We asked Graham Pyman, who leads Jubilee Church Derby, to report back on our three years of outreach into the city. This is his feedback…
When it was first suggested that Newday came to set up camp near Derby, initial excitement soon became terror as the sheer enormity of the event was realised! However, it was the great privilege of working with thousands of dynamic teenagers that became the lasting memory of Newday in the City.
With Newday camping at Uttoxeter, the natural focus for outreach became, our city, Derby. We started to think about what we could do which would make a great impact on the city as well as be inspiring projects for all the Newday’ers. Fortunately, we had had the experience of Grace Church Nottingham (the previous recipient of Newday outreach) to learn from, so we started by stealing all their best ideas for projects!
We made some great relationships with the City Council, and very quickly gained the support of the Leader of Derby City Council and the Mayor. This served us well for the 3 years that we hosted Newday in the City. We also worked hard at relationships with other churches in the City, as we quickly realised that Newday was a great opportunity for them too.
Looking back, hosting Newday in the City in Derby was a fantastic opportunity for us. Having the Newday delegates for a week in the summer, enabled us as a local church to make an impact in a variety of communities across the city on a scale which would normally be beyond us. The local press really got behind it and gave us superb coverage as thousands of Newday’ers converged on the City.
Our team were amazed at the enthusiasm and energy of the Newday delegates. These guys gave themselves wholeheartedly to some pretty stretching projects that required a whole load of hard work and dedication. We found that the teenagers were keen to share their faith, so as well as working on practical projects, many of them got involved in inviting people to Alpha and talking to people about Jesus.
Newday raised our profile in the City – with the council and other authorities; with the press; and with the general public. Many thousands of people benefited from tidied gardens, improved public spaces, footpaths cleared, kids clubs run and youth events held. Over the 3 years, hundreds came to Alpha suppers and heard people like Shane Lynch (Boyzone) and Kelly Bryan (Eternal) talk about their Christian faith. We’ve also seen people respond to the gospel, and there are now members of Jubilee Church who came to faith, were baptised and added to the church as a direct result of Newday outreach projects.
We have a dream to build a great City-wide church that sees many people impacted with the Gospel in Derby and Newday has greatly helped us in this. If you came to Derby and helped us, thank you! You’ll never know all that your hard work accomplished. We will miss Newday this year!
stuart.gibbs on June 3rd 2009 in News, Articles