Target

We’ve all watched the news of the London riots, seen the pictures of the empty churches and despaired about the statistics that speak of young people disappearing from the church across the Western world.  It’s time for something to change … and quickly … if we’re going to see a future for a generation in the church.

Despite all this bad news it’s my belief, and experience, that there is a generation of young people which is desperate for someone somewhere to share the good news of Jesus with them in a context where they have community to process it in safety. Seeing young people’s lives changed and transformed by God is the most exciting thing in the world, and we want to help you do that based on what we’ve experienced.

This book is my attempt to explain the crazy journey God has taken us on at St. Thomas Church Philadelphia in Sheffield, England, over the last few years as we have seen our youth ministry (Forge) develop from reaching 60 young people a week to reaching more than 800. We have seen hundreds of young people give their lives to Jesus in one of the toughest mission fields in the country. It has been an amazing journey as we’ve held onto God’s coattails and learned the lessons of developing multiple communities of missional youth spread throughout a city. 

My hope is that this book will help you with some of what to do and some of what not to do as God takes you on an exciting journey of your own seeing God capture the hearts of a generation.