With a small donation and big faith, John Kirkby started Christians Against Poverty in 1996. He believed God was calling him to sacrifice his career in finance and use his knowledge of the industry to help the poor.
In his hometown of Bradford, John set off on the incredible journey of CAP. His faith adventure led him to people crippled by debt; parents who couldn't feed their children, families facing eviction and desperate people living in fear and without hope. He used his expertise to negotiate with creditors, set up budgeting systems and offer a lifeline to those trapped in debt.
Malcolm is Lead Pastor at Dundonald Elim Church, a Pentacostal church located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is Chair of Elim's Ethics and Public Theology Task Force and Theologian-in-Residence for Spring Harvest and Essential Christian.
Malcolm regularly helps the British government and other groups to understand the role of church in society. He is deeply committed to serving the poor and excluded. Malcolm is a passionate communicator and he has regularly written, broadcast, taught and lectured on the themes of mission and Christian engagement with society.
https://www.malcolmduncan.co.uk
Bob Hartman is a performance storyteller par excellence. He has been entertaining audiences on both sides of the Atlantic for over 15 years with his books and performances, which bring together retellings of Bible stories and traditional tales from around the world with his own imaginative stories. His books are full of humour and insight, whilst his storytelling sessions are exciting, engaging, dynamic - and above all, interactive! He is well-known for his hugely popular Lion Storyteller books, the Telling the Bible series and the highly acclaimed picture books The Wolf Who Cried Boy, Dinner in the Lions' Den and The Three Billy Goats' Stuff.
Cathy is an accomplished speaker and author, who has been teaching about resilience, relationships and purpose for over 20 years. She lives on the South Coast of England with her husband Mark, who leads the team at Waypoint Church. Cathy’s most recent book is ‘Irrepressible’ – 12 principles for a courageous, resilient and fulfilling life.
https://www.cathymadavan.com
Eddie is the President of the charity Open Doors, which supports Christians around the world in the face of the persecution that a large proportion of the Church face today.
James is writer of comedy for the BBC TV and radio. He has written for Miranda, My Hero, My Family and Bluestone 42.
James is especially interested in the interaction between church, faith, culture and politics.
Gavin is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance and is also the chair of Spring Harvest. He has a burning passion to see the gospel reach every person in the UK.
Gav was formerly the national director of Youth for Christ, is an ordained evangelist and regular public speaker, and has authored five books.
Gavin is married to Anne, and they have two children: Amelie and Daniel.
Gavin and Anne have just recently authored this year's Spring Harvest theme book - 'Unleashed - the Acts Church Today'.
https://www.eauk.org
Carl is the UK Director of The Message Trust a charity focused on reaching the hardest to reach young people with the message of Jesus. He is also president of Christian Vision for Men (CVM).
He has authored several books and is founder and host of ‘The Gathering’ – a Christian Festival for men.
He is a church planter he currently co leads a new church called Redeemer King in Chesterfield.
Chris’ passion is evangelism and art. He is also a Baptist minister and founder of The Light Project, a growing network of people who exist to reveal Jesus and train others in theology and evangelism.
Well he's a comedian, magician, actor, singer, musician, writer, and didgeridoist. John is a past winner of the ‘Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year’ and certainly one of the best comedy magicians in the UK today. He is a member of 'The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star'. He 'Fooled' Penn and Teller and was a Semi-Finalist on 2019 Britain's Got Talent.
Paul is a comedy writer and stand-up comedian. Recent-ish things that he has written for have included The Royal Variety Performance, Top Gear, TFI Friday, Not Going Out, Miranda, and lots of things you've never heard of.
At the end of 2017 he released a new 'history of Christmas' book - 'Hark! A Biography of Christmas'. It became an Amazon bestseller and hit their Top 100.
Roy was born and grew up on Tyneside and North Yorkshire and is passionate about the North East. He came to faith when he was training as an Outward Bound instructor in Scotland before going on to prepare for ministry at Lebanon Missionary Bible College.
A creative, missional pioneer, he works ecumenically and has served in various aspects of denominational ministry, is a former President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and is currently an Accompanier to the National Baptist Steering Group.
He is one of the founders of the Northumbria Community, where he has been one of its leaders since 1992.
Pete is a songwriter and worship leader. He has many years of experience as a worship leader and worship pastor and leads regularly at his local church while also travelling frequently to play at conferences, festivals and other churches. His work crosses genres and ages, you’ll find Pete playing in many different environments to many different audiences.
Lynn is the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and has been in this role since 2013. She spent 11 years leading a Baptist Church in Wokingham before having a regional ministry responsibility.
Becky is a worship leader and songwriter who along with husband, Nick have released a number of worship albums including, ‘Big family of God’, ‘God Is Here’, and ‘Unique’. They believe that worship songs can be written truly for everyone, young and old, families and individuals, every age and stage of life to enjoy together - and they have been working this out for several years in the local church community.
Abby spent many years as an actor and writer working in a wide variety of Christian and secular environments. She is a published author, an engaging speaker and an experienced performer.
Now, alongside a fantastic team, she is the Event Director for Spring Harvest.
https://abbyguinness.com
Welcome to the first of 10 episodes of Church in Conversation. Each week, members of different churches from around Skipton will be sitting down to discuss the weeks theme after the sermon.
In Episode , we have Richard Atkinson from St Andrew's Methodist Church, and Michael Hulland from Champions Church talking about what 'Real and Revealed' meant to them and what they personally got from exploring that theme.
