Welcome Alongside

After seven fruitful years I left The Message Trust at the end of 2011 to start a church placement at St Peter’s Church in Halliwell, Bolton where I will be spearheading their support of St Clement’s Church in Ordsall, inner-city Salford. It is an exciting opportunity to play a part in helping St Clement’s to grow and through which I hope to learn some important lessons that will benefit my training for ordination. I have a passion for the inner-city church and feel it is part of God’s will that I am to be placed at St Peter’s which has a heart to support St Clement’s.

I realise that this will be a challenging mission and have set up this website for my network of supporters which I am calling ‘ALONGSIDE’. The name is inspired by chapter 5, verse 7 of Luke’s gospel, which says in The Message translation: ‘They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch’. I love that picture of one boat coming alongside another and feel called to play a part in helping revive the inner-city church. -- Alan Saunders, January 2012