Dreaming again in Dublin
How can you reimagine mission in a country that has lost confidence in the church? Innovista’s Sam Moore tackled this challenge by helping the Irish church to dream big again.
Once, with a few exceptions, to be Irish was to be Catholic.
But as far-reaching abuse scandals linked to the church have come to light, many have turned their back on faith.
Confidence in any church has plummeted.
This has led Innovista’s Sam Moore and four other young Dublin-based leaders to start exploring what mission might look like in this challenging context. They’ve been meeting regularly to listen, learn and pray for faith to return to their city.
One sign of hope they’ve seen is the growing number of creative, small-scale mission initiatives that are springing up.
Thanks to you, Sam and his friends were able to plan an event to connect and equip the leaders of these projects. Their aim was to find ways to answer the pressing question: how can followers of Jesus be good news to people who think the church is nothing but bad news?
At this stage, they hoped up to 50 people might come. Dublin doesn’t have a big Christian event culture, and sign-up rates are often low.
But something new was happening.
Bookings had to close a fortnight before the event because there weren’t enough seats for the 135 already registered.
On the day, people turned up early and expectant, a buzz of conversation in the air as they waited. Speakers shared their stories and insight, piecing together the bigger picture of how small-scale projects fit into the wider move of God.
Brian Sanders, an experienced planter of flourishing micro-churches, drew listeners’ attention to Psalm 126:1. It tells of a people who, returning to God after a time of separation, were ‘like those who dreamed.’
Your support helped bring leaders with a hundred different approaches together with one heart to dream again for their city.
Let’s pray for the igniting of creative new collaborations, to share the transforming hope of Jesus with the people of Dublin.
Supporting leaders where they're needed most.
Innovista identifies, equips and develops Christian leaders working in challenging locations. Every year, we train and mentor around 1,500 leaders in Britain, Ireland, Moldova, Ukraine, Central Asia and beyond. We help leaders transform people and communities through churches, ministries and enterprises. Inspired by Jesus, we equip leaders to build a better world.