Roy Crowne: Taking Hope Global

Roy shares the key principles for mission that he is ready to take beyond the UK with Hope Global.

‘One of the things you discover, when you catch an idea or the wind of God’s spirit, is that God tends to say the same thing in all sorts of places, all over the world,’ said Roy Crowne, President of HOPE Together, talking about the new connections that have recently opened up for him across the globe. ‘And unity - working together - has been something that God has been birthing right across the world. And now, we’ve been invited to various other nations who are saying, “We’ve seen what you’ve modelled and what you’ve done – how did that work, and are there some aspects of it that we can recreate here?”

God tends to say the same thing in all sorts of places, all over the world

‘So what I’m saying to people is “We’re here! Can we help and can we serve?”’ said Roy. ‘Are there transferable principles that will enable the particular blessings of God that we’ve seen here, to happen in your nation, too? We are just coming humbly, wanting also to learn from you - because you are doing some things that we don’t do.’

Roy’s experience with HOPE Together over the last ten years has led him to identify a number of these core ‘principles’ for mission, which he now feels led to share where they are useful. They include:

A central focus on relationships ‘We don’t always realise what we have in the UK, in terms of churches working together and ministries working together,’ said Roy. ‘What we modelled over 10 years, particularly from HOPE 08, is an ability to get the church working together. Together, we’re so much stronger - we can do so much more.’
Finding a shared, core basis on which to act ‘For HOPE, that was “words and actions” - extravagant acts of kindness, but also communicating the gospel. That was very clearly what we did – and we managed, in a phenomenal way really, to hold the tension of the two. That was what brought the sense of unity.’
Learning to make the most of key calendar moments. ‘Just capitalising on events like Easter, Christmas and Mothers’ Day – embracing those in our communities, but at the same time, putting the church at the heart of what those communities do’ has been something that’s been really significant as part of HOPE Together’s mission in the UK.
Embracing diversity A key finding of the evaluation of the HOPE 08 initiative was that black majority churches had not been sufficiently involved. ‘I then humbly, cap in hand, went along and started having conversations - I started listening,’ said Roy. He took on board the need to allow different voices to shape what the work of HOPE looked like. ‘And the fruit of that – God’s favour and blessing on unity and working together – has been amazing.’
Understanding the context ‘I think we hit on something when we asked the question, “What do people think of Jesus?”’ said Roy. HOPE’s ‘Talking Jesus’ research yielded some unexpected answers about what the UK public think about Jesus, creating useful insights for communicating about him in our nation.
Creating resources that speak to the needs of our communities Roy’s conversations with leaders from other nations have suggested that The Wellbeing Journey video series might be something with use beyond just the UK setting. ‘Leaders from other countries have said, “Wellbeing is THE issue that we’re all struggling with!”’ said Roy. He is keen to share HOPE’s resources wherever they are useful.

With all that in mind – why not start a conversation? ‘If we can help - if we can serve - here we are!’ said Roy. ‘I’d come and see you (on Zoom, or in person one day!) and listen and invest. I’m not here to sell a product. We just want to give away what God has given to us through HOPE, because he seems to be blessing it and multiplying it.’