Together for Bristol: a Big Vision for a Good Bristol and a Manifesto!

The third Together for Bristol gathering to take the next steps in the “unity for mission” movement in Bristol, took place on 8 October, 2015 at the foyer of Woodlands Christian Centre.

We were challenged by the regional Church Leaders and by Marvin Rees, a candidate for Mayor, to develop a Big Vision for a Good Bristol! We were also asked to produce a Manifesto from the Christian Community in time for the Mayoral Election in May 2016!
Download Marvin's letter, challenging the Christian community here.

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We had a gathering of about 45 church, prayer and sphere leaders to help us produce a draft of these, with several small groups. The spheres of life include Sport, Health, Education and young people, Family, Politics and social action, Arts, Media, and Business and workplace. Download a draft version here.

We also heard about the Bristol Bless Fest from Sheena Tranter (see here). Marvin Rees gave an excellent exhortation to the Church to get on and be practical in politics, for the sake of the city, and warned us against the dangers of being “touch-line prophets”: who stand on the touch-line shouting out what ought to be done, but don’t get stuck in to the mud of the game!
We finished with prayer for the city and different aspects of society and then enjoyed a very good Fareshare lunch. TFB08101509

In November 2014, we had gathered key senior Church Leaders as well as Christian leaders from the spheres of society and prayer movements (click here for a report), to seek God for the next steps in the “unity for mission” movement in the Bristol region, following on from the city-wide gatherings at the last three Pentecosts (Ashton Gate, Castle Park and College Green).

In April 2015, we had gathered again, just before the General Election, with an emphasis on prayer for Politics and Social Action (see here).