Who are we?
Together4Bristol (T4B) is also known as Churches Together in Greater Bristol (CTGB). T4B is a growing movement of churches, prayer groups, and networks across the whole, or spheres, of life.
CTGB employs an Enabler of Mission and Unity, Roger Allen (10 hours a week). He helps bring together an enabling group across the churches and facilitating groups across the Prayer and Sphere networks.
T4B is accountable to the senior regional Church Leaders (the Presidents):
Bishop Renford Brown - (Bristol Black Churches Council)
Revd Nigel Coles - (West of England Baptist Association)
Majors Ian and Jean Harris - (The Salvation Army, Severn and Somerset Division)
The Rt Rev Vivienne Faull - (Bishop of Bristol, Church of England)
The Rt Revd Declan Lang - (Bishop of Clifton, Catholic)
Revd Dr Jonathan Pye - (Bristol Methodist District)
Rob Scott-Cook - (Celebration Churches Network)
Revd Ruth Whitehead - (South Western Synod, United Reformed Church)
Revd Eric Aidoo - (Chair)
Our Vision
Transforming Bristol Together
We long to see...
the WHOLE Christian community working together in unity to be good news in the WHOLE of life in the Bristol region.
What we do
Gather
To build relationships and unity
Foundations for Together4Bristol were built through four gatherings for thousands to attend, at Ashton Gate in 2012, a Party at Castle Park, a conference at Colston Hall in 2013, and at College Green in 2014.
The spheres of life have also held various gatherings for hundreds, for example about the arts and global justice, workplace, health and family issues. For example, in 2018, the Politics and Social Action sphere (aka Christian Action Bristol, CAB) had a conference at City Hall. About half the attendees came from the Christian community, including church leaders, and half were people of goodwill, including the Mayor, Cabinet, Councillors and key people from business and charities.
Grow
To learn from God and each other
Three times a year, there is a Prayer Breakfast with the Mayor, with 50 to 100 church leaders, who pray together for one another, and for the whole of life across the city.
We learn from each other and increasingly gain a vision for transforming the city and the whole of life.At the Going Deeper conference, at the Colston Hall in 2013, there were seminars to explore issues in the spheres of life. There have been numerous other smaller gatherings across the spheres, prayer networks and churches, such as Keyboard's forums for pastors of black-led churches, to learn together and for prayer.
Go!
To act together and as individuals
There have been various Offers to the council's City Office from the Christian community. These have been led by CAB and have connected with some of the other spheres. For example, in 2020, the Bristol Churches Winter Night Shelter involved 16 churches and 500 volunteers. Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) is working with 18 churches to provide mentors for children in local schools. Social Prescribing helps GP surgeries link patients with activities in local churches. There are Breakfast Clubs in 30 schools and Christians played a key role in Feeding Bristol, which fed 5k children over 50k meals over the summer holidays in 2019, with the help of about 600 volunteers from local companies.
At the Ashton Gate stadium gathering in 2012 we prayed for and released thousands of everyday Christians to help transform the whole of life in the Bristol region and we long to see this continue to grow in the future!
GATHERING, GROWING and GOING... releasing followers of Jesus who are passionate to see His love and justice impact every aspect of life in the Bristol region.
See the Timeline for examples of how we have done this over the years!
Our Values
The WHOLE Christian community, the WHOLE of life
Relate with ALL
To build relationships is key: with God and across the whole Christian community.
Reconcile ALL
To help reconcile the whole Christian community, to learn from God and each other.
Release ALL
To help release every Christian to bring the good news of Jesus Christ, in word and deed, to individuals and to every aspect of society.
Jesus came “to bring life in ALL its fullness” (John 10:10), to “reconcile ALL things to himself” (Colossians 1: 20) and to “make disciples of ALL nations” (Matthew 28:19)
Our Basis of Faith
Together4Bristol unites in pilgrimage those Churches in England which, acknowledging God’s revelation in Christ, confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures, and, in obedience to God’s will and in the power of the Holy Spirit commit themselves:
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to seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another in the Church, which is his body; and
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to fulfil their mission to proclaim the Gospel by common witness and service in the world
to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
