Since June 2005, a pioneering mission has been operating in one of England’s most secularised areas in a joint venture between the Church Mission Society and the Diocese of Lichfield.
Around 150,000 people live in Telford — half of the entire population of the north Shropshire area — yet 99% of Telfordians are unchurched. In the last decade, adult church-going there has dropped by 20 per cent.
Into this challenging mission field, which contains some of the most deprived areas in Britain, stepped Mark Berry, 35.
Working mainly with those in the key 20-40-year-old age group who do not generally connect with ‘conventional Church’, he was appointed to build up fresh expressions of Christian community in Telford.
Although he described the 7-year post as “extremely exciting and somewhat scary”, Mark decided that he, his wife Louisa and their then 14-month-old son Nathan were ready for the task.
It’s 11 years since Oldham-born Mark gave up his job as a theatre-lighting designer to become a youth minister. In recent years, he said, he has been exploring mission in contemporary culture, “in particular, the challenges and opportunities that the Church faces in connecting with a post-Christendom generation”.
Describing his unorthodox audience, Mark points out, “If Jesus spent his time with people whom the religious authorities kicked out as unclean, maybe there’s a challenge there. If I want somebody in Telford to be blessed, it’s not me. It’s somebody else in Telford, please. Please use me to bless them.”
Mark describes how he recently took his Vespa into town “and left leaflets in libraries, inviting Telfordians to a local pub if they wished to ‘breathe, think, drink, wait, feel, touch, love, shout, scream, cry, laugh…reach for God’”.
Mark admits, “I believe firmly in the theology of ‘Mission Dei’ — that God is at work in the world and we choose to meet and minister with him in situ.”
He believes that it is impossible to predict the outcome of the work in Telford, but quotes Kester Brewin, a key writer on ‘emerging Church’: “Who, at the dawn of creation, would have foreseen elephants and fireflies, zebras and monkey-puzzle trees?”
On 22 April, The Guardian Weekend magazine featured an article entitled “The Awkward Squad”, which included a focus on Mark and his work — “a tricky mission” as journalist John Hind described it.
Mark found that the media coverage was a great conversation starter in the local pub.
His mission is to people “who are spiritual but not religious,” Mark says. “We dream of creating safe spaces in which to be met by God.”
Mark has been involved in training at national level, leading seminars for the Diocese of Oxford and lecturing for the Centre for Youth Ministry.
Patrick Gavigan, Web writer, Church Mission Society
