Hopeinfo.co.uk: faith conversations for 2008

Building on the vision of the project's founders, the Christian Enquiry Agency has teamed up with Church Army and Deo Gloria to create a credible, contemporary public face for Hope 2008 (see Hope08.com). Hopeinfo.co.uk is an innovative extension to the Agency's customary enquiry and contact service, and has the enthusiastic blessing of the Hope 2008 leadership team.

At its heart is a website featuring five short films, each one released to coincide with one of five high-points of the Hope '08 campaign. The films, produced by WateringCanMedia, encourage people to explore different aspects of hope and to respond to what they've seen. Site users are invited to submit their reactions to the films, tell their own stories, and send in pictures and messages of hope. They can even submit films they've made via the YouTube website (youtube.com/hopeinfo).

The HopeInfo site also offers a poem about Jesus and hope, and the chance to develop more hopefulness through a series of weekly emails. The site has a rich spread of culturally-sensitive content designed to engage people, whatever their background, who have little or no contact with the church. There are also links to other resources such as Scripture Union's innovative Wise Traveller series and rejesus.co.uk/hope.

David Coleman, communications manager, Church Army says "Hopeinfo.co.uk is very much about starting where most people are and not making assumptions about prior knowledge about the Christian faith. It's about listening as much as telling.

"We're encouraging local churches and groups doing Hope '08 activities in the community to enhance the effectiveness of their own outreach by referring to Hopeinfo.co.uk in their publicity materials" he says, "And if they register with us, we can also refer enquirers back to them." (See christianity.org.uk/hope)

The buzz gets going

The UK has around 3000 homes located in a Hope Street. To help get the Hopeinfo.co.uk project under way, all these households have been contacted, inviting their members to think about what makes people hopeful. We've asked them to share their 2008 hopes, for themselves, their families or communities, by sending in photos, short films, drawings, poems, or paintings - in fact, any creative expression.

Unlocking some secrets of hope

Life coach Bruce Stanley, who is also co-editor of rejesus.co.uk, is contributing a module to the website that helps people develop a more hopeful attitude to life and to begin to explore its spiritual side. Studies have shown that those with high hopes have a longer life span, are healthier, deal with setbacks quicker and are more creative. It is also evident that for many people a hopeful attitude does not come naturally - but it can be learnt. Bruce's programme focuses on understanding how our belief systems affect the way we respond to events and circumstances, rather than starting with looking at the resulting behaviour. After assessing their level of hopefulness by taking the Hope Test, visitors receive weekly emails that combine Scripture with psychological insights to help them grow in their understanding of themselves, their beliefs, and the way they interpret events.

Wise words on hope

There are many perspectives on hope, from the Christian hope articulated by the apostle Paul in his magnificent vision of the mortal being replaced by the immortal, to the feisty or feint hopes of people just getting through daily life. Wordwise presents pithy ideas about living in hope that thoughtful people (Christian or other-wise) have expressed over the years. On the same page, site users can sign up to receive weekly emails containing further insights into hope written from the perspective of a follower of Jesus.

Five films set the scene

Central to the Hopeinfo. co.uk website are five short films dealing with different aspects of hope. At an early stage, the CEA-Church Army partnership felt that a visual medium would be the best place to engage the public. But, with the success of the idea depending on the quality of the films' message, the search was on for the right production company. David Coleman, Church Army, says "We soon tracked down Nick Turner and Ben Harvey of WateringCanMedia, whose client list includes Audi, O2. Vodafone, Channel Four, and Faithworks. Nick and Ben readily became committed to the project, and even started to broaden our vision of what could be achieved." The first film, launched on 1 December, features people voicing their hopes, some profound, some simple, in the context of a bus journey. The films will also be showing on YouTube, Premier.TV, and will be broadcast in Second Life, a virtual alternative world in cyberspace. The films are jointly funded by CEA, Church Army and Deo Gloria.

Provoking a reaction

The whole point of Hope '08 and HopeInfo.co.uk is to provoke a dialogue, and so the website needs to provide space for visitors to respond. The Reaction page does just that - it's a place to ask questions, tell stories, submit pictures and to have conversations about living hopefully.

There are also polls, where people can see how their responses to (sometimes tricky) questions about what it means to live in hope match up with others' answers.

A journey into deeper hope

So where does this all lead? Well, a central objective of the project is of course to encourage and enable people to take next steps of faith. As well as direct contact with the Christian Enquiry Agency and services it provides, such as contact with a local Christian, there are a number of ways users can go deeper. Visits to sites such as Scripture Union's excellent Wise Traveller site and rejesus.co.uk are recommended, and visitors to the site can request a free Hope Pack so they can continue exploring 'off line'. The same pack is being sent to all Hope 2008 enquirers.

Jude speaks to the broken, the hopeless and those left behind

Jude Simpson is a unique writer, entertainer, and slam poet. If, like us, you're not sure what the latter means, read on. Slamming is competitive poetry with an emphasis on live performance and warmth of audience response.

Jude has written a new poem on the theme of hope for the Hopeinfo.co.uk website. Those familiar with Jude's work (she regularly appears at the Edinburgh Fringe and poetry events around the country) know how she can use her 'energetic word-juggling' to plumb depths of truth and reality, and very likely simultaneously have your sides splitting.

Gareth Squire, director of the Christian Enquiry Agency said: "Jude has added another dimension to the site with this work. She speaks from her heart, but this is not introverted musing. Jude reaches out, urgently, to the broken and the messed up. She expresses the heart of Jesus here and it's extremely powerful. We're very grateful to her, and to WateringCanMedia who have filmed Jude performing the poem specially for the site. Both have contributed their work on this free of charge.

Some thoughts from the 'back room'

It's been just over a year now since the Ven Robert Freeman became chair of Christian Enquiry Agency. We asked him about the job and started with what drew him to it: "I'm passionate about finding ways in which people not connected with church can hear about the Gospel, and was impressed by the creative and intriguing way the Agency works. I was struck, too, by its interdenominational reach - it's important that we do jobs right, but also so important that we do them together."

Robert sees his role very much as doing unglamorous 'back room work': "I want to help CEA do its job, not in a slick way, but accessibly, effectively, and in diverse ways. And I want to help ensure that there is the prayer and finance to back it up. I'm also chair of rejesus.co.uk, which shares a roughly overlapping role. It's my job to help to make sure the two organisations are complimentary."

On the objectives of the Agency, Robert asserts that in communicating the message of Jesus, "nothing is better than face to face communication." However, he says, "there is a need in our individualised society to provide those who don't have a Christian friend at work or elsewhere with alternative ways to explore faith. We are required in evangelism to start where people are, and the reality is that we have a society that emphasises consumer-based choices, the individual and private belief. And this is where the Agency is focused."

What would he identify as challenges for the future of the Agency? "CEA is traditionally print-based," he says, "and nothing can beat the piece of literature that you can put in your pocket. But we must explore the growing digital media opportunities. At the same time, we have to diversify our approach. Challenging people with the Four Spiritual Laws may be okay for some, but encouraging people to take some steps on a spiritual journey towards Jesus will probably connect better in our contemporary culture."

"Our big challenge is the same challenge that the church has: to keep evangelism at the centre of our being, as a core priority. There is always the danger of drifting from the original passion." Robert notes that some churches do evangelism "now and then" rather than be evangelism. The Agency, he says, "has a prophetic advocacy role to remind the church that our main business is always 'making Jesus known'."

rejesus.co.uk wins at first ever Christian blog awards

rejesus.co.ukwon "most successful evangelistic blog" at Premier's recent Christian Blog Awards. The rejesus blog is staffed by five volunteer bloggers from around the country, who share their personal perspectives on Christian faith and how it works itself out in their daily lives. Poppy, one of the rejesus.co.uk blog contributors, described the impact this had made: "Jesus said `go' and we have responded by going out into cyberspace and sharing our lives and thoughts with the world on-line. And judging by the thousands of people that visit the blog each month, those thoughts really seem to be resonating with people." Commenting on this latest award, the Venerable Robert Freeman, chair of rejesus.co.uk, said: "We are truly excited by this latest commendation for the site. It is a real encouragement for us and an endorsement of our efforts to continue to stretch our thinking to find new ways to communicate Christian faith effectively."

Contact with a local Christian - how it's arranged

Many of the people who get in touch with Christian Enquiry Agency do not go to church. One of the ways CEA seeks to help is by offering contact with a local Christian, and hundreds of people ask for this. Most of the connections are arranged through Contact for Christ, which is run by Robert Bradshaw. We asked him how it works.

How do you know the Christian contacts are OK?

All applicants complete a comprehensive form and provide the names of two Christian leaders, as referees, who know them well. We take up both references to ensure the potential contact is trustworthy and review the application to discover their strengths and their weaknesses.

How do you find the right contact for an enquirer?

We search our database for a contact in the same postcode area as the enquirer and, if there is one, try to match according to distance, experience and gender (male enquirers are matched with male contacts, etc.). If there is no-one suitable in the immediate area the search is widened until one is found.

Do you know what happens?

We ask all of our contacts to send a report telling us how the enquiry developed within 30 days of receiving details. Many encouraging stories are received and we rejoice when we hear of enquirers who are now attending church.

How can someone apply to be a contact?

Anyone interested can request an application form by visiting our website or contacting me, Rob Bradshaw, Contact For Christ, Deo Gloria Trust, Selsdon House, 212-220 Addington Road, South Croydon, Surrey, CR2 8LD. Tel: 020 8651 6246 e-mail: rob@deo-gloria.co.uk

Enquiry Centre and Headquarters

For some years now, the staff of Deo Gloria Trust have resourced the enquiry centre for the growing number of enquirers to the Christian Enquiry Agency. The centre is located in Selsdon House, which provides a suitable environment with modern office facilities and best practice. Eric Thompson, director of Deo Gloria Trust, said; "We are delighted to work in partnership with CEA on this most strategic work of introducing people to Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to be able to read accounts first hand, of those who have been introduced to Christ and to pray for them week by week as they progress on their path of faith".

The address for enquiries is:
Christian Enquiry Agency
Freepost WC2947
SOUTH CROYDON
CR2 8UZ.