Our Story
Back in the 90s, The Tribe (aka World Wide Message Tribe), a high-energy band using music as a platform for the gospel, took their shows to high schools in Manchester. Led by Andy Hawthorne, meeting thousands of young people, they rode high on a wave of ‘rave’. Andy had a finger on the pulse of youth culture and sensed an imminent ‘kairos’ moment – a time of dangerous opportunity when the gospel advances at incredible pace.
The growth of this fledgling evangelistic ministry was explosive. Hundreds and hundreds of teenagers were committing their lives to Christ. Week after week The Tribe would travel from school to school making the most almighty commotion for the Kingdom. The volume of opportunities meant hiring more team to cope with the demanding schedule of assemblies, RE lessons and after-school concerts. For about three or four years the whole thing was a blur – it just flew by.
But one night at the Forum Centre in Wythenshawe, South Manchester, time stood still. Nearly a thousand of this notorious estate’s wildest young people turned up for one of The Trbe’s concerts and over a hundred responded to the message. In the cramped and chaotic counselling room Andy prayed with them all and then, as was the tradition, invited them along to church on Sunday.
“how could they possibly begin to disciple these wild young people?”
King’s Church, a small fellowship meeting every Sunday had happily agreed to partner with The Tribe for the good of the young people of the community. On the Sunday after the gig young people started turning up – and not just in ones and two’s – there were dozens of them, up for the new experience of finding out what church was all about. They brought with them their ‘interesting’ language, ‘interesting’ hand-rolled cigarettes and ‘interesting’ personal hygiene. The challenge for this little church was massive, how would they ever cope, how could they possibly begin to disciple these wild young people?
Unsurprisingly, over the next few weeks these young people just disappeared. A small handful made meaningful connections and began to grow in God but the vast majority simply evaporated. The agony of seeing young people slip away so fast was too much to take. The pain of this experience caused a fundamental shift of mindset for all involved. The Tribe were meeting young people all over the city who were desperate to know God but the traditional model of church was not fit to take them on, not on the scale required, with all their heavy baggage. A revolution was needed, and there can be no revolution without revolutionaries. One of the first would come from The Tribe.
“The following summer, many more joined them. They called the project ‘Eden’”
In 1996, Colette was one of The Tribe’s volunteer backing dancers. She’d been there at the Forum Centre and was getting stirred up to respond. Every day she sat on the bus that took her to work as it travelled through Wythenshawe. God by His Spirit, was filling her heart with compassion for the young people growing up in those streets, without love and hope. Her response was both pragmatic and crazy – she moved into the area with her husband Dave and set up home. And God was stirring many others to do the same thing. The following summer, many more joined them. They called the project ‘Eden’.
Initially many of the Eden volunteers flowed from churches within the Manchester area. However, a lot of people also began to hear about the initiative at events like Soul Survivor. Before long Christians from around the country began joining the team. Yes, they were young and a bit naive but ‘God smiled on it’ and they stumbled on a way of making disciples amongst urban youth that seemed to work. This meant that a new challenge began to appear on the horizon: where next!?
Since the early days in Manchester, Eden Network now has over 20 teams in cities across the nation, including London, the North East and Yorkshire. This growth has made it possible for over 300 people of all ages and backgrounds to be involved with the Eden Network as team volunteers or leaders.
