'UP' School is up and away!
Seeing prophetic words come to pass can take a long time. Simply open your bible to Genesis and read Abraham and Sarah’s experience - their story gives a very real insight into the highs and lows of waiting.
Some readers might recall Stef Liston and Gordon Watson on the stage of The Call in October 2023 introducing UP: Urban Planting School. They issued an invitation to men and women at the RM leadership conference to the two year course wanting to plant the gospel into urban contexts.
The Call 2023: Many students signed up following an invitation shared at the Relational Mission leadership conference
What many do not know is that the story behind the school began fifteen years ago - when Stef, one of the apostles who serves our family of churches, received a prophetic word about starting an ‘urban church planting school’. Two years later, someone completely unrelated used the same phrase in a similar word.
Yet it was many years before prophecies would become reality.
Words taking shape
Gordon Watson carries the church planting values of Relational Mission close to heart. In 2018, he and his family were sent by Cornerstone City Church in Medway and moved thirty minutes east to lay the foundations for what has become Hope Church Sittingbourne.
Gordon and Stef began having conversations about the planting school. Stef’s vision and teaching gift, coupled with Gordon’s administrative strengths, helped to first clarify and then realise the practicalities of launching the school. It would be a two year course, mixing practical training, spiritual input and missional fellowship, that woul dhelp men and women bear long-lasting fruit in urban settings.
In early 2023, a name and logo for was finalised, a video was shot and edited, and the UP: Urban Planting School was born.
A new school is launched
In October of this year, the Church in Bassett Street hosted the very first training weekend. Over thirty students were gathered together for three days of fellowship, teaching and worship.
The first intake of students hailed from all over the UK and as far as Germany and the USA! They were based at The Church in Bassett Street, in London, located in the heart of a diverse urban community. Amidst first introductions and getting to know one another, there was teaching on the principles of missional pioneering as well as time spent worshiping and enjoying God’s presence.
A few of our UP students share their experience:
Paul (USA)
When you want to say 'yes' to the nudges of the Holy Spirit - when you sing 'All to thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all,' the Holy Spirit might cause you to pause and ask, 'Really...? ALL, huh?’
When I sing ALL, do I really mean ALL? What about resources? Time? Energy? Finances? Because if I'm honest, I should probably sing, 'I surrender most, as much as is convenient at the moment, my blessed Saviour, I surrender SOME.'
Pretty sad, right? When we came across the UP school, the Holy Spirit gave us a nudge. My wife Bobbi and I said, 'Yes - we are ALL in,' and the outcome was amazing!
Radical hospitality, powerful worship, inspiring and encouraging content, instant deep connection with people of like mind, heart, and vision. It was worth more than every ounce of energy exerted, penny spent, and inch traveled! We know God orchestrated for us to be there and expect He has more to come. We are counting down the days until the next weekend when we get to be with our beloved UPeroos, who are also ALL in!
Hannah (UK)
I signed up to join UP with my husband Richard because we love church and wanted God to grow our understanding of how church planting fits in with our life and what we know of church.
It was so encouraging to meet new friends from so many different walks and hear stories of how God is using them to grow His church - it is an awesome thing to hear from Christians giving their everything to see God grow His kingdom!
We had solid teaching from Stef Liston and Gordon Watson that provoked me to reshape some of my thoughts on how God is using me where I am. We also had time for worship and ministry where God spoke clearly to me about laying on him my disappointments.
I left the weekend very much looking forward to our next weekend together; but also feeling refreshed and enthused for what God has before us. I think this is going to be an incredible 2 years watching God move through the UP school!
Their next residential training weekend will see them heading to Sheppey in Kent, home to one of our church plants. Pray for these pioneers as they look to join what God is already doing in their communities.
Get updates from UP School on Instagram.
by Tuuli Platner
The daughter of missionaries and a third culture kid, Tuuli lived in two other continents before her family settled in the UK. She loves serving her local Revelation Church family with student ministry and also God’s wider church in her media and communications role at Relational Mission. More recently, she has stepped into a new adventure of living missionally to reach out to a small community in London.