30 Apr 2025

A look at what’s been going on at Church on the Street in April:

Walk In My Shoes is #1 Bestseller

Bishop Mick’s new book: Walk In My Shoes: Stories of Miraculous Transformation, has topped the Amazon bestseller list in the category of “Christian Faith.”

Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of the book, as the sales help to support the work of our church. If you’ve not got your copy yet, don’t worry, you can still order the hardcover edition on Amazon.

Walk in My Shoes – Buy Now

We Win Second NHS Star Award

Martin Hodgson, Chief Executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, paid a visit to our church to present us with an NHS Star Award for Community Engagement and Partnership. This was the second year running we had won the award, for the Wound Care and Foot Clinic that the NHS deliver from our self-funded treatment room in the church.

As Bishop Mick and Nicola Leverett (our Partnerships Manager) accepted the award, Martin Hodgson explained how our treatment room is helping to relieve pressure on the NHS, as patients (often with complex needs) are treated in a suitable environment, rather than turning up at A&E.

Watch Video of Award Presentation

As well as the Wound Care and Foot Clinic, our treatment room is used for NHS Liver Scans, Hep C Testing and NHS Living Well Checks, which in addition to medical checks, provide support for a patient’s environmental, social, financial, and mental wellbeing needs.

More info about our NHS clinics here

Proclaiming Our Faith at Easter

Ahead of our Good Friday afternoon service, members of the church went for a walk around Burnley town centre to proclaim our Faith, and the Good News of the Gospel at Easter: “There is Power in the Name of Jesus.”

Watch video of our Faith Walk

Advocacy for the Homeless: A Case Study

Robert is a 67 year old male with a history of homelessness and alcohol addiction. He is a highly vulnerable individual, and has suffered financial abuse on numerous occasions. Robert has been known to us for 5 years.

Robert was recently staying in a care home, but had been asked him to leave. Robert has numerous health conditions including epilepsy, depression, COPD, and is currently awaiting a heart bypass. He was now back on the streets, and coming in to our church with bruising to his face, and with no money.

We believed that Robert’s eviction from the care home was unjustified, and started to question with the statutory services why this had happened. This prompted a more detailed investigation into why he had been evicted.

Advocating for Robert, and holding meetings to co-ordinate partnership services such as the DWP, Social Workers, Local Government Housing, NHS Services and Shelter, we were able to find Robert a safe place to live, and have his finances made more secure to deter financial abuse.

Our work Partner Services is vital to help us achieve the best we possibly can for individuals in challenging circumstances like Robert’s, and give them a voice, one that is not usually heard.

Nicola Leverett – Partnerships Manager for Church on the Street.

Gifts Received in the Dominican Republic

The Women of Worth group at our church in Burnley made bracelets, cross keychains, and necklaces for children and families in the Dominican Republic. We were pleased to hear from our Pastors Graham and Kathryn Dunwell, who took delivery of the items when they came over to visit us last month, that the they were a big hit with members of Church on the Street DR as they celebrated “Resurrection Day.”

Follow Church on the Street DR on Facebook

Exodus Project Graduation Date Set

The next cohort of students from The Exodus Project will graduate on Friday 23 May 2025.

This Exodus Project is a life-changing recovery programme created by Bishop Mick and Pastor Emma of Church on the Street. Since January, the students, who attend the programme for 3 full days each week, have been journeying together trough the 12 biblical foundations of recovery.

At the graduation ceremony, the students will be awarded a certificate for their achievement, and can make a speech telling their Exodus story.

The graduation speeches from the students you graduated from The Exodus Project in December 2024 are available to watch online.

Watch Exodus Project Graduation Speeches

Life After Exodus: Sylvia’s Story

Sylvia graduated from The Exodus Project in December 2023, after a lifetime struggling with trauma and addiction. She had been working as a kitchen volunteer at our church in Burnley, and following her graduation, Sylvia took on a paid role as Kitchen Manager.

“Before Exodus I would not have been able to do something like this. I would not have been able to be committed to it. Back then, I would still have been getting drunk or high.”

Running our very busy kitchen, which provides free hot meals to people on 3 days each week on a drop-in basis, Sylvia finds fulfilment in seeing the impact this simple provision has on people’s lives:

“My mum taught me to cook, and my sons used to say to me, ‘mum, you could open a cafe with the food you cook,’ and now I’m able to show what I’m capable of. I call it God’s kitchen, because the Lord provides the food, and we’re always singing Christian songs. And then I get to see the happy faces, and everyone enjoying what we’ve made.”

Being the Change in the Cost of Living Crisis

As a church we are painfully aware of the ongoing consequences of the cost of living crisis for people both in and out of work. We are hearing shocking stories locally, of people, especially children, going without basic necessities.

With further economic uncertainty on the horizon, we are looking at how, as a church, we can step more effectively into this situation, and provide the right type of support to the people and families who need it most.

As we head into summer, we are committed as a church to bringing a practical Gospel of Action into lives blighted by poverty, so that where this is now fear and desperation, dignity and hope will be restored.