Lay Worker Series - Neil Curran
In the second of our Lay Workers Series, meet Neil Curran a Pioneer Mission Leader in Braniel, as he tells us a little bit about himself, his work and how he is seeing God at work in the community there….doors are opening!
My name is Neil Curran and I am Pioneer mission Leader in Braniel, working 30 hours per week. I’m married to Elaine and we have a 2 year old, Sam. I manage Northern Ireland’s only FM Christian radio station, Sunshine1049. We are based in Belfast and you can listen on 104.9fm in Belfast and hopefully some stage soon on the Foyle and Belfast DAB networks. Some personal bits and bobs, I love music (especially worship music), sports and in lockdown I took up “online darts”. In fact, I’m writing this sitting in Dublin airport on my way to Canada for a darts tournament.
I started as Pioneer Mission leader in Braniel in July after my commissioning at conference in June. I love it! What does that mean? I suppose it’s different in every context, but we are currently transitioning from a somewhat traditional church to a family “on the move” as our new mission statement says. We are trying new methods and ways to help our church family and the community we live in to move closer to Jesus. The key word for us is “relational”. We want to build good relationships with as many people within our community. We want to build trust and share Jesus love with them and tell them about him. We want to make converts, but also build a community that wants to move closer to Jesus.
Thanks to Belfast City Council and MCI we have a lovely new community hub, with a workshop space, small kitchenette and a sensory room. This has been super helpful as we’ve been able to create a neutral ground space to connect with the community. The walls of the church buildings can feel like a brick wall where we stand on one side, the community on the other and we can‘t seem to break that barrier down.
Some interesting little projects have developed already including a community gym, men’s and women’s youth clubs, community café, freezer ministry, food table and even some creative ways of worship. I was asked at my circuit welcome service, where do I see my role? I used the word “facilitator”. We have all been blessed with gifts, talents and abilities, we have a duty as followers of Jesus to use them. I feel a real sense of God asking me to be a challenger, an encourager and innovator. I want to help our family in Braniel to get tuned into what God wants from them as individuals and as a church family as we move into genuine relationships with God and with those in the community. So rather than just providing lots of programmes and invitations to our bubble, instead looking for opportunities to build trust, friendship and connections with our neighbours, the person we pass at the shop, whoever is around us, and sharing in an organic, natural way.
We’ve built on some brilliant relationships locally with Dreamscheme NI, CEDAR foundation and are rebuilding our relationship with the local primary school. But to share the story of God working ahead of us. Back in May/June I read an article online, suggesting that gym memberships were some of the first things to be cancelled among the cost of living crisis. I spoke to three folks in our church family, asking them to think and pray over this, to see if they sensed anything God was telling them in that situation. Three days later a phone call came from one of our church council, a friend had been contacted by their employer asking would she know of anyone who would like some gym equipment. It was over £3000 worth of equipment, and we were given it for FREE! 50 locals are now inducted and the gym instructor assisting us became a Christian in 2023! God is good!
Please continue to pray for us. Pray that God will keep opening doors, pray that relationships will continue to be built and thrive. Please pray about our youth and children’s work, we are currently praying through how we can get creative with engaging with the under 18s. How we can resource that work and we look forward to connecting with IMYC and seeing how we can implement the new youth and children strategy in a pioneering way in Braniel.