A Gathering Momentum

“Stories of Christian unity transforming our towns and cities”

Roger Sutton

ISBN: 9781909728752

304 Pages

Published Sep 2017

Mission and Leadership

Paperback £8.99 Kindle £5.99
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A quiet reformation is gathering momentum across the UK and the world…

Church leaders from across the denominational spectrum are coming together in friendship and prayer to seek God’s will for their towns and cities – and transformation is occurring! Beyond the church, Christians in business, health and education, sports, charities and the arts, are strategically collaborating to impact their communities. Sharing common purpose and relational unity, they are discovering the power of working together as one.

This inspirational collection of stories, of Christians bringing cultural, social and spiritual transformation to the places they love, will encourage and amaze. And this is only the beginning – imagine what our communities could be like in 30 years!

A Gathering Momentum invites you to become part of the movement and join with others to fulfil the mission of God for your city or town.

  • A wonderful account of some of what the Lord is up to in bringing Christians together throughout the UK for the sake of their communities. Read it, be inspired and join in.

    Rev Gavin Calver, Director of Mission, Evangelical Alliance
  • Millions pray, "Thy Kingdom come", and this book helps us see what that Kingdom looks like "on earth as it is in heaven". Written from a personal perspective, gathering accounts from around the country, this important book charts new Christian unity movements that are changing lives and transforming communities. Nothing could be more important as we work together in Jesus name.

    Captain Jim Currin, Church Army; Head of Evangelisation, Mission, and Media at Churches Together in England
  • Roger Sutton is a gatherer. A gatherer of stories about cities and about unity across the Church. A gatherer of good news examples of an increasingly amazing move of God connecting Christian leaders across numerous towns and cities. Roger is a gatherer with a clear biblical understanding of the theology of place. Read this gatherer's book to be both encouraged and challenged.

    Lloyd Cooke, Chief Executive, Saltbox Christian Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
  • Unity is something we know reflects the nature of God and yet so often seems to fall into the "too hard" category on our list of things to do! As you read the stories and reflections in this book you will be inspired and encouraged to invest in nurturing partnerships for the sake of the Kingdom. If you long to see God's Kingdom come in your community, then this is a book for you.

    Rev Lynn Green, General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain
  • Roger is a great communicator. Over recent years I have heard him speak several times on this subject. Now as I read his book I "hear" the same passion calling the Church to unity and mission in the communities of the land. This is such an essential message for the Church today, and this book delivers. Great stories, readable theology, practical wisdom with humour, and all couched in a passionate challenge for the Church to be Jesus in our cities and towns. Down to earth and applicable.

    Ian Shelton, National Leader of One Heart Australia, a network linking the unity movements across the nation
  • Roger Sutton has given a gift to the global church by capturing a panoramic view of the flourishing urban church in the United Kingdom. What God is doing through the UK Gather Movement powerfully affirms that the New Reformation is God uniting the Church in major cities globally. Sutton's leadership is one of the many bright spots on the global landscape.

    Dr Mac Pier, CEO and Founder, The NYC Leadership Center; Co-founder Movement Day
  • In A Gathering Momentum, Roger Sutton has captured some of the stories, the vision and the values of what I'm convinced is a God movement. When Roger joined us at the Evangelical Alliance in 2010, the challenge was simple: find out what God is doing in the towns and cities across the UK and how we play our part to see His purposes advance. None of us quite expected what he was to discover – and it wasnt just happening here; it was happening across the world.

    Steve Clifford, General Director, Evangelical Alliance
  • A wonderful thing is happening all over the UK. But you won't read about it in the papers because it's not tragic or scandalous. It's beautiful, and this book throws open windows on to that glorious vista. Roger hasnt sent a team of researchers around the country to glean "good news stories". He knows and loves these people. He has built relationships with them, and through Gather and Movement Day UK those relationships are bearing fruit. I challenge you to read this book and not come away full of faith and hope for what is possible in our nation and beyond.

    Andy Flanagan, Director of Christians in Politics; singer/ songwriter
  • This is an inspiring and imagination-expanding book. It not only captures the extraordinary impact that friendship, prayer and purposeful unity among church leaders can have on a town but also shows us the first fruits of what such unity among lay Christians across the sectors can produce. Bravo.

    Mark Greene, Executive Director, LICC
  • The original meaning of the word ecclesia – translated in the New testament as "church" – can be expressed as "a group of concerned citizens coming together to discuss the future of their city". Such a definition fits perfectly with the thrilling vision of Christian unity and action offered in A Gathering Momentum. This is a story Roger Sutton is uniquely positioned to tell. In twenty-two years of pastoral ministry and now seven years working with unity movements in the UK and around the world, he has seen from the inside what it takes to bring transformation to the places we inhabit. Passionate in equal measure for the revealing of God's Kingdom and for the unity of the Church, Roger has discovered that sweet spot where prayer and activism meet and unity and transformation collide. The result is a beautiful account of places where the flowers of the Kingdom are breaking through the concrete of our cities. This book is more, though, than an archive of achievements, inspiring as they are. It is above all an invitation to us all to join a movement that has God's fingerprints all over it: to come together in prayer, cooperation and shared commitment to the transformation of the places God has set us in.

    Gerard Kelly, Co-director of the Bless Network
  • As a local church leader in Roger Sutton's home city of Manchester, I can wholeheartedly testify to his unrelenting vision and passion for the unity of Christ's Church. But this book is not merely an appeal for sentimental expressions of goodwill and understanding. This book offers evidence that something much more powerful is possible. Built on the foundation of genuine love and relationship, members and leaders can work strategically together across their churches to see more of God's kingdom come in the places where they live and work. Roger's pursuit of this dream has made its mark on my own life and ministry and I urge us all in the church to listen to what he has to say here.

    Richard Anniss, Kings Church in Greater Manchester
  • The Kingdom agenda has always been for Jesus Christ to be present, active and bring to Himself every part of global existence. This mandate is the marching order of the Church. Roger Sutton, has a bird's eye view on this reality in the UK like no one else I know. This book masterfully documents and communicates this reality, showing evidence of a growing unity in the church, where people are beginning to lift up their eyes towards a greater vision of praying and working for the transformation of the spiritual, social and cultural challenges of their town or city. As you read this book, you will be inspired to love God, love others, and love the places God has sent us to.

    Alan Platt, Global Leader, Doxa Deo & City Changers
  • Having been engaged with citywide movements since the early 80's, I am heartened by Roger and his UK colleagues taking Jesus' highest command seriously, not with standard lip-service, but radical sacrifice. What most got my attention was Roger's dreams for Trafford, his own Burrough, his town, with its mix of troubles and treasures. A Gathering Momentum has in-the-trench nuggets to help grow God's kingdom in your parish, and trans-locally to other communities that hunger for real-deal John 17 unity. "Sir Roger" nails what we're really about in his closing chapter: "a generational commitment of sacrifice and service to a place." Movement? Momentum? Perhaps a virtual, global reformation of how we "do church." Friends...we're in it!

    Tom White, Frontline Ministries, Coordinator, Global Cities Leadership Community, City Gospel Movement National Team (USA)

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