitment to a one-year project. But Paul
Bayes, Graham Cray,
their fellow bishops and
others insisted we still had work to do. We
asked if they were prepared to fund it, and there
was a general agreement to do that. It was within
that context that we spent 24 hours in prayer and
reflection at a retreat centre: me, Andy, Mike,
Steve Clifford and Laurence Singlehurst, who was
also a good friend and a strategic missional
advisor to the team.
Steve Clifford
I had already stepped down from Youth for
Christ. I’d said I’d give a decade to leading the
ministry and I’d ended up staying 13 years. I was
in that retreat gathering thinking I was going to be
a missionary, but I was asked if I would take HOPE
on to the next season. Before we went to bed that
night they said, ‘Roy, are you going to do this or
not? Because if you are going to do this, we are
in. If you are not going to do it, we will shut up
shop and go home.’
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Church leaders & presidents of Churches Together in England endorsed HOPE
HOPE
WAS A catalyst TO
MAKE
MISSION
HAPPEN
Although the three of us were the leaders of
HOPE 08, we had paid-for administrators. If I was
to give leadership to it going forward, we knew it
would be different. Because of the strength of the
relationships, there was a high level of trust, and
we felt that HOPE had the breath of God on it.
HOPE was a catalyst to make mission happen.
We valued Mike’s prophetic insight even though
we knew we would rarely get him to attend Board
meetings. But it was vital to have him in the room
for the 24 hours of prayer to hear from God,
as Mike is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
I agreed, but only if the relationships remained.
So Mike and Andy became part of the HOPE
Board as critical friends, not ‘yes men’. We had
journeyed together and I needed them as much
as they felt they needed me to take it on.
I recognised that it would be very different
to the way we had operated.
Andy is a passionate evangelist, always checking
that we are communicating the gospel, always
asking, ‘What about the lost?’ And Steve is an
amazing mix of big picture and detail. He gives
visionary leadership and, as chairman working
with others who are willing to take risks, he would
let us go with our instincts. It was Steve who
would focus on the details and say, ‘It’s not what
we say, it’s the tone we use’, and it was Steve who
would keep us on track, even deciding how to
arrange the chairs in a room for maximum
communication.
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Chapter
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Relationships Rule
Flo had already said, ‘I think you are going to
do this – it’s got you all over it.’ It offered me
the opportunity to be entrepreneurial and I felt
that God had been preparing me. Why wouldn’t
I want to use what I’d learned about mission and
relationships? That’s what I felt God spoke to me
about in taking it on. It gave me an avenue to
mobilise hundreds of Christians to be evangelists
to the nation; to put mission on the agenda in
every church. I realised we could never repeat
HOPE 08, but we could serve the Church in its
mission to love and serve its community. We had
no office – nothing. They couldn’t commit to pay
me. It was crazy. I was to raise everything to make
it happen including my own salary. Youth for Christ
had given me a sabbatical year so I said ‘Yes’.
WE STARTED IN 2010.
RELATIONSHIPS
WERE GOING TO BE
TO ALL WE DID.
KEY
Iknew that we needed to build on the
relationships we’d made, and to extend them to
the two groups that we hadn’t engaged with: the
black, Asian and minority it ethnic (BAME) churches
h
and the Catholics. In our naivety we’d put a big
bold statement out there with HOPE 08 saying
we’d mobilise the whole Church for a whole year.
The Theos evaluation pointed out that we didn’t
quite achieve that, so that was a key goal as I took
on the job. We didn’t realise how big the whole
Church is. We thought of the whole Church as
those in our little camp. Now we had a fresh
mandate to go for the goal of mobilising the
whole Church for mission.
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Chapter 1
Relationships
RULE
1
2 strengthening
3
of
4
faithful
5
take
Our personal relationship with
Jesus is the starting point.
Busy people need to be intentional
about building and maintaining
relationships. Invest time in
key relationships.
Develop trust with those you work
alongside. Ask God to help you
see strengths not weaknesses in
others and aim to believe the best
each other.
Big doors swing on small hinges;
get the small projects right; be
in small things.
Learn to lay down some things for
the greater good. Trust God to
care of your ministry.
6 and
7
experience
8
reason
A focused season of mission
in words and action can be
life-changing for those involved
those impacted.
Every generation needs to see the
power of working together in mission
in words and action to make Jesus
known – that means a fresh mission
every 10-12 years.
Social engagement can come easily
to churches; we need to be
intentional about combining words
with our actions so we give a
for the hope we have.
9
Begin with prayer and commit
to ongoing prayer together.
10
Recognise the different gifts,
strengths and opportunities each
church brings to a joint venture.
33