‘Here’s Hope’

Read how Ringwood’s churches seized on Bible Society’s Custom Scripture on Demand service to bring the gospel to their community.

‘People don’t come to church events, because it’s not cool.’ Adam Skirton, pastor of Poulner Baptist Chapel, says it straight. He had no illusions about the challenges he’d face when his church joined with others in the Hampshire town of Ringwood to plan their Jubilee outreach event last year. But in the end, people did come – by the thousands – and took home copies of Mark’s Gospel.

How did that happen? Well, not overnight, and not just because Ringwood’s churches were able to order customised outreach Gospels through Bible Society.

‘It’s all about relationships,’ Adam says. He leads an outward-facing church, fully involved in the local Churches Together initiative, Love Ringwood, and thoroughly invested in the town beyond its Christian communities. ‘For years I have run the football club at the local school as a parent, then a volunteer.’

The event

He describes Love Ringwood’s strategic masterstroke like this: ‘Back in 2014, rather than putting on a Fun Day for the community, we put it on with the community.’ Various groups in the town came together to break down the barriers between non-Christians and the Church. ‘We got the local Scouts and Brownies and dance groups and many more. They each invited their followings, and 4,000 people came along to be part of it. Then afterwards they were like, “Wow! This was a church event!”’ 

During Ringwood’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in 2022, run with the local council, Adam and his colleagues handed out one and a half thousand Gospels. ‘God gave us a dream that it was going to rain and we needed to go to the exits at a certain point to give them out to people. So we had people running around the place to give them out, then we put the rest of them in wheelbarrows and took them to the exits.’

The booklet

Love Ringwood’s Here’s Hope booklet contained the full text of Mark’s Gospel and some selected quotes from Jesus expressing hope. The team wanted to create an accessible introduction to the Bible for people without a church background. Adam’s church, Poulner Baptist, even ran a sermon series on Mark concurrently, so anyone watching the livestream could easily follow at home with their copy of Here’s Hope.

The booklet provided the perfect opportunity to publish the results of a covid survey the churches had run in the town. The ‘What hurt, what helped, and what are your hopes?’ survey made the alarming discovery that many young people in Ringwood had lost hope in the future, making the outreach booklet’s focus on gospel-centred hope a powerfully relevant response. Along with that, schools contributed poems, pictures and prayers for Ukraine, and there was even a page for local services like the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the foodbank. 

Here’s Hope shows that Custom Scripture isn’t about branding God’s word. It’s showing your community that the Bible is theirs. Even if someone has never been to church, the Bible is their story and they’re already in it. 

‘They’re so easy to give out,’ Adam says. ‘You just say in the community, “Have you had a copy of this? The kids are in it.” And because the kids are in it, they’re queuing up to get them. We haven’t ever put them through doors. They’ve all been given face-to-face – 7,000 of them!’

Adam's tips for united outreach

Build strong church partnerships

Ringwood Churches Together, which has become the community-serving entity ‘Love Ringwood’, grew out of friendships between the town’s ministers. ‘Our Catholic priest in the town, Father Paul, prays for me every day!’ Adam says.

Invest in your local community long term

‘It’s that friendship with the schools,’ Adam says. ‘Go to the schools you’ve got a link with, get them on board with it, then go to the next most interested school. You get to the final school and they want to be in it as everyone else is already in it! Remember, don’t do it for the community, do it with the community, so they’re part of it. Listen to them, as we did with our hope survey, and show how the Bible is relevant to their actual needs.’

Set up serious prayer support

‘Getting a team of people praying behind the scenes is key.’ Love Ringwood, successful as they’ve been bringing the community together – drawing five, six, seven thousand people to events in their small town – aren’t under the impression they’ve found a winning formula. ‘To be honest,’ Adam says, ‘We don’t know what we’re doing with this. It’s a real spiritual battle. I know it sounds obvious for Christians, but only do it if God is telling you to do it.’ 

Where to go now

Explore Custom Scripture on Demand and start planning your community outreach.

Find out more about Love Ringwood and watch videos from their Fun Days on their excellent website.