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The Revd Andy Woodman asks for prayer in his new role

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For the last four years Andy and his wife Jo have been part of the Mitre Benefice, and he has been site pastor at St Thomas on Earlham Road. Now, the Revd Andy and his wife Jo are appealing for support as the new venture, named Crossroads, is launched.

Jo said: “We’ve lived in Earlham for the last four years, and have got to know the area. For comparison, the whole of the Mitre Benefice has 14,000 people. Earlham has 22,000 people.”

The Revd Andy said: “For the last year or so we were getting that sense that God was calling us out, and we’ve been exploring in the last year what that might look like. We will begin by starting a new contemporary service to reach primarily young adults (but of course anyone is welcome) over the next few months and we want to create a space that is welcoming to all. This will work alongside all of the other things that are happening currently in Earlham…it is so exciting to be at the start of an adventure, but also scary. There is some equipment we would like to get in order to get us started: a sound desk, speakers, screens, a computer, microphones and a few signs.”

He estimates that these will cost around £20,000 in total.

Of course we don’t need these things to be church, but our heart is to reach those we are not currently reaching and to meet people where they are at, so music and media are key. We would love your support to see God’s church advance and to reach the unreached. Most importantly we need your prayers. The parish of Earlham has some really weird statistics compared to the rest of the diocese. Parishes have an average of 32% young adults. In Earlham it is 53% young adults. It’s a massive, massive mission field.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one who meets so many people who thinks that Church is just completely dead, boring or irrelevant to their life. Or maybe they think their life is too messy, too chaotic, that they are unworthy…that if they walked into a church building the roof would fall down on their head. But Jesus met people at the fringes of society, the least, the last and the lost. It’s not about filling my church or your church. It’s about filling heaven.”

Andy is inviting people to consider whether God might be calling them to be part of this new venture and to help start this new worshipping community. You can see Andy’s vision for his new mission on the video above. If you’d like to get involved you can contact him on hello@xrd.church.

Andy will be licenced for the new role on Sunday 12 September.

 

Article courtesy of Network Norfolk.