Aigburth Community Church, in Liverpool, UK, began in 2008, when Steve Palframan led a team from Christ Church Liverpool to start a church in his family's neighbourhood.

Tell us about the church and area 

Aigburth Community grew out of the challenge of reaching young families and free-thinkers around us. By God’s grace we’ve grown from the starting team of 20 to about 140 people. 

Aigburth is about three miles south of Liverpool city centre. The area is predominantly atheistic and not very ethnically diverse. People are educated: artsy, liberal thinkers who for the most part have rejected the gospel before even having a chance to hear it.

How do you reach out to your community?

Anyone who has come to faith - or even to a meeting - is because of a personal invitation. Building friendships is a big emphasis of our mission. Sunday mornings have consistently been key evangelistic opportunities for the church.

Our youth group is built around the church's young people, for them to share Jesus with their friends. There are now about 30 kids doing youth Christianity Explored! And mums have found opportunities for mission through local parents' and children's groups.

What's been a highlight in your local ministry?

One lady has been been inviting work colleagues to Christianity Explored with great boldness, and people have been prepared to come and seem interested in the gospel.

We began a joint internship with Guilford Baptist Church in Virginia, USA in January, a connection we made through Radstock. A British guy is working with us for a year before moving to Guilford next January with his wife, an American Spanish speaker. 

What are some of your challenges?

Increasingly, people come to church with messy lives, and wading through the mess with them is draining.  Also, the church is growing quickly and we need more leaders. And all our young families are wonderful, but we have lots of tired people! 

Why did you decide to join Radstock?

As a small church plant, we can’t wait until we’re able to send a missionary before getting involved in global mission!  But we wanted the big picture of God’s mission around the world to be part of our 'DNA'.  Radstock has been really helpful in connecting churches and facilitating gospel partnerships.

What can others in the Radstock network pray for Aigburth Community?

• Leaders!
• Our assistant pastor leading a team to plant a church in central Manchester
• Fruit from a recent marriage course
• God's sustaining for those working hard in the ministry
• People’s hearts to be softened to the gospel

 Read more from Steve Palframan - about churches' global call to mission - here