Ireland

Ireland is a young and vibrant country but, even though four out of five people still identify as at least nominally Christian, the culture is secularising fast. There has been a sharp decline in church attendance, as many people have lost trust in the Catholic establishment, following the high-profile abuse scandals. By contrast, only around 1% of the indigenous Irish population are evangelical Christians, which is the lowest proportion in the English-speaking world.

Based in Dublin, the Innovista Ireland team helps to equip leaders to pioneer creative and effective ways to reach local people with the hope of Jesus. They have developed a network of coaching volunteers to help church leaders, and run leadership courses, programmes to help young adults and pastors, and workshops for churches and leaders. They also started the RISE community project, which over 600 teenagers in Dublin have been through in the past decade. Now run by an independent team of youth leaders, it is designed to bring about change and teach leadership skills, as young people learn how to identify and meet the needs of others through community projects.