The Estates Evangelism Task Group (EETG) takes as its basis the words of Jesus in Luke Chapter 4, ‘I have come to proclaim good news to the poor.’
We contend that, unless we renew church life amongst income deprived communities and most especially on our nation’s social housing estates, we are not being faithful to the words of Jesus and the renewal we long for will never come.
In February 2019, the General Synod took a historic decision as it backed a motion that commits the Church of England to having a loving, serving, worshipping Christian community on every significant social housing estate in England.
Delivery of this aspiration will mean offering enhanced support to existing estates churches and finding ways of planting back onto the hundreds of estates from which we, and other ecumenical partners, are absent.
The EETG, chaired by Bishop Lynne Cullens (Bishop of Barking), whose members are estate practitioners and representatives of key partners, offers support to Dioceses and to the wider church as we respond to the challenges of implementing the 2019 decision through the following ways:
How we support dioceses and the wider church
The EETG, chaired by Bishop Lynne Cullens (Bishop of Barking), whose members are estate practitioners and representatives of key partners, offers support to Dioceses and to the wider church as we respond to the challenges of implementing the 2019 decision through the following ways:
Estates Planting Conference 2023
Emmanuel Theological College and the Estates Evangelism Task Group hosted ‘Not Forgotten: Finding the Treasure’, a conference for pioneering urban practitioners to gather with curates, ordinands, key thinkers and leaders in the church to consider what God is doing in the often-forgotten places of the North of England.
Contributors included Bishop Lynne Cullens (Chair of Church of England’s Estates Evangelism Task Group & Chair of the National Estates Churches Network), Revd Canon Dr Mark Powley (Archbishop's Mission Enabler for the North), Rev Canon Dr Michael Leyden (Principal of Emmanuel Theological College), Claire Cooke and Chris Lane (Emmanuel Theological College) and a panel of practitioners including Rev Hana Armer, a listening artist, drawn from a wide range of contexts and experiences.
Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, a great supporter of the conference, said: "I see the work being done to establish worshipping communities, in some of our most income deprived and challenging areas, as so important in our vision to be a Jesus-shaped church. I’m encouraged to see time being set aside to focus on this and to listen and learn from each others’ experiences."
Rev Al Barrett along with co-contributors Rev Clare Turner and Rev Dr Carlton Turner also launched the book, Finding the Treasure: Good News from the Estates at the conference. Finding the Treasure is the fruit of two years of ‘deep listening’ in five different estate neighbourhoods across England, bringing together local ministers and academic theologians to attend to the voices of estates residents. Questions posed included: ‘What do they love about the place they’re in?’ ‘What brings them joy as well as grief?’ And ‘what does hope and good news look like?’ Rooted in the real-life contexts of these local communities, rich in theological insights and bold in the challenges, the book offers inspiration and practical guidance for those willing to engage in similar deep listening.
For more information on the conference, why not check out some of the moments from the conference via the National Estate Churches Network YouTube channel.
There is also a Not Forgotten podcast series that continues through the summer of 2023 exploring the themes covered in the conference in more depth.
Weekly Sunday Services from estate churches
2023
- A Service for Low Sunday (Church of the Cross, Thamesmead, Diocese of Southwark)
- A Service for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (St Luke's Church, Peckham, Diocese of Southwark)
- A Service for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (St Bartholomew's Church, Roby, Diocese of Liverpool)
- A Service for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (St Barnabas Knowle West, Diocese of Bristol)
2022
- A Service for the Third Sunday before Advent (Sutton Hill Church, Telford, Diocese of Hereford)
- A Service for the Fourth Sunday After Trinity (St Christopher's Church, Hanwell, Diocese of London)
- Learning to cherish (All Saints, Kings Heath, Diocese of Birmingham)
- Sunday before Lent (Holy Nativity Church, Mixenden and Illingworth, North Halifax, Diocese of Leeds)