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from old life to new life

From Old Life to New Life

Catherine Durant Catherine Durant
4 min

For Ian Williamson, the decision to plant churches in tough urban council estates is simple. It’s where he comes from. And if he doesn’t, who will?

“It was the most depressing meeting we’ve ever had,” says John Keskeys, Head of Partnerships at Stewardship. “New Life Church needed all the services we provide but could afford none of them.”

This was his first meeting with Ian Williamson, pastor of a church surrounded by ten Middlesbrough council estates. “That’s when we started thinking differently about how we can help church planters.”

It’s estimated that less than 1% of people in the North of England regularly attend a gospel-preaching church. Since the shutdown of several major industries through the 70s and 80s, Middlesbrough’s mass unemployment and social problems have made it one of the most deprived areas of the country. New Life Church’s main struggles are lack of finance, resources and people – “pretty much everything you need!” says Ian. They have 12 regular members but unbelievers often outnumber believers at their Sunday service.

Ian grew up in a single-parent family on a local estate, with no Christian background until his mother came to faith when he was 14 years old. He was attracted to the idea of God being a Father to the fatherless, but his understanding of Jesus was limited.

“Although the church we attended was in a council estate, the majority of the congregation were middle-class and would drive in from the surrounding area,” says Ian, “I felt like the odd one out.”

As an adult, a lifestyle of drinking and drugs led him to a dark place: “I was addicted to cocaine and gambling and was deeply in debt. At my lowest point I ended up taking money from the safe of the pub I was managing. Because I lived there too, I lost my home as well as my job.”

Ian was desperate and contemplating suicide when his mum told him Jesus could help. “I was 40 grand in debt and wondered how Jesus could make any difference, but one night I started praying and cried out to God, ‘If you’re real, I’ll follow you. If not I’ll end it.’” The next morning he woke with a new sense of hope and purpose. “I’d always blamed my problems on my circumstances. But I finally realised that I needed to repent and that my biggest problem was me.”

As a new believer, change didn’t happen overnight. “The churches I went to were all very loving but they didn’t know how to deal with someone like me. One pastor told me I was too honest for most people. Many were just too intimidated or embarrassed to help.”

Two men, Peter, a church evangelist, and Brian, a local businessman, helped Ian get a flat and move away from his temptations. “They spent a full year supporting and discipling me – meeting me first thing in the morning and last thing at night and inviting me to spend time with their families.” Ian quit his job as a bouncer and began working with men and boys in various roles.

With his own experience, and also seeing the majority of offenders come from fatherless families, Ian and his wife, Rachel, set up SixtyEightFive in January 2011. Inspired by Psalm 68:5 – ‘A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling’ – they work in deprived areas to support fathers and provide role models for those who have grown up without them. This led to planting New Life Church five years ago, and setting up Medhurst Ministries, which has a vision to see churches planted across council estates in the North of England.

“We want to train people from all different backgrounds. People like me often face too many obstacles to consider preaching or leading, but we hope to make that possible,” says Ian. “If you haven’t been brought up in a Northern council estate, it can be difficult to understand the behaviours and attitudes here. We can’t just replicate what’s happening in other parts of the UK. Those called to council estate ministry need specific guidance.”

After connecting with Ian, Stewardship began trialling a new church planting partnership, creating a fund so that churches in a similar situation to Ian’s can access the support that we offer. As an initial plan, ten church plants in deprived areas are receiving all of Stewardship’s services for free for their first three years.

“It’s not trendy at the moment to plant churches in areas of poverty,” says John Keskeys. “But we hope, by giving gospel-centred church plants a helping hand, to see a new trend of churches being planted in hard places.”

Generosity is embedded in the heart of New Life Church, “Opening our homes and sharing our possessions is essential,” says Ian. “Even though we’re small, we tithe our income to fund mission across the world. We don’t just want to be a receiving church, we want to be a giving church.”

 

You can support the work of New Life Church in training people for council estate ministry by joining their prayer list (contact [email protected]) or give here.

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Written by

Catherine Durant

Catherine wrote and edited for Stewardship for 8 years. Before that, she worked in marketing for a theatre, spent time in mission focused on anti-trafficking in Asia and studied History of Art and English Literature at university.

Her interests are in anything arty – whether it’s visiting galleries, taking photos, going to concerts, or challenging herself to pick up a pencil and draw. She loves nothing more than an in-depth conversation with a friend, especially if there’s a cheese board involved.

She is passionate about the transformative power of the Bible and enjoys helping people dig into God’s Word. Catherine also cares deeply about issues of inequality and justice, particularly around the mistreatment of women.