“It was just a really simple"

Nikki Humphries from Chiltern Church spoke to Hope about how a recent women's event and why it was such a successful missional opportunity. 

So many of us are excited by the idea of seeing our church become more missional. But sometimes bridging the gap between our church and the local community can seem challenging and complicated. So we spoke to Nikki Humphries, who is on the staff team at Chiltern Church, about one of their recent mission events with the goal of bringing women together. It turns out, the key to a successful mission event is keeping things simple. 

The vision was for “an event that was a chance to pull all the women together in our church. For them to connect, to have some space for chit chat which women are really good at and just connecting, but also for it to be a time where women could really be built up.” This idea really stemmed from a growing awareness of the local community. Nikki told us that “it felt like a lot of people were struggling and quite a few people have been through tough times and feeling low. Hence, that theme ‘when life gives you lemons’ because we thought that it will be wonderful to be able to lift the women. And also, as well as the chance for our church community to connect.”

Nikki also knew from the outset that for the women’s event to be a success it needed to be something that was an easy invitation. Nikki “wanted it to be something that they would be comfortable to invite friends, who were not from a church background, who don't yet follow Jesus, to something that they would feel, okay, we're not going to do anything weird or freaky that's going to embarrass them or make their friends feel awkward. So we wanted it to be just a really welcoming event, something that was really nicely done so that they would feel happy to bring their friends which was wonderful, quite a lot of friends who are outside of the church community did come. So it was great to see that our church women were comfortable to invite people along to something like this.”

we wanted it to be just a really welcoming event, something that was really nicely done so that they would feel happy to bring their friends which was wonderful

And this is the heart of mission: an invitation. An invitation to meet with others and through that, to meet with Jesus. The women’s event at Chiltern Church did this brilliantly, so we asked Nikki how she went about creating an event that was an easy invitation. 

It was just a really simple

“It was just a really simple,” says Nikki. “It was an afternoon tea. So we had lots of really yummy foods for all intolerances and allergies as well. We tried to make everything look really pretty because women like that kind of thing. And then we had lots of time for just chatting.” They then showed a short video to draw everybody together and lead to Rachel Jordan-Wolf from Hope who was speaking. Mission doesn’t have to be complicated, in fact, often the more simple something is the better it works out. Making lots of space for connection and building relationships is key as it is through this that we can ultimately show people who Jesus is.


Another thing was not shying away from putting Jesus at the centre of the event. Nikki told us that Rachel’s talk “was really Jesus-focused.” And the feedback they got from those from an unchurched background wasn’t ‘we were uncomfortable’; “they actually said things like, ‘Oh, it really lifted me to be there’ or, ‘I've been thinking about it all day’.”

they actually said things like, ‘Oh, it really lifted me to be there’ or, ‘I've been thinking about it all day’.

“We felt it had really hit that spot with people who were following Jesus really strengthened but people who weren't, were sort of curious, they felt very welcomed and really enjoyed it”, said Nikki. We know that Jesus is the answer that many are searching for. It’s important to make missional events accessible but keeping Jesus at the centre is always powerful.

The context of an afternoon tea was the perfect opportunity to invite women who attended the Tots & Toys group, many of whom were not Christian, as well as women from the weekly senior’s group. “It was like a nice bridging event,” said Nikki. “It wasn't as threatening as coming to a church service at all. But it was really God-centred.”
Rachel had previously been to Chiltern Church to talk to the church community about the Talking Jesus research. Nikki felt that hearing the report and the importance of personal invitations from family and friends to people’s faith journeys had helped to grow that culture of invitation.


There were also copies of our Mark’s Gospel given out at the event along with yellow flowers for all that came along. “They're such an accessible translation,” said Nikki. “And it's so beautifully presented, it just looks like something that you want to explore.” Again, it comes back to simplicity. It doesn’t take much to have something to give away at the end of an event, but doing so can make all the difference in helping someone go deeper in exploring faith, or having a reminder of the event.

And it's so beautifully presented, it just looks like something that you want to explore.

They finished the event by playing a video of a worship song as a way of bringing worship into the space without it being awkward for people with no experience of that. It turned out to be a hit with two ladies forwarding it on to their friends. 

Another thing that Nikki shared was the importance of a healthy volunteer team within our churches. Nikki told us that they were “really blessed with the involvement of the volunteers and how much we're able to do with the community.” 

Volunteers are so essential for church-based missions, and Chiltern has worked hard to build a culture where many in the church are eager to get involved and help. Nikki warned us though that “we have to watch because there are always those people who are so faithful and when they hear about anything, they're willing to be involved. And we don't want to wear those people out.” As churches, caring for and supporting our volunteer teams is so important if we want to see mission thrive in our local contexts. 

Nikki pointed out that there it is often common to find that 20% of church members do 80% of the volunteering work. At Chiltern Church, the team have worked to create a more healthy balance. “I think there is a greater number of people who are willing to step in, which is really great. And definitely, [the women’s event] was a big team effort.”

The women’s event at Chiltern Church has really shown us that mission isn’t complicated. Keeping things super simple where the focus is on Jesus and building relationships can often be the most rewarding. We should also though remember that this doesn’t just happen overnight, if we want to see our churches become more mission-focused, we should start with building a healthy team of volunteers, a culture of invitation and learning more about the needs of our local communities.

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If you are interested in having Rachel or one of the Hope team come to speak at your event, please get in contact with the Hope office via email: office@hopetogether.org.uk