“Most of all we have learned to depend on God and to pray. This picture shows a gathering of Christians involved in this mission to pray. We often walk as we pray, which is a reminder that we are journeying together and with God.”

There are forty small groups across the county now and a culture of expectancy that God wants to make a difference in people’s lives. About a quarter of our members are under eighteen and about half are new Christians, and it has been important for us to focus on helping them develop their relationship with God rather than entertainment. The biblical and prayer content of our youth work is generally higher than many youth clubs or Sunday schools, and most groups use a discipleship pathway so that young people can move from casual interest to finding out more about faith when they are ready. We seek to care more about how people discover Jesus than raising attendance.”

We sense that God is calling us to invest in people rather than develop programmes. The personalised approach means that young people are cherished and grow from being recipients of help to volunteers and leaders more quickly. We seek to identify great leaders in local mission and then encourage and empower them. Oversight employs principles of high accountability and low control. We impose as little as we can, listen a lot and act as advocates for what they have discerned locally – helping them with obstacles, bureaucracy and finding partners in their ministry.

Each small group thinks about how they can care for people holistically. In one area outreach is based around young people and music, in another it’s sport and a foodbank, and in a third it’s the local pub and beautiful rural walks. The picture above shows a group called cook@church in a tiny village, where teens learn culinary skills, serve the wider community and learn how to pray. The second picture below shows people coming together in an area of rural new housing called Red Lodge. Here sharing hospitality through creating a café has been most important.

We recognise that a peer community is an easier place for people to grow in faith, so we help partners to intentionally create a critical mass of younger people where they can shape the community together. It is important that the community authentically embodies the Christian message. Our small group structure means we can do lots of low-risk experimenting. We expect that not everything will work and that we will learn from this. So we journey together and learn as we go.

We are sharing some of our stories and learning at a national conference in September. Lightwave and Suffolk parishes will be joined by other rural initiatives from across England to share exciting stories about how God is working in our smallest communities.

The Arthur Rank Centre will be co-hosting the conference. Join with us there.

To register for your place – click here