England

England is the largest and most populous country in the United Kingdom, with 53 million inhabitants. Like much of Western Europe, England is considered post Christian; fewer than nine percent are evangelical Christians. The church is growing among the widespread ethnic minorities who have immigrated to England over the past 50 years, but there has been a decline of Christian values and spirituality in English society as a whole since the 1960s.

Our Great Britain field team works in the Midlands of England to make disciples and plant churches in partnership with the Fellowship of Churches of Christ (FCC). Together we are working and praying for a church planting movement, transformed communities and reproducing disciples.

Our team has helped plant 11 churches over the years. With our experience and partnerships we are now refining our focus to coach leaders and catalyze making more and better disciples formed into churches that transform their communities.

• Coach a church and church leaders in forming missional communities that makes disciples who are mature and active in their networks of relationships.
• Coach church planters and newly planted churches in missional practices and community transformation.
• Teach and model the search for people of peace and initiate discovery Bible studies.
• Initiate missional training courses for local leaders and workers recruited internationally.
• Our team families come alongside church planters, catalyze new church plants, partner with those who are like-minded, and participate in teams that foster and nurture disciple-making and community transformation.

Canvas is the Globalscope campus ministry in England, with teams in Birmingham and Nottingham.

The Canvas campus ministers have created an open community where students can explore faith. They try to model authentic Christian living and engage students in conversations about what it means to follow Christ. For many  students, their time at Canvas is their first encounter with Christian faith and community.

Canvas in Birmingham is located in the residential suburb of Selly Oak, not far from the heart of the city of Birmingham. More than a million people live in the city and roughly 30,000 students attend the University of Birmingham. Less than 10 percent of students enter college as Christians and of those, 70 percent abandon their faith during their years at University.

Here are a few ways the teams minister to college students in England:

• Host a Tuesday night faith talk.
• Lead a bi-weekly worship service.
• Provide opportunities for service and social justice projects.
• Engage in discipleship and leadership activities.
• Develop relationships through community events.
• Provide a safe environment for spiritual conversations.

Canvas in Nottingham opened in fall 2016. Nottingham is an historic university town and tourist destination of more than 300,000 people.

CMF England team members David and Teresa Fittro serve as the directors of EQUIP Britain, a cross-cultural ministry experience for those interested in missions and church planting. Short-term workers from Europe, Great Britain and the U.S. can train alongside multicultural church planters, receiving mentoring, coaching and hands-on experience. Teams spend 30 percent of their time in formal training and coaching and 70 percent developing and implementing a strategy to connect with community members and ethnic minorities.

Learn more about the EQUIP Immersive Experience here.