United national year of mission to begin in 2023
Plans for HOPE 23-24 - a year of national mission starting in September 2023 – coordinated by Hope Together launched today at Lambeth Palace. Hope Together’s patrons - the Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Pastor Agu Irukwu, Senior Pastor Jesus House, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) - spoke to Christian leaders from around the UK who came together to plan and pray for the mission to reach local communities across the UK.
Archbishop Justin said:
"Every moment, every day we are called to speak confidently and humbly about the news of the gospel. These are the conversations that have eternal significance. We must spur each other on to good works, working together with love and honesty as a united church.”
Pastor Agu said:
“Two major precursors to the revival we desire are prayer and the unity of the church. As patron of Hope I believe 23-24 will be significant in the purposes of God to unite us to serve our communities.”
Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf, Executive Director of Hope Together, said:
“Gathering together today has been inspirational – across church denominations and streams – to be united in prayer and mission to offer again the hope of Jesus Christ.”
Roy Crowne, President of Hope Together, said:
“There were many things that made HOPE 08 so blessed, as we look towards HOPE 23-24 there are signs that the time is right again, there are opportunities to serve and share the gospel – we’re praying for a time of great harvest.”
HOPE 23-24 aims to unite the church across denominations and organisations to offer the hope of Jesus to the nation for a year of mission starting in September 2023. Attending leaders were asked to complete a commitment card to begin praying, planning, and working together with their denominations and organisations to launch local initiatives and projects.
Local leaders who began projects under the banner of HOPE spoke about the lasting impact of their work, including city-wide foodbanks in Nottingham and a drop-in prayer and community space in Bedford.
Background:
The 2022 Talking Jesus research indicated that 1 in 3 non-Christians who have had a conversation or talked about Jesus with a Christian want to know more about him. Three-quarters of non-Christians reported that they were comfortable having these conversations. Both of these figures have increased since the first Talking Jesus research in 2015.
The research also showed us that there were many ways that practising Christians come to faith – nearly all of them involve contact with Christians:
19% said attending a church service
15% said conversations with a Christian they knew well
11% said responding to an appeal at a gospel event
Hope Together is asking for 1000s of churches across the UK to:
- commit to being involved in HOPE 23-24;
- start to pray and talk to churches in their area to plan together a year of mission;
- decide what to do and develop creative plans – from a one day event to a whole year of outreach serving their local community.
For more information visit Hope Together
www.hope2324.com
To speak with Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf please contact Vicky Akrill.