30 May 2025
A look at what’s been going on at Church on the Street in May:
New Students Graduate from Exodus
Huge congratulations to Darren Simpson, Danielle Davies, Ben Williamson, Pearl Cummings, Philomena Paul, Robert Weatherman and Kevin Whittaker, who graduated from The Exodus Project in May.
All the graduates delivered powerful and moving testimonies of lives totally transformed by God, as they had journeyed together through 12 Biblical Foundations for Recovery in The Exodus Project.
Applications are now open for The Exodus Project starting on June 23.
If you are looking to turn the page on addiction or harmful patterns of behaviour, and you’ve struggled to make that change, The Exodus Project is your opportunity to step forward into a fully renewed life.
The Exodus Project is a unique programme created Bishop Mick and Pastor Emma of Church on the Street, born out of their 25 years experience of addiction, mental health, recovery, and journeys in Christian faith. It is delivered free of charge to all successful applicants
Mental Health Crisis Driven by Poverty
For Mental Health Awareness Week, Bishop Mick wrote for Christian Today about Britain’s shameful poverty crisis being a major driver of mental illness, and called on Christians to act.
“People are so poor that they are eating out of dustbins, just foraging on the street for anything to steal, sell or use. Their mental health is at rock bottom… It’s a level of desperation that I just have never seen before…
“If we profess the name of Jesus Christ and wish to love God and honour His word, we must take radical action to relieve the suffering of the poor and pray for an end to destitution.”
New Wellbeing Group Started
Our Church in Blackburn has started a new weekly Wellbeing Group for anyone looking to explore creativity as a path to better mental and emotional health:
“Sometimes the best way to open your heart is by folding paper or building something small with your hands.”
Fold & Build for the Mind
Every Friday, 2.00pm – 3.30pm
The Phoenix Hub, Clayton Street, Blackburn BB2 2ED
Birth on the Streets: A Case Study
Sophie (not her real name), is a woman in her late 30s who was homeless and living in a tent while in active addiction and struggling with mental health. Sophie was also in the late term of a pregnancy, but no safer accommodation had been found for her.
Six months earlier, Sophie had come into contact with the church through our Genesis Group, a support group for people in active addiction or the early stages of recovery. Having built a relationship with one of our female staff members, Sophie, who was isolated and fearful, asked the staff member to be her birthing partner.
When the time came to give birth, Sophie was admitted to hospital, and our staff member was able to support her through labour, and the eventual birth by C-section.
Five days after the birth, Sophie’s baby was taken into care, and she was discharged from hospital. Accommodation was now found for her in a hostel, and our staff member continued to visit and support her as she adjusted to her new circumstances.
We are committed to continuing to work with Sophie, and hope that through the Genesis Group she will be able to take her first steps into a new life of recovery from addiction.
Taking Quiet Time to be with God
There’s a stillness that speaks louder than the noise of the world, but we can easily miss it when we are constantly distracted by our smartphones and the constant stream of social media vying for our attention.
So starting last summer, we decided to provide a refuge at our church in Burnley for people to take some time out from all the hustle and bustle of the world, stop, and turn towards God.
Our Service of Quiet Contemplation every Tuesday afternoon, is a little different from our regular Sunday Service, there’s no singing, no children, and all smartphones must be fully silenced. Contemplation of our relationship with God is lead by Bishop Mick, followed Communion for all attendees.
In the Gospels, Jesus frequently takes time away from crowds, from the actions of his ministry, to spend time talking and listening to his Father in heaven. Following his example is often the easiest thing for Christians to overlook, too busy trying to do and fix things in the world, but if we don’t make time when we can hear what God wants to say to us, them we cannot know his will, and without this our plans all to easily fail and turn to dust.
Service of Quiet Contemplation
Every Tuesday, 3.30pm – 4.30pm
Bethesda Chapel, Bethesda St, Burnley BB11 1PR
Space for Hope in the Caribbean
Our Church in the Dominican Republic has moved into a new building, where they will be ministering to over 500 deprived children and adults.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, you see us in the darkness, and you hear us in the emptiness. You are our protector, and your love for us never fails.
Forgive when we put our faith in the fleeting things of this world, and not in you. Remind us that it is only through your strength that we can be raised up out of the pit of our troubles.
We are grateful to know you, and to know your son, who came to take from us the burden of our sin, so that we may be born again through grace, into a new and eternal life.
Show to us the people we ignore, and those who we reject, so that we may reach out to them and serve them humbly. Let your goodness reside in us, so that we may show friendship to strangers.
Let us never lose sight of glory of your kingdom, and let us always live in the light of that truth, in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
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