“I will bless you … so that you will be a blessing.”  

Wow! What a year it has been. As I sit and write this report on behalf of the elders I’ve paused to reflect on all that God has done. Looking back to January 2023, and the unveiling of the year of blessing, I remember excitement and anticipation, the expectation of what God had in store.  

I know that I have been greatly blessed this year. Perhaps you have too? It has been amazing to hear all the stories of answered prayers, of miracles, of the supernatural breaking through to the natural and the development and practice of spiritual gifts.  

We are thankful and blessed by our amazing volunteers and their acts of service across all the different groups, services and locations. Thank you for all you do and for your time and commitment to other members, visitors and the staff team.

We are blessed by the workers at Ivy Café and the numbers of local community groups using our buildings. There have been Praise and Worship nights, a Freedom in Christ course, FLOW, Healing Club, 20-30’s group and youth stepping up and stepping out into their calling, as well as our amazing kids work and the opportunities for families to learn about God together. There were “As it is in Heaven” evenings, our women took on Arise, there were men’s meet-ups, Jonathon Conrathe’s teaching and the healing weekend, Launch, CAP families becoming freed from debt, many events over Christmas … the list goes on and you will read many more stories of blessing throughout this report.

Thank you to Anthony, our senior leader, for your dedication, faithfulness, and servant leadership. Your guidance on being naturally supernatural has been invaluable. We appreciate your commitment to taking a sabbatical for rest, review and reset, as inspired by God's guidance.  

A big thank you to the entire staff team for your dedication, teaching, leadership, time, and love, especially demonstrated through the period of Anthony’s sabbatical. We are truly thankful for each one of you and appreciate everything you do.

Please join me in showing your love and appreciation for Andy Lee and Jane Edwards who are stepping down as elders, having faithfully served for many years. We thank and honour you both for the selfless ways that you have served; you have embodied the principles of eldership. Andy and Jane demonstrate servant hearts, are faithful to do what they say they will do, pray, study the word and seek God for wisdom and direction, loving Ivy and all its members wholeheartedly. We thank you for the blessings you have given to the Ivy family and we pray grace and favour into whatever the Lord calls you to next.

In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham to leave his hometown for a new land, promising to make him a great nation and bless him. Abraham obeys, goes on the journey, and is blessed by God. But there's more to the story, God explains, "I'll bless you, and you'll be a blessing... and everyone on Earth will be blessed through you." So, God's promise to bless Abraham is just the start of a bigger plan to share that blessing with all people through him. This promise reveals God's heart, showing his love for the entire world and his intention from the beginning to offer salvation to all people.

As a Christian, no matter your situation, you've received remarkable gifts of blessing: faith, hope, and love. Along with these, you've been given the means of grace and the hope of glory. Having Christ means you possess everything of eternal value. All that God bestows upon us is ultimately for the benefit of others, especially those who don't yet know him. The principle of "Blessed to be a blessing" is fundamental for all who, through faith, become part of God's people. The blessings we receive are meant to be shared, beginning with the priceless blessing of salvation from sin.  

As we step into 2024 and all that this new year has to bring, may we continue to be transformed, to develop in Christ, to step out and be bold, to truly be a supernatural church community that is all about Jesus, sharing His love and good news of salvation; the greatest blessing of all.  

The Ivy Church Movement Team supports those in the church that are actively making disciples and leading new churches (what we used to call micro churches) as well as helping train more people. The team has grown this year to include Carolyn Chukwu who is helping with ongoing support and coaching and Susan Anthony who has joined as our Prayer Champion.

The Ivy Church disciple makers and new church leaders meet once a month for online Movement Gatherings to share stories, learn from each other, continue to develop through practical and inspirational training and pray together. This year Joyce Gbeleyi has taken over organising and leading these calls and they have been fantastic!

The Discipleship Pathway Course was led by Joyce Gbeleyi and Jenny Quigley in October, training a new group of people from Ivy Church in how to become and make new disciples. The Youth Hub have also been going through the Discipleship Pathway course, as well as another group meeting during the day.

This year we have continued to gather Ivy Men in the men’s ministry to help them mature as disciples with a breakfast, a walk and a curry night. Phil Booth and Tim Cooke have been taking the lead on planning and organising events this year with a plan for more next year. Watch this space!

Ladybridge Connect continues to connect with members of the community that their point of need across a variety of areas. We want to celebrate Jenny Quigley joining the team in May. We also want to thank Rob Jackson for his service and leadership as a Director of LCL and welcome Richard Ingle to the team.

Whilst experiencing record months, the high standards of service and food preparation have continued, reflected in a successful inspection by the Food Standards Agency, resulting in us maintaining our 5-star rating.

The cafe is intrinsic to the missional culture at Ladybridge Connect and the introduction of the Prayer Box and a dedicated prayer team has revealed a diverse range of needs amongst our community that we have been able to pray for. We have also seen an increase in opportunities to come alongside some of our regular customers to pray and help meet their practical needs. To quote one recipient, “I have never experienced kindness like you showed me. I will never forget it.”

We have seen a significant increase in the use of the Brockbank Centre for room hire and the site is being used to meet a wide range of the local community’s needs. Alongside providing quality and affordable facilities for fitness classes, local schools, charities, the local authority, and commercial organisations, we provide facilities for many regular groups. We have also had several missional events run from the Brockbank Centre which have been well attended by those seeking faith.

In October we hosted the local Liberal Democrats. While booking this meeting the councillor enquired as to what we do and why we do it and I explained about Jesus’ statement in Luke 4, “good news to the poor … release the captives … sight for the blind … set the oppressed free … .“ As a result I was invited to speak at their meeting on health and social care, which I duly did and in doing so was able to speak about Jesus. Incredible!

While we are grateful to our staff team, the Ivy Church Discipleship Pathway does not necessarily always have a named leader responsible for each element. As other churches around the world utilise Ivy’s model in places with fewer resources, they may not be able to staff each area of the pathway, and we continue to seek the Lord as to the best ways forward in all our staffing as we ‘equip the saints for the work of ministry.’ (Ephesians 4), knowing that every member is a minister.

The Deliver area incorporates what most would understand as “pastoral care”, and we share that care as a church family. As Senior Leader, I have been involved in some extremely challenging and complex, private pastoral situations this year. I have had support in that, as appropriate, from my fellow Elders or from a staff member, and we have sourced or signposted specialist counselling or received expert safeguarding advice, which we always follow.

“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

I know a great deal of care is given by our Grow Group leaders. I am so very grateful to those of you who help us shepherd the church in such ways, week in week out. Thanks also to the often-unheralded, quiet but essential work of support and kind listening to all those in the Ivy Care team.

The amazing work of our CAP centre continues to see people set free from the slavery of debt. Please join me as I pray that more and more of those subsequently helped will find true freedom forever through a relationship with Christ too.

Thanks again- remember, whether or not what you do is visible, it’s valuable!

I just wanted to share a few messages, as I am sure you will find it so encouraging:

Friend of a client: " Thanks so much for all you've done to help X, it's had a huge impact on his walk with God as well as getting him free from debt."

Debt-free client: "Praise be unto our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit. Through our heavenly father all things are possible. And I’d like to thank everyone who God used to help me. The Lord truly heard my cries and he did it. AMEN"

A support worker: " Your service has been outstanding in terms of efficiency and knowledge and was very compassionate too”.

Debt-free client: "I am so happy! I have tears in my eyes, thanks so much for everything!”

Through the continued generosity of Ivy, we were also able to bless clients with food shops, phone top-ups, a primary school leavers hoodie, a cooker, bedding, insolvency fees and many more things. Thank you.

Over the past year, God's faithfulness has been evident in every step of our journey. We are grateful for all the things we’ve done and shared together as a community.

In February, we had our corporate Prayer & Fasting week, ending by breaking fast and worshipping together. This was a special week, a new experience for some and many developed a deeper connection with Jesus during this time. It’s something we want to keep as a regular rhythm as part of Devote at Ivy.

In August we had our Summer of Devotion with various community based activities in the mornings and with 3 Ivy Centrals as we welcomed Anthony back from sabbatical. It was important to us that we stayed connected over the summer, and that we gave time to listen to what God had been saying to Anthony while he was on sabbatical.

We have continued with online Friday Faith Lifts, mainly led by Anthony and supported by the staff team. What a blessing these have been to our Ivy family and beyond!

Our Sunday online services are still going well with a faithful community. Many have commented that it’s so useful to have the online services if they are unable to make it in person.

Our Prayer and Worship nights have become a dedicated space where we've come together to worship freely and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

There has been a sense of establishment although it’s still a journey. We've seen our worship teams step up with eagerness and commitment, serving wholeheartedly every week. Our team is growing with more members, but also in their worship to Jesus. Despite challenges, we have amazing people who always work together to make things happen. We are seeing people who are stepping up realising their gifting in music but also a love for worship. This is wonderful to see!

Our tech teams are also brilliant. Technology is always unpredictable but our team is developing their problem solving skills and are doing an amazing job! I’m very thankful for this team who make everything happen! Overall, there has been a growing sense of togetherness within the teams which is a joy.

We have a wonderful Devote Core Team who are dedicated to praying for our church and to lead the Prayer and Worship nights. We had a retreat day in November to pray and seek God in our vision for the New Year. It’s a very exciting time and I look forward to sharing this with you this year!

2023 has been such a great year for the DEVELOP aspect of the Discipleship Pathway.

We have continued with regular Grow Group Leaders and Grow Group Connect team meetings throughout the year. The meetings have provided valuable times of discussion, reflection, sharing of information and equipping our leaders to help lead you. Our leaders are amazing and we are very thankful to each of them. We’ve also seen new leaders raised up, new groups beginning and new people joining groups and giving their lives to Jesus! If you’re not yet part of a Grow Group do get plugged in. They are such a great way of being community together and beyond.

We have met together as worship leaders and Sunday service hosts to gather and pray and share together and we will continue to do that in 2024, as we have new leaders and hosts stepping up and into those roles.

Over the past 6 months we have been running a 3 Step Speakers Collective Course with 8 of our church members taking part. These evenings have been so wonderful. Each person’s word shared has been very different yet inspiring. The course will continue in 2024 so watch this space as we hear from some of these amazing folk!

The Freedom In Christ course was also brilliant! 7 team members helped lead and facilitate the evenings. 14 people from our Ivy family completed the course and have all come away understanding more about themselves, more about Jesus and have more freedom! Praise God!

The staff team have continued to have a dedicated time to learn and grow as leaders through a staff college and we will continue to keep on learning in 2024.

Specifics aside, we have seen so many of you step into gaps you see, lead from within, and come to us with ideas of what you would like to do. I am here to help equip you in as many ways as I can. I’m excited for 2024!

With love,

Louise

Ivy has been such an important strategic partner in this vision, championing the equipping of God’s people in Kingdom Theology, not just for its members, but for Manchester and its surrounding regions. 50 students have been from our Ivy family, wonderfully highlighting a church culture that values depth and maturity in discipleship and promotes thought-through kingdom living. Testimonies from students speak of the ongoing transformative nature of their studies, which continue to have impact on their ‘faith in action’ years down the line.

July 2023 marked the beginning of my journey as the WTC Hub Director for Manchester, and it has been a wonderful few months. We have a vibrant, caring, supportive Hub community who bless my heart each time we meet, in how they pursue the heart of God as they gather to worship and study together. We have 17 students in the Hub studying at different stages of BA’s, Grad Diplomas and MA’s, all from different backgrounds and with different reasons for studying. Everyone has a different story, but all are being transformed by their studies and by each other. WTC is an amazing resource and as our Hub Church, Ivy is facilitating the growth and strengthening of the kingdom more than many probably would realise, so a huge “Thank You!” As applications open up in January we look forward to welcoming new students as we continue to invest in mature kingdom-minded followers of Jesus.

Later in Luke we are told that Jesus commissions us to be witnesses of his suffering and resurrection, and to proclaim the repentance for the forgiveness of sins as he clothes us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are passionate about helping the lost find their way back to God and become part of a supernatural community that’s all about Jesus.

This is why over the last year we have continued to equip people in discipleship training and support those continuing to disciple others and even start churches themselves.

As a church body we have enjoyed reaching others in all kinds of ways from Ivy Buds to Ivy Gold, refugee dinners, Ivy Cafe, All Togethers and much more.

As we encourage one another, train and reach others, we are not only seeing new disciples made but we are developing and maturing our own discipleship and walk with Jesus.

Our mission partners inspire us as they serve specific communities, people groups and places. Henneke and her team are spending precious time with female refugees in Greece as they share the trauma they are going through and hear of the hope in Jesus. One of our mission partner families took the courageous decision to follow God’s call to another nation and in recent weeks have experienced some of the upheaval and uncertainty of immigration as they had to move quickly to a nearby country to reapply for visas. They continue praying, seeking the lost and sharing the gospel with those they meet. Needs are being met through all our mission partners and many of us at Ivy in incredible ways. This is happening in our streets, communities, and to far flung places in Southern Africa, South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Through Launch God is using us as a catalyst to encourage other churches and see new churches start to do similar things. We are excited for what God will do in the year ahead building on all he has done through us in 2023.

Last year Tobbias Ngala took over as the Regional Director for Western Europe with Tim Burr continuing on the team as the Relationship Catalyst. One of NewThing’s unique offerings is the Movement System, a proven series of catalysts that help established churches multiply disciples, leaders, churches, networks and movements. This year we have been running Movement System training in Chester, Geneva, Berlin and Lviv with opportunities developing in Denmark and Sweden next year. We are developing a team of people who are learning how to facilitate the Movement System for others so the mission can continue to grow and multiply.

In April we hosted a Movement and Network Leaders retreat that gathered leaders from across Europe to talk, dream, pray into what it will take to see new church planting movements that will help people find their way back to God across Western Europe.

In 2023 we multiplied LAUNCH itself, gathering hundreds of leaders for North (Manchester) and South (Buckinghamshire) for ‘The King And The Kingdom’. We partnered with major national organisations including Compassion UK, Hope For Justice and Movement Leaders Collective to create connection opportunities for our kingdom-minded leaders with several national church planting networks.

Next year sees LAUNCH growing further, gathering 3E people in Manchester and Buckinghamshire in the Spring and expanding even further in 2024 as we launch into Scotland in the Autumn, encouraging and equipping leaders to model, mentor and multiply more apostolic hubs across the nations. Why not plan to come along to LAUNCH in Manchester on Saturday 27 April. We’d love to see you there!

We have welcomed some new families to Ivy Kids on Sundays and we are loving getting to know their children during our sessions. We have also met a number of friends of Ivy Kids families at our Family Summer Hang Outs. These were great for making new friendships and providing a place for children to play safely while adults were able to chat over coffee and cake! Ivy Kids football meet-ups have added to this. And of course we hosted a Light Party and the wonderful Grotto and Nativity Trail this year, which was fully booked and through which we welcomed over 200 children and their families. The team serving at this event made it a huge success and the visitors were blessed by the generous hospitality of Ivy Church as well as the wonderful experience of the Grotto and Nativity.

Ivy Buds has continued to go from strength to strength. Both sessions are full each week with around 80 children plus carers from our community. These families are loved and served by the team and invited and welcomed at other events. Many came to the grotto and the Christingle. We would love to see more team so we can continue to develop the relationships we are building.

The Sensory Space is a real blessing to those who use it, with a steady number of repeat bookings, each with a beautiful story of the impact it has. Please pray that the word spreads and more families take the opportunity to book in.

Over the year we have seen our Ivy Kids grow in their relationships with Jesus and their bible understanding. It is such a blessing to see how they are discipling one another and to witness their desire to see the supernatural power of God through the gifts of the Spirit. Their faith and prayers for one another are such an example of the simple yet profound faith we are all called to have!

Bring on 2024!

With these values being firmly rooted for nearly 3 years, 2023 was a year where we saw their benefits, becoming a high impact youth ministry. In August we took 32 young people to the Limitless Festival and 6 young people made the decision to follow Jesus for the first time there. Limitless was also a great time for the young people’s friendships to flourish.

We have looked at so many great topics this year, including what the youth want to start building today for a better church in the future. We looked at what it means and looks like to be a teenager growing up in 2023, exploring the pros and cons of being the first generation to grow up with a smart phone in their pockets. Woven into every group session is the attempt to reach the deepest needs of the youth of today, in a time which I personally believe is the hardest ever to be a teenager. Not only have we looked to meet the needs of the youth, but after one session of looking at how God can use us now to make a difference for others, a group of young people came up with the idea of making sandwiches for Barnabus and have joined the rota.

In July we waved goodbye to 10 Year 13 students who graduated from Ivy Youth. We transitioned new people into the Hub group of sixth form students, which has been a great success as we look to help them mature as disciples. With the success of Hub we launched a Cheadle Hulme house group that meets weekly in homes, with youth from Years 9-12 discussing what it means to follow Jesus.

In addition to the group nights, we had 7 YTH Nights this year, an incredible opportunity for everyone to get together and bring mates along. Highlights include the graduation night in July, commissioning the leavers, the silent disco and partying to Jesus being the light of the world, as well as our final YTH NIGHT of the year which saw 56 young people gather to hear a talk about Jesus, play some great games, sing karaoke and experience the Hub Nativity, which was everyone's 2023 highlight!

We are so grateful for what God is doing in this generation, to all the parents and guardians who sacrifice so they can get their youth to Ivy Youth and to all the team who serve incredibly well, Ivy Youth really wouldn’t be possible without you!

We’ve been blessed by a number of guest speakers over the year, including Ken Gott, Phil le Dune, Sarah- Jane Biggart and Bjorn Lutke, as well as Ivy members who have also diligently and faithfully spent hours listening to God and preparing talks for us. We’d like to thank Bernard Sword, Lynne Swart, Laura Anthony, Sarah Small and Sarah Haynes for this blessing.

We want to say thank you to those who have led groups and activities, including basketball, Ivy@ Work sessions and mentoring, Wave of Light, prayer meetings, Board Games and Healing Club. There have been special events and courses, including Quiztastic, the Blessing Course and the amazing performance of the Gospel of Mark by Matt Britton.

Hospitality has continued to be at the heart of what we offer and we’re thankful for the 20s/ 30s (now Ivy Young Adults) team and those who’ve served regularly to offer monthly meals for refugees living locally in hostel accommodation, as well as the brilliant team volunteering at our termly Ivy Gold tea parties and the Friday Night Supper crew.

As a staff team we’ve been blessed by your encouragement and support in so many, varied ways. It was amazing to see you step up and own your ministries, with absolute excellence- it was honestly beautiful and we love serving with you.

Comings and goings

This year, as always, we have seen people step into new things with God, joining or leaving the staff and eldership teams.

We have said farewell to Abi Shuttleworth and welcomed Mary Thomason to the role of WTC Hub Director, as well as adding the brilliant Jenny Quigley to the Ivy Cafe team.

We’ve also said goodbye to Gemma Tuson who’s stepped down from her staff team role, though she continues to support Luke at Ivy Youth. We miss her creative skills and prophetic wisdom and are very grateful that our youth continue to have her leadership.

We’ve welcomed Matt Donaldson as a leadership resident and have loved all he’s contributed across the whole team.

We echo Julia’s thanks to Andy Lee and Jane Edwards as they end their terms as elders, for the myriad ways they have led and blessed us all.

We’re thrilled to have welcomed two new elders this year, Julia Scott and Phil Booth. We’re already thankful for their wisdom and commitment as they join the team in guarding and guiding the vision and mission of Ivy.

We’re also deeply grateful for Rob Jackson as he’s stepped down as a director of Ladybridge Connect. Rob, your contribution is unquantifiable and we are in awe of all you’ve done there. We’re excited to welcome Richard Ingle as a new director and look forward to him stepping into the role, with all his gifts and passion, as he works alongside Ann Ball and Keith Nelson who continue to excel in their role as directors.

If you have read to this point, well done and thank you. 2023 has been a busy year and we pray that you continue to be blessed and a blessing as you step with us into 2024, becoming transformed into disciples who make disciples.