John Stevens tells us about the birth of the City Church in Manchester
In 1996 I joined the Law Faculty at the University of Birmingham as Lecturer in Property Law.
I was delighted to finds some committed evangelical students. One was a student called Ralph Cunnington. It was clear from the beginning that Ralph was highly gifted and had a passionate commitment to gospel ministry. I am delighted that this autumn he is going to be leading City Church Manchester, a new plant in this strategic and important city.
God’s call
After he had finished his degree Ralph had the opportunity to take up a job as a solicitor at a major law firm. However, he felt God’s call on his life and chose to stay in Birmingham and complete a research degree in law, which I supervised. He was one of the founder members of City Evangelical Church Birmingham, which I helped to plant in 1999, and served as a deacon and homegroup leader.
We quickly recognised his preaching gifts and encouraged him to pursue full-time gospel ministry. He had the logical thought and clarity of communication that are characteristic of many lawyers. He spent some time teaching law at the University of Durham before returning to teach at Birmingham, where he wrote a book on Contract Law. He and I organised a series of seminars for academic staff considering a Christian perspective on various aspects of law. Outside of work he joined the core team of our first plant from City Evangelical Church, which is now known as Grace Church Dell Road.
Training at WEST
Having recognised both his gifting and calling, we then sent Ralph to train at WEST, after which he joined Aigburth Community Church, an FIEC church plant in Liverpool that had a vision for church planting in the North West. This vision has culminated in the decision to send Ralph and a core team to plant a church in the centre of Manchester.
Manchester is a city of huge economic and cultural significance in the UK, and might justifiably be regarded as England’s second city. Greater Manchester has a population of over 2.6m. It is a leading media hub and the main base for the BBC outside of London. It is well known for its liberal and left-leaning culture, and there are relatively few gospel churches for such a large community. There are several world-class universities based in the city, which is home to more than 95,000 students and international students. The need is obvious and the opportunity exciting.
Joint venture
City Church Manchester has been birthed as a result of gospel co-operation between the FIEC, the North West Gospel Partnership and other gospel churches in the area and around the country. Grace Church Manchester, a relatively new FIEC church in South Manchester provided a base for Ralph and his family when they first moved to the city.
God’s goodness has been seen in the great progress that has been made. There is now a core team of 26 adults and five children, and 70% of the funds needed for the next year have been raised already. The members of the core team have got involved in a wide range of community projects, and Ralph has been able to build links by speaking at most of the Christian Unions. He was the mission speaker at Salford University, which has a small CU of less than 20 regulars but which has been encouraged to see two professions of faith over the last six months. The core team started meeting on July 13, and City Church Manchester will hold its launch service on September 7. There will be a commissioning service for the church on October 5.
Strategic churches
If we are to reach our lost nation with the good news of the Lord Jesus we will need church plants in all kinds of communities. Strategic churches in city centres where there is a large student population have tremendous opportunities to impact the leaders of the next generation for Christ. They also have the potential to grow to become gospel hubs for their region, with a vision for church planting into estates, towns and communities that lack a vibrant gospel witness. City Evangelical Church Birmingham and Christchurch Liverpool, which are co-planting City Church Manchester (and have sent their assistant pastor, Matt Waldock, and several members to join the core team), have both done this and have planted or revitalised churches in other communities in their cities.
I hope and pray that in years to come City Church Manchester will be able to do the same and help advance the cause of the gospel in some of the least evangelised areas of the country.
Serving where you are
I doubt that anyone could have imagined back in 1996 that I would end up becoming the National Director of the FIEC and that Ralph would be leading an FIEC church plant in Manchester. God can take the most unlikely people, from the most unlikely situations, and use them in unexpected ways. Both Ralph and I can testify how we have been led by God from the law to serve full-time as ministers of the gospel. We both began by simply seeking to serve Christ faithfully where he had put us.
Please do pray for this important new initiative. If you know anyone who lives in Manchester and hasn’t been able to find a church, or who is moving to Manchester or coming to study as a student in the city, please do encourage them to give City Church a try.
