Gill Sloan was raised Methodist. Both her parents were members, and Gill herself has been a Mission Partner in Germany for almost three decades. But after 13 years serving on circuit in Germany, she questioned her next step. Was it time to go back to Ireland?

The good kind of uncomfortable

Gill and her husband Barry gave much thought and prayer to this question, but in the end, it was a conversation with their daughter that helped shape their decision.

“She came home and said, ‘Mum, doesn’t everybody believe in God? There are people in my class that don’t know about God.’ It just sort of hit me. She had gone to a Christian kindergarten, a Christian primary school, she had mission partner parents, we lived on church grounds – we were in a Christian bubble.”

Gill realised that they were living separately from those around them, and people in their neighbourhood didn’t know Jesus. Staying within the comfort and safety of the Christian walls they had unknowingly built wasn’t going to change that. It was time to get uncomfortable.

“That pushed me to think, I need to change my lifestyle, get out there and live differently. I joined a choir and a fitness group. It opened my eyes to my neighbourhood and the people around me. That’s what pushed us into the work of INSPIRE.”

Mädchen für alles

Today INSPIRE is a fresh expression of church on Brühl Boulevard in Chemnitz, former East Germany. Their mission statement is: ‘Touching hearts. Moving people. Revitalising Brühl.’

Gill is the only full-time staff member at INSPIRE. Barry divides his time between INSPIRE and his role as Partnership Coordinator for Europe with MCB. Gill’s official title is General Manager, but she is very much what Germans affectionately call a Mädchen für alles (“girl for everything”). From cleaning and shopping to setting up events, ordering supplies, and managing relationships, there are many spinning plates. Hospitality is central to INSPIRE, and Gill ensures people feel welcome, relaxed and at home, supported by a brilliant team of volunteers.

INSPIRE’s informal “living room on the Brühl” has a relaxed atmosphere with comfy seating. Gill connects this to how Jesus met people outside traditional religious spaces: when Jesus spoke with believers, he went to the synagogue. But when he met those who weren’t, he went to their homes, shared food and talked in a very informal way. That’s what she and Barry are hoping to achieve in their rooms at INSPIRE.

Belonging before believing

Gill, Barry and the Christian volunteers don’t hide their faith, and once people realise this, they are often intrigued. INSPIRE is rooted in Christian values, but it operates differently to traditional church.

“We started off as a group of Christians, and we met together in our home for two years, praying and talking about the concept.” After they found premises, that team continued together. But over the years, other volunteers joined who were atheists or people who “just really had a heart for their community.”

Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of INSPIRE. Their team includes gay and lesbian members, and two atheists. Gill is proud of that but acknowledges that it’s also a huge challenge. “If you're meeting together as a team, do you open with prayer? We do open with prayer, but it's something that we've talked about and worked through. With respect and tolerance for each other, we move forward together.”

“Usually within a congregation, people would become a member and then be active in the church. You believe and then you belong. And for us, it's the other way around. You belong to the group, you belong to the community, and the questions about faith come naturally. Our hope is that in time, those people believe.”

Creating space for people to ask questions takes time and trust. As a result, faith-based events have developed organically.

“There are times it surprises us in the direction that it goes. We were perhaps a little reserved to push our Christian faith on other people. It was an atheist and a lapsed Catholic who offered their time and skills to help run Soul Sunday. The basis for that has been respect - to earn that respect and be accepted within our community.” INSPIRE has also gained wider recognition, including receiving a Peace Prize for one of its groups.

A fresh expression of church

Doing church differently doesn’t always sit comfortably with others.

“It is challenging having a church community looking in, saying, ‘you're not a church, you're a social club’. At the same time, in our neighbourhood they will come in, look at what we are doing and ask, ‘are you a church?’. It’s about convincing them, on both sides that it’s a new concept. It is still church, but we are doing things differently.”

Soul Sunday is an example of this, exploring weekly themes through music and personal stories but also looking at what the Bible says about the theme. Gill shared how a young woman with no faith, who is part of INSPIRE’s comedy improv club, offered an open, honest and raw contribution on the theme of ‘wounds’. It was a clear example of how God can speak through the stories of those outside typical church life – made possible because of the culture INSPIRE has created.

Partnership and prayer

Although Germany can seem far away, Gill is grateful for the partnership with Methodists in Ireland. “Someone taking an interest in your work, knowing that people are behind you and they’ve got your back, that means so much.”

Support from World Mission Partnership (WMP) has been especially significant during times of uncertainty. When the British Methodist Church ended the lay Mission Partner programme, Gill faced the loss of her role and questioned her calling. A WMP visit exploring ministries in Germany reaffirmed her sense of purpose. “As we started telling the stories of INSPIRE, it reminded me of the importance of the work that we're doing, for the people in our community. And it reaffirmed for me, this is where I'm meant to be.”

Looking ahead, Gill and Barry hope INSPIRE will become financially and structurally self-sustaining, with strong leadership for the future. And from Ireland, they would value prayers for wisdom and for ways to share the INSPIRE model with others.

“I am so grateful for the prayerful and financial support from the Methodist Church in Ireland, it takes a huge stress away and we don’t underestimate the value of it. The Methodist Church in Ireland came through at a time when we were unsure of our next steps, we are able to continue the work at INSPIRE thanks to your support.”

Gillian Sloan is one of four Irish Mission Partners that you’re supporting through World Mission Partnership. In 2025, WMP gave £20,000 to support Gill’s work in Chemnitz. WMP appreciates that INSPIRE’s approach to ministry might be very different to what we’re used to in Ireland - but we also celebrate how this approach is reaching people who might otherwise never hear the Good News of God’s love. If you’d like to learn more about INSPIRE’s work or explore how it might be relevant to your local church, please get in touch! worldmission@irishmethodist.org

This article was first published in the June 2026 edition of The Methodist Newsletter. Sign up here to subscribe and receive future editions of The Methodist Newsletter.

Belonging & Believing: mission in an atheist city