An experienced youth worker, now trained and ordained, is to take up the second of two key roles in Lichfield Diocese’s £5.9m project to start a new chapter in the church’s story in Stoke on Trent.
The Revd Alan Gault, currently Planting Curate at St Luke’s, Blackburn will become Stoke’s Resource Church Leader based at All Saints Joiners Square.
Working alongside Alex Wolvers, Stoke Encounter Leader - the other key appointment working with schools and local churches - they will lead the work which aims to revitalise the presence and service of Christians in Stoke’s communities.
Stoke churches’ long service to their City will continue through the creation of new worshipping communities based around schools and churches across the city and also at Joiners Square, focussed on the strong demographic of younger adults in that community. The project also aims to build relationships with the chaplaincy at the University of Staffordshire to give student-age people chance to engage with a worshipping community to which they can easily relate.
Alan Gault said: “My wife Beth and I are excited about being called to Stoke and for the opportunity to join in with what God is already doing across the city. We want to grow a church for the whole city where people can make friends, encounter God and transform the city through the hope that Jesus offers to all. We are looking forward to partnering with the Encounter strand of the project which works to see local schools thrive as distinctively Christian communities where families are invited to explore faith. We also hope to work closely with the Chaplain and Christian Union at the University to develop work with the university community.”
The project, announced last autumn when funding from the national church was granted, appears to be extraordinarily well-timed to benefit from surging interest in matters of faith, especially among the 18-34 age group, according to recent reports and the level of sales of Bibles to this age group.
Alan was a church youth worker for over ten years before training for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He has a Masters degree in Theology and wrote his dissertation on effective preaching to Gen-Z, young people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s.
The Rt Revd Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford, one of the architects of the Stoke Revitalisation project, said: “His experience as a curate in St Luke's Blackburn, a resource church aimed at mission to younger people, combined with his previous experience and study makes him ideally suited to leading this new project which is in its early phase and to working with young people and families.”
Revd Jason Gardner, Vicar of St Luke’s Blackburn, said: "It's been such a privilege to work alongside Alan for the last 3 years and we're indebted to him and Beth for all that they've accomplished at St Luke's.”
"We're excited that Alan is taking up a role that will utilises his many talents and particularly his key skills as a teacher, community builder and pioneering youth and young adult worker.”