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Hope Among the Hopeless

Click on the booklet to read the first section online.

In the latest edition of the Encounters on the Edge series of booklets – called Hope Among The Hopeless: Connecting with the urban poor - George Lings, director of Church Army's Research Unit, writes of his visit to a group of Christians in a deprived urban area near Sydney, Australia, who had a different slant on the age-old problem of conflict in church. They decided to launch their church with a series of wrestling matches featuring local wrestler 'Pickford the Punisher'! 

As George observes: 'So often, church planting ventures kick off with an all-singing, all-dancing public worship service. But this can be unhelpful in at least two ways. It sets a standard that is hard to keep up week by week and it implicitly reinforces that the summit of ambition is church attendance, being passive watchers as the people at the front do their thing.' 

Church Army evangelist Wayne Pickford had some pressure from local clergy that this was the way to start. But he resisted and saw instead that in his local context – populated by 'battlers', an Aussie term for working class, hard living people, among whom family conflict is normal – people would turn out for a fun event amid a sometimes drab area where trouble can be more normal. So Wayne resurrected his former identity as professional wrestler 'Pickford the Punisher' - notable for his bright purple costume - and staged a series of outdoor wrestling bouts. There was also a band and a bouncy castle. 

As George notes: 'People's curiosity was raised but, fun and memorable though it was, solid work cannot be built out of razzmatazz. Curiosity can wane.' What they did next – including effective use of the Adopt a Block programme - has much to say to all who feel called to urban areas which exhibit the reality of a post-Christendom society and are in the grip of poverty. Can we find ways to create the kind of Christian community that engages well in areas where previously hope had dried up and the Christian presence has all but vanished?