In 2015 Ipswich was identified as the 3rd happiest place to live in the UK, that must have been good news to the 135,000 people who live in the town and the 180,000 in its surrounds. But there is more current good news with the fast growth of a town wide unity movement birthed during the Covid crisis.
There had been collaboration, prayer, and unity events but Covid found a growing momentum to work as one to serve their town.
They saw that God was raising up people in the business improvement district, the university, the council and sensed it was ‘for such a time as this.’ The C of E invested heavily in the diocese to enable more community focus, unity, and growth. A catalyst occurred when the only church in the city offering CAP support declared they could no longer continue, and 20 leaders met to ask – how can we work together to ensure CAP continues? Now eight churches provide a town wide service.
A culture change was taking place. There was greater generosity, a renewed commitment to collaboration and a desire to understand the needs of Ipswich better. Leaders started to talk together, listen to each other, and pull together the different perspectives on what a Covid recovery meant for the town. They gathered the local MP, councilors, health providers, business leaders and church leaders to explore and learn together. The council urged the church to have a single point of contact.
Ipswich leaders looked at Gather Movement’s work on driving Recovery* and pulled together 15 leaders to pray together, build a deep trust, share understanding and are starting to build networks between the churches and the council, Police, and health providers.
Church leaders recognised they had many gaps in their understanding and adopted a posture of listening. They found Christians in positions of influence across the town and realised they had not used this expertise before. They are bringing together the strategists with the practical ‘let’s make it happen’ tacticians and those with a passion for prayer and/or mission. This is building a shared alignment and a fresh energy and momentum around prayer and a range of new and existing initiatives. This includes 30 mental health cafes or groups, work on trafficking, gender violence, and debt counselling, and now responding to Ukrainian refugees coming to the town.
Christian leaders are engaging with the council and the local business improvement bids long term plans and asking God to guide them in the areas where they can best partner with the town.
One of the interesting outcomes from this engagement with the council was the wow factor from council officials as they realised just what the church was already doing. “Where’s your publicity department’ they asked. A survey in the town showed that church was impacting 10,000 lives during Covid reinforcing the challenges to tell the story.
The church is realising that what they do is highly valued and needs a stronger voice.
This is a story of fresh momentum, as Simon Barrington from Ipswich puts it, they have seen God’s blueprint for the town, and it significantly raised their expectations. We will look specifically at Ipswich’s work on mental health next time and how it is meeting the fast growing issues around creating a supportive community to address mental health needs.
* For more information see
https://gathermovement.org/2021/10/31/how-do-i-set-up-a-movement-for-recovery-in-my-town-city/
