In a speech delivered at Rice University on 12 September 1962, John F Kennedy famously said: “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Manchester is a city of 2.8 million people where less than 1% of the population currently attends a gospel church. We would need to plant 60 new churches of 100 people just to keep up with population growth at the current rate over the next ten years. The "moon shot" of the Northern Gospel Project is to plant 30 healthy gospel churches by 2030.
As part of that mission, the Northern Gospel Project hosted our first ever Church Planter Launchpad from 27 February to 2 March 2025. Four prospective church planting couples gathered for a long weekend of training, encouragement and assessment. We learned about the history of Manchester, the strategic importance of church planting, the need for contextualisation and the importance of developing healthy gospel renewal dynamics in our own walks with the Lord. The training was delivered by eight experienced planters from three different denominations (the FIEC, New Frontiers and AMiE). Each had been involved in planting a church in the city within the last ten years.
As part of the weekend, the planters used various personality testing tools to better understand themselves and how they work in a team. They also took part in a group project which involved going out onto the streets of Manchester to canvas opinion about Christmas event ideas.
Considering future planting plans
Two of the attendees had well-developed plans for planting new churches in Salford (west Manchester) and Denton (east Manchester). The other two are hoping to undertake a church planting residency at one of the Northern Gospel Project churches, with a view to planting a church in around three years’ time.
This is just the beginning of the journey for these planters. The Northern Gospel Project has a suite of training courses available to equip them. We have raised a £65,000 seed fund to provide a boost for new churches; and applications to this fund open in April. We are also committed to caring well for our planters and their families with gospel coaching, Planters Collectives and support initiatives for spouses and planting teams.
The need and opportunity in Manchester are huge. And the time is now. We are earnestly praying that the Lord would raise up workers for his harvest field (Matthew 9:38). Could you be one of them? It will not be easy. In fact, it will be hard. But if you come to Manchester, we will be with you for the journey. Why not join our next Planter Launch Pad in February 2026. Further details will be available on our website - https://northerngospelproject.com
