In this video interview with Alan Roxburgh, Fred Liggin recalls when his church took up listening practices among the elders and then the congregation and at the same time, began walking with a homeless family who went on to flourish within their community. Eighteen other faith groups in the city became interested in this way of working and across the city...

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Linda is a minister, an Anglican priest, based in Halifax, Yorkshire, a town which has areas of high deprivation. She is curate of two congregations in this town, and also co-leads  Saturday Gathering, a Saturday evening church which emerged from a Food and Support Drop-In and other services. In conversations with Martin Robinson and Mary Publicover Linda reflects on some of the challenges of this ministry, and her dependence on God to find a way through.

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Vancouver housing has become so expensive that only the very rich can afford to live in a private home. About a quarter of the city have a more insecure existence in social housing, or for some, on the street or in shelters. These populations do not naturally mix. Tim Dickau, Joy Banks and Mark Glanville are ministers at Grandview Calvary Baptist Church and describe how their church has sought to be part of reshaping the city by living into signs of Shalom...

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Ruth Rice, minister of a Baptist church in a Nottingham suburb, pioneered a high street wellbeing café called Renew 37. This café has turned out to be helpful for the mental health of the local community and for the church- and a place where both can encounter God in prayer. Ruth’s story is one of amazement at every turn because this café was not part of some long term plan but has emerged from relationships within the neighbourhood and a compassionate conversation about some lonely people.

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Although Pastor Toyin is a Nigerian and her congregation is part of a Nigerian denomination, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, interestingly the smallest national African group within the church is drawn from Nigeria. The white English community represents the single largest group. There are other white migrants present from various European nations and from commonwealth countries such as Australia. It’s an intriguing and remarkable mix. How did this come about?

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In the early 1900s Pastor Howe, a new graduate from Spurgeons Bible College stumbled upon a tiny slum estate attached to the gas works in London’s East End. He chose to move in to Bonny Downs and set up a mission in the midst of that poverty. One of the new Christians on that estate was a young girl called Rose Tribley whose grandchildren and great grandchildren are still there, leading a remarkable missional community in an area which still suffers deprivation. Rose Tribley’s granddaughters Angie Allgood and Sally Mann tell their story of ‘staying’ in two video interviews with Martin Robinson.

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Invitation to participate

Prompts for reflection: the Bonny Downs story

Reflection: 'Visiting Bonny Downs' by Martin Robinson

Reflection: 'The Pilgrims of Bonny Downs' by Michael Volland

'A Response to Michael Volland's Reflection' by Alan Roxburgh

Reflection: 'A Remainers Perspective' by Sally Mann

This story focuses on the development of one particular experiment aimed at learning a new way of relating to a small group of high school football players—as neighbors to be enjoyed in their own presence. The story is remarkable in that the experiment yielded almost no ground, and no perceptible change in language or practice occurred, despite significant work in a progressive and open congregation with an identifiable desire to change. The story is hopeful because...

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Invitation to Participate

Prompts for reflection: the Mississippi Story

Reflection: 'The Presence of Neighbors' by Sam Ewell

Reflection: 'Questioning as Quest' by Angela Gorrell

Reflection: 'Desiring the Neighborhood or Dwelling There' by Carolyn Kelly and Mark Johnston

Reflection: 'Whose Wholeness and Whose Healing?' by Joshua R. Smith

Can God be found on the streets of Munich? Munich, of all places, a city of wealth, pride and power with its designer stores and business headquarters?  It was Father Christian Herwartz SJ who encouraged us, a group of men from all over Germany, to believe just that. So we met in St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, slept on the balcony of the sanctuary, met for breakfast and prayer in the mornings and then set off individually into the bustle and noise of the streets.

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I met Joseph over a meal at a Springdale College Summer School. I was immediately gripped by his stories from Tyneside- how could such an ‘outsider’ find connection in that challenging environment. Martin Robinson interviewed Pastor Joseph during Inhabit UK, and...

It all began with a food bank – the Halifax Food and Support Drop In. However, the aspiration was not only to give out food but also to build relationships that would draw people to Jesus. After a year of...