Plymouth City Council Testimony
A new Christian Network has recently been established and is being recognised and supported by Plymouth City Council. The group has been meeting informally for some time but decided to approach the Council to seek formal recognition because the group wanted to be able to reach other Christians, bless colleagues in the workplace and run outreach events with full permission and protection from the Council. Jess Colverson is a Public Transport Officer at Plymouth Council and chairs the Christian Network.
In a message issued by the Comms team to all staff announcing the launch of the network, Jess says:
“I’m so excited about this new network and feel honoured to be able to chair it. The Christian Network exists so that Christians can meet together to encourage and support one another in every aspect of life, including work. The group also aims to positively impact and benefit the council and colleagues, in a way that shares God’s love with everyone.”
Having become an official Christian Network the group was given the green light to give away free Easter eggs and ‘Why Easter?’ booklets and put up a staff room article for everyone to read. A majority of the 7/800 eggs were eaten and 12 booklets were taken from the baskets which were placed at the front reception desk of one of their office buildings and in their refectory.
Jess shared:
“It was incredible how many doors God opened in such a short space of time! From literally one week having no official recognition or Easter plans in place, to just over a week later where everything was in place and ready to go. It was hard work, but I kept trusting God to make a way if it was what He wanted for our group. During that week, I had been able to speak to a Christian in HR who supported our desire to establish the group and put us in touch with the head of HR Organisational Development, who was also very happy for us to proceed. I then met with the Council’s staff networks manager who was up for almost anything we wanted to do as a group and she made it clear that we would be supported and we were allowed to meet together as an important part of our work life, and we may even be given a budget! I was shocked to have little to no resistance from anyone during this process.
“So we were then authorised to become an official Christian Network, meaning we could be added to the Staff Network intranet page, where people can now submit questions and prayer requests, and the IT department even set up a Christian Network email address for us to use within a couple of days and we were able to post a Staff Room article on the intranet with one day’s notice, which usually needs to be scheduled a couple of weeks in advance. I quickly ordered all the resources to run the event, including chocolate eggs and Why Easter booklets, using almost the exactly right amount of money raised by our group, and everything arrived in egg-cellent time for us to get the show on the road. Finally, a friend from my church is a graphic designer at a Christian marketing company and she was available to create a fantastic event poster for us within a couple of days, which was such a blessing to our team!
“I could hardly believe we pulled it all off in the time we had – but then again, anything is possible with God on our side! I felt so encouraged to watch people taking and enjoying the eggs and I was thrilled that 12 booklets were taken. I trust that those people encountered Jesus over the Easter period, and for those colleagues who just took the chocolate eggs, I’m hopeful that they will have felt blessed by the Christians at their workplace and perhaps even have experienced the sweet generosity of our God!
“Our faith and community has been increased as a group since becoming formally recognised and stepping out with our Easter event. Some members of our group were unable to join in due to having busy schedules but were very inspired by the bravery of those who stepped out to talk about Jesus so openly during the Easter event. Other Christians have since come forward to join our group and find out more about what we do, so we’ve been encouraged in this growth in numbers, even if it’s just slow and steady. I have now been invited to join in with the Council’s staff network leaders meetings, where I’m able to literally talk to all the other leaders about what our group get up to and why we love God and the challenges we can face as Christians; the first meeting happened to be the day after our Easter event, where everyone celebrated our new network and all expressed thanks for the free chocolate eggs. So I look forward to what the Lord wants to do in and through our group next… We’d better start planning for Christmas!”
Jess is a songwriter and was able to also promote one of her original songs to her colleagues, called The God I Know You Are. The briefing to staff quotes Jess: “Whilst not written specifically about Easter, it’s an empowering song about someone going through a difficult time in life so starts a conversation with God and ends up being reminded of his good character, the love of Jesus and the joy of knowing he’s always with us.”
Jess shared this story with the Local Authority Christian Network to encourage other groups within local authorities. If you would like to know more about this network which meets quarterly on zoom, please get in touch with the Transform Work office.
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| Easter is on it's way... what a great opportunity to share the heart of Christianity - Jesus' Death, Resurrection and Ascension. Here are some ideas. Do let us know if you are planning something new. |
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| Easter is on it's way... what a great opportunity to share the heart of Christianity - Jesus' Death, Resurrection and Ascension. Here are some ideas. Do let us know if you are planning something new. |
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