Leaders from evangelical churches across Cumbria met for a Vision Day in June to consider prayerfully how to reach more people in the county with the gospel.
Facilitated by the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), more than 30 leaders gathered to consider ways they might work in partnership to help reach Cumbria for Christ.
Rapid decline
John Stevens spoke from Matthew 9:36-38. He presented the gospel need in the context of the national scene. He highlighted some statistics from The Churches Trust for Cumbria which showed that among the main denominational churches the average congregation is approximately 20 people. These churches are in rapid decline, with half of those attending more than 70 years old and only one in 14 attenders under the age of 18.
Discussions then took place in smaller groups as pastors talked about fostering greater local partnerships among like-minded churches. Andrew Nicholson from FIEC helped to facilitate some of the conversations and said: ‘There were no predetermined outcomes for the day and so John Stevens ended the discussions by saying “over to you”, for the leaders to take things forward.’ Questions to ponder as people keep in touch with one another include: establishing leaders who can drive the vision among their peers; such leaders seeking the permission of their churches to commit time to the wider gospel needs of the region; and asking FIEC to introduce those leaders to others in the UK who have faced similar gospel challenges.
