One of the greatest challenges facing us in our churches is engaging with the community around us

I care passionately about the local church – I’m in my own church most Sundays. We meet on a large estate in Cardiff, a mixture of private and council-allocated housing, blocks of flats, and seemingly not much for young people to do (which is why they often end up ‘tagging’ the outside of our church with cans of spray paint).

But this is where God has called us to be: in the real world – surrounded by people who have real problems, real challenges, real needs, and real hurts.

That’s why I’m so excited about the Engage agenda. This conference will help us benefit from what other people have learned the hard way. We will hear what churches the length and breadth of the UK have discovered helpful – and what they have discovered unhelpful, too.

And we’ll gain practical insights into how to mobilise our churches to ‘engage’ our communities and transform the lives of the people we meet.

Life is busy and for that very reason the Engage conference will do more than just talk about good ideas. It’ll introduce ready-made programmes that you can use in your church and community – immediately.

I am so looking forward to being part of this important event – please try to join us if you can. I believe this conference can help make a real difference to our churches – and our communities.

See you at Engage!

With best wishes,

Rob Parsons
Executive Chairman, Care for the Family