Stronger

A quick look at some of the back story of Stronger Network and how it developed during lockdown.

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A resourcing network was launched during lockdown of 2020. But it already existed in the pre-pandemic era through the life of a local church in West London.

Looking back to look forward

Did you know that Stronger Network didn’t start during the lockdown? Things were already in progress long before lockdown in 2020 but the experience helped to fine tune what we were aiming for, which was simply to encourage and strengthen Christians across the UK.

For years at the church in West London where I was vicar we would host annual events where we would invite people to come along and speak to a particular topic. We had experts come and teach and inspire about Leadership, Social Media, Mental Health, Life in the Holy Spirit and more. We always opened out our events to anyone who wanted to come and learn with us.

In 2019 I hired a club in the West End and invited people to come and listen to faith raising stories of God at work and to hear from the bible and worship too. People came from across London, down from the midlands and across from Somerset too. It felt like there was appetite for something more.

Then lockdown hit and we needed to find a home online so the name ‘Stronger Network’ came into being because it said a lot of what we were trying to do.

Stronger

What get's us fired up are people like you, stepping out in faith in response to what God is encouraging you to do. But we know that to get from where you are to where you feel God is leading you, you’re going to require some courage and boldness.

The good thing is that God wants to strengthen and encourage you on the journey and we think that Stronger Network could be part of that story. That’s the kind of space we’re looking to be present in.

We believe that God wants to strengthen your faith, strengthen churches, and as a result impact the world around you by the love and power of God.

Acts 4 is a particular passage that has inspired me as I’ve been working on this. The early believers were together in prayer. They petitioned God to enable his disciples to proclaim the good news with boldness. What a prayer! God gave them boldness and courage alright. He strengthened them by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

It struck me that ‘Holy Spirit boldness and strength’ upon Christians (which is something I have been praying for over years now) is good for both the Church and the world. The church is called to be the light of the world, bringing hope and good news in dark places. Imagine what could happen if God released a fresh boldness, a fresh courage – a fresh strength upon his Church across the UK in this time.

You see glimpses of it don’t you. People living out their faith day in day out through parenting, through little acts of kindness or boldness, through choosing to live for Jesus in the mundane on a Monday, or courageously leading businesses, teams or churches week after week. 

It takes all of it. 

The body of Christ is made up of each of us. We need each other as we are shaped by the Spirit of God into the likeness of Christ.

So what?

That’s why we put on those events during lockdown. We had a pilot event in Sept 2020 which attracted more than 400 people and then Stronger 2021 which was hosted online over 4 weeks with 1000 people listening to more than 100 speakers.

The purpose was simply to give space for God to strengthen faith, strengthen the church and strengthen the bits of the world that we spend most of our time in.

We heard from different sectors of society, from people leading and making a different in business, through to those influencing online, through to those who are innovating and launching new things. 

That’s why we have more things in the pipeline and would love you to be involved.

Get involved?

We’re just starting things up in this new phase of the life of Stronger Network and are looking to find some people who might be able to provide some wisdom on any of the following areas:

-Business Development
-Tech Web/IT
-Church/Network relationship Management
-Event Planning
-Marketing/Social Media 

If you look at any of these and your heart rises (even a little bit), we’d love to chat with you and tell you more about what we’re thinking. 

So, there we go. The first Stronger Blog. Let us know what you think in the comments below….