Church Growth Trust is a charity set up to support independent evangelical churches and to safeguard their properties for future Gospel use. There are many strengths with “independence”, but the biblical principle is “inter-dependence”, rather than independence or complete dependence. This is where people and organisations recognise each other’s giftings and strengths and choose to have relationship and work closely together, for the furtherance of the Gospel.
At Church Growth Trust we try to live up to two of our values, being relationship and generosity, by working closely with other sister organisations across the UK. It is why we have in the past co-operated with Counties, Partnership and GLO in the creation and running of the Church Planting Initiative and the Living the Passion Conferences. As the church planting work of CPI has moved to be directly under Counties and GLO, we continue to support their work financially and in practical ways by sharing information and looking for opportunities to serve the churches that need revitalising and replanting.
This spirit of inter-dependence has resulted in recent meetings of the Chief Executives and Chairmen of Church Growth Trust, Partnership, GLO and Counties to explore ways of working more closely, being prepared to live up to Philippians 2:1-5, in looking to each other’s interests before our own and having the same attitude as Christ. It has also resulted in consultation with local church leaders to explore ways of setting up a network for independent evangelical churches.
Church Growth Trust (CGT) has been working more closely with its sister property trust organisation, the Western Counties and South Wales Evangelisation Trust, and with FIEC Ltd, FIEC’s trust corporation. As Giles Arnold, CGT’s Chief Executive says “It is hoped that we will play to each other’s strengths and be a blessing to each other. We are always looking for opportunities to serve other organisations that share our heart; hence us taking on trusteeships from FIEC Ltd. This will help them, keep church building in Gospel use and provide resources for local church that are desperate to serve and reach their local communities”.
