Sharing faith, building community and doing church differently with Ignite!
11 May 2025
The sharp-eyed among you may have noticed some recent press and social media adverts for our newly published book Ignite: How to share faith, build community and do church differently by Patrick and Debbie Ellisdon.
Ignite is model of church that is radically new or radically old: it subverts many of the inherited church’s way of doing things and instead goes right back to the way Jesus did things.
As Rose Hudson-Wilkin, bishop of Dover, says in her foreword to the book:
Jesus got in trouble with the religious leaders of his day for making a beeline for those whom they did not consider to be respectable. He hung out with people on the edges of society, those who did not easily fit into organised religion or the social pecking order… Jesus saw no societal barrier to the people that he loved, taught, healed and prayed with.
Created by Patrick and Debbie Ellisdon, Ignite is a tried and tested model following Jesus’ example of building relationships and sharing faith with people where they are, in their own communities. Through eating and exploring faith together, Ignite shares the gospel in both word and action, while also supporting peopleʼs essential needs. This book sets out how to plan and run Ignite in your context. It covers building and supporting a team, how best to set up for Ignite and the style in which it should be delivered. Pre-planned ʻrunning ordersʼ provide two yearsʼ worth of weekly material including video clips, table discussions, quizzes, short talks, craft activities, drama and prayer responses.
With passion and prayer, perseverance and hard work, Ignite really works. But don’t take our word for it. Read some of the many comments Ignite guests have made, testifying to the difference Ignite has made to their lives.
These snapshots come from different Ignites within Canterbury Diocese and span the years that Ignite has been running. We have altered names to protect people’s identities.
What is Ignite?
We think that the best answer to the difficult question ‘what is Ignite?’ came from a guest in our first Ignite replication. His friend asked, ‘What is Ignite?’ He replied:
It’s not like a church, it’s not religious, more like a social club, but I have learnt a lot about God!
Over the years we have worked with many people with learning difficulties, welcoming them, accepting their differences and helping them – like others – to understand how faith is equally relevant to them. One such member said this about Ignite:
I come to Ignite because I like being around Christians and talk about the verses (Bible), and also I like having a cup of tea here! Thank you!
On one occasion we were looking at the Trinity, not an easy concept for many people. We asked people to write down what they know about God, getting responses like: ‘He made the world’, ‘He heals people’, ‘He forgives us’, ‘He doesn’t exist’. We invited them to place what they had written on a big noticeboard, under a heading of Father, Son or Holy Spirit. Watching one member who has learning difficulties, with great excitement putting ‘He baptised me’ under Holy Spirit and re-affirming this to herself was amazing! Knowing that she was growing in her understanding and experience of faith was a privilege.
It’s not like a church, it’s not religious, more like a social club, but I have learnt a lot about God!
Meeting people where they are
Ignite tries to meet people where they are and help them move forward in faith, while fully accepting and supporting them in the difficulties that they experience in life. One guest told us:
My faith has been challenged over the past couple of years and I’ve doubted, you know, God’s deserted me, he’s left me. And then I came here, and everyone sort of lifts me up. We have a chat and a prayer, and it puts everything back into perspective.
This work can be difficult. People come with different experiences and present challenges; they almost need to know that we will still care for them if they are difficult. Amanda came to Ignite following contact with the food bank; she was experiencing significant family difficulties and financial worries. We supported her with food and advice and provided her with pastoral support. Within an Ignite evening, she was difficult to manage – her need to get all she could for herself and her family led to her displaying a very selfish, lying attitude, which often disrupted the evenings. In truth she was quite a challenge to love.
From a very difficult beginning Ignite team members slowly built a relationship with her, and we saw a real change in her and the way she relates to others. She began to see a different way and started embracing new, healthier relationships and behaviours. We were seeing her display a kinder, more caring attitude towards others and their needs, replacing the ‘angry at the world’ attitude. We really saw her grow.
I come to Ignite because I like being around Christians and talk about the Bible, and also I like having a cup of tea here! Thank you!
Battling addictions
Working with people who are battling addictions, we have seen them commit to faith and develop a will to change their lifestyle. Sadly, we have not seen instant freedom for people from addictions, but we have supported them through their journey to a life free from drugs.
Now, I come here, and I help, when (previously) I used to come here as an addict. I’m a strong person now; I pray a lot more.
Debbie had a soft spot for a local drug addict who, for many years, came into Ignite, mainly for food, begging for money or for a warm place to be. She was always rushing around needing money for her next fix. Debbie recalls:
One evening she sat with me while Patrick led a meditation. As she relaxed, I could see her engaging with what was being said. When Patrick finished, she gave me a hug and said, ‘Debbie, there is a God, isn’t there?’
Debbie agreed that she was right and that God loved her. She left Ignite happily, having made a connection with God, who knew her and loved her. Sadly, however, she died a few days later. Debbie knew that she had encountered God that night and felt God’s tangible peace. She was engaging with God, and without Ignite this may never have happened for her.
Paul struggled with mental health issues and had been off work but felt safe and at home at Ignite. He accepted prayer and help regarding his challenges, and people noticed positive changes in his mood and confidence since accepting Jesus into his life.
Christine had her children taken into care and spent a short time in prison. She came to Ignite lonely and lost. It was here that she started enjoying life again:
It’s nice that Christ is at the centre of it all. Games, loads of activities, quizzes and even craft activities!
I come into this place, and I go out feeling happier than when I come in. And I like to say a prayer… I light a candle… I wouldn’t come here if I didn’t like Ignite.
A place people enjoy
For many people Ignite has become a place that they enjoy coming to. They meet with church friends and encounter God, who meets them where they are. Essentially all that Ignite is doing is creating an environment that promotes people engaging with God. We support the work that God is doing in their lives. It’s not our work; it’s God’s.
I come into this place, and I go out feeling happier than when I come in. And I like to say a prayer… I light a candle… I wouldn’t come here if I didn’t like Ignite.
We hope that one thing has shone through all that you’ve read here and in the book as a whole: We believe – completely and utterly – that relationships are key!
Whether with your fellow church members, with your (soon to be, we hope) Ignite team or with everyday, ordinary people from your local community, relationships are absolutely key.
If you build genuine friendships with people, where you are willing to make yourself open and vulnerable, then you will earn the right to speak into people’s lives and share your thoughts and ideas with them, especially when you want to share the good news of Jesus.
And if eventually you launch an Ignite, being so relationally minded will add to the quality of your welcome, because everyone will be treated as friends. It will also encourage people to participate and contribute, because we are obviously interested in what they think.
There are no official or unofficial hoops to jump through or membership criteria to be met. People who come to Ignite automatically belong. Why? Because we are intentionally relational, and we want people to feel like they belong.
Now, I come here, and I help, when I used to come here as an addict. I’m a strong person now; I pray a lot more.
Last word
Finally, we want to bring you one last quote. It’s a poem, written in the Celtic tradition, from the book The Edge of Glory by David Adam, and it manages to encapsulate so much that we’ve been writing about. (Insightful chap, that David.)
There is a wonderful way to discover God – in the
other.
There is an openness and receptiveness in our lives that
makes room for the Christ.
Our mission is not to bring Christ to others, but to
discover that he is there and reveal his presence.
When theology palls and mysticism seems empty there is
still the third way – our neighbour.
‘I sought my God,
My God I could not see. I sought my soul,
My soul eluded me.
I sought my brother
And I found all three.’
