Ignite: The Gospel in Action

Ignite: The Gospel in Action, Patrick and Debbie Ellisdon, Abingdon: BRF, 2025, 189pp, £12.99,

We all want to see our churches grow.  In many places we have had a generation and more of decline and we know all the issues that we, and denominations similar to us, seek to address.  But we can and are growing in various places, and one of our responsibilities in this present age is to learn from one another, especially where there is growth.  So, here we take a look at one programme that has emerged recently in one of the most deprived areas for the Church of England.

Ignite is an approach that seeks to make church more relevant to people, often in disadvantaged areas but could be almost anywhere, who have no meaningful contact with church.  Its really a style of event that many of us will be familiar with.  It focuses on food, chat, ensuring there is a a very strong and comprehensive welcome and enables people to easily participate in relevant ways.  It is quite like café church, has similarities with Alpha and in our Thomas St congregation there is already a monthly gathering that looks a lot like this Ignite programme.

The book gives the story of Ignite, shows the key elements and why they are important and relevant, and gives perhaps 50% of the book over to ways to plan and run these events, with all the content needed.  It’s a little quirkily written but is the sort of resource you can pick up and immediately see how this could be used in your context and with all you need to guide you.

There is a key for me in the middle of the text.  Ignite is not a neat way to invite people into the life of your church, although it will be helpful for that.  What the authors are very clear about is that ‘we need to be visible in our communities as individuals so that we become known and trusted … So often we get so busy with doing things within our churches that we become less present within other community events’ (p51).  Here we are not trying to attract people to our church.  What we need to be is active individual Christians in the full life of the wider community, becoming well known and recognised as normal decent people who also happen to be Christians. 

Church is not a place to escape from the complexities of the world around us.  Church is a community to support, encourage and equip us as we live out our lives around us.  Where people recognise us as decent individuals, we are creating bridges that enable others to see in church a community that might welcome, encourage and impact them.  The social side of Ignite is key.  It’s a regular event based on food, welcome and encouraging conversations that works when people have some relationship with those already involved.

Ignite challenges us that to grow our church we need to do less inside our church and live life more outside of church.  Inviting people to a Sunday service might work well but often won’t.  Inviting people to a bridge event or group, which could be a home group, café church, lego church, Alpha and so on is something about which we are very well aware.  Ignite shows us a very doable way of achieving this.

Rev’d Dr Stephen Skuce
Growing Churches Officer
The Methodist Church in Ireland