Bishop praises Church Army as "the Heineken of the Church"

Church Army, the UK's largest Anglican mission agency, was described as the "Heineken of the church" by the Rt Rev Graham Cray at a celebration service for Church Army Sunday held at All Saints Church Maidstone on 26th September. Bishop Graham is the author of the influential Mission-shaped church report which sets out the agenda for church mission for the next decade and praised the work of Church Army research team and evangelists as "The Heineken of the church - refreshing the parts of society that church often fails to reach."
"Church Army does critical work", continued Bishop Graham, "We all should be missioners for Church Army by supporting their work in prayer and financial giving."

Just twenty four hours earlier hours earlier on the Willows council estate in Grimsby the Bishop of Lincoln, Rt Rev John Saxbee launched Church Army's 3:16 youth project - a double-decker bus serving as an innovative youth church equipped with Playstation consoles, computers, DVDs and music mixing decks. Bishop John pointed out; "Church Army is a real gift to the church - they take risks for the Gospel by thinking and working outside the box. They do things in the community and get involved when sometimes the church is slow to react. The 3:16 youth bus is a fantastic gift for the people of this estate and it is incredible that Church Army has responded so positively to the challenge of youth ministry here."

Church Army's Chief Secretary, Philip Johanson OBE, commented that Church Army Sunday had "provided a great opportunity for us to showcase how pioneering and imaginative evangelism can be in making a difference to individuals and communities right across the UK and Ireland."

David Coleman, Church Army’s Communications Manager, added: “I have been delighted by the coverage the work of Church Army has received from diocesan newspapers and websites, Christian print and broadcast media and BBC local radio and websites. Church Army in doing tremendous work in reaching people where they are for the Gospel and making church effective, and it was encouraging to see this receive such good coverage this year - even PR Week featured Church Army Sunday which is a first for us.”