Planting a new church

I feel a strong sense of calling and I hope our work will lead to positive change, and that individual change will translate into something bigger that benefits the city.

Jason Lawton has responded to a strong sense of call from God by moving with his family from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire to Gorton, where he is tasked with planting a new church as part of the Antioch Network Manchester.

Jason became a Christian aged 18 and immediately felt that he was called to be a missionary. He worked and saved money to study Arabic, and has spent over 20 years working with a mission agency in West Africa.

He said, I am passionate about seeing the lives of people improved. I ran a number of development projects in Africa, including a feeding programme for malnourished children and a project that improves the livelihoods of farmers living in poverty. I found the Muslim people I worked alongside were very open to talking about God, and saw some people come to faith in Jesus.

On returning to the UK with his wife and four children, Jason worked for Frontiers at its international headquarters in High Wycombe. He enjoyed overseeing the work of teams operating in Sub-Saharan Africa, but began to miss the hands-on side of ministry.

Now in Gorton, he says, I feel a sense of relief that the move is behind me, but also a little scared about the challenges that lie ahead. I will be starting with lots of prayer and inviting team members to join me in setting up the new church.

I feel very honoured and happy to with working with Bishop Mark (Bolton) and the Antioch Network leaders, John Brett and Ben Woodfield, on this new project, which will be quite different from what I have done before.

I feel a strong sense of calling and I hope our work will lead to positive change, and that individual change will translate into something bigger that benefits the city.