'Head-banger, Church-planter, Author'Roger Ellis - 15 Feb 2012

Introducing Roger Ellis

We want to invite you to meet the heavy metal loving, avid carp fishing, pioneering church planter we know as Roger Ellis. Roger has been a long time friend of 24-7 and we are delighted to announce that he is developing the new 24-7 Academy that starts this Spring in the UK and the US .... So with this exciting new development, we wanted to give Roger a chance to introduce himself and tell his story, so that is exactly what we did! And here it is, we think you're going to love him just like we do....

In 1979 I crashed into God’s Kingdom as a 19 year old ‘head banger’ from a completely non-Christian background. I found myself immediately working with young people in an Anglican Church whilst at the same time encountering the power of the Holy Spirit at a charismatic group nearby. This is a long story in and of itself.

In this season, the heavy metal network of relationships in our area seemed strangely confluent with the powerful Holy Spirit manifestations we were experiencing; including deliverance, the prophetic and other phenomena. As a result within 4 years Revelation Church came into being, which is another long story!

The next months saw many people saved from wild backgrounds and coming into the life of the church, accompanied by some lost kids from Christian families. We estimate over 300 were converted in the first 18 months, but things were pretty chaotic. We had little advice, no training and I was the oldest at 22 years old. One of our core leaders was aged 15! The core group of us gave up our teenage years and 20’s and what was left of our education to build the church. My now wife left a top degree at Cambridge University, which she had labored towards for the whole of her school life, to finish the degree at a basic local college. We have never regretted it. It was the most exciting and wonderful roller coaster ride and despite the struggles and at times the pain, it was amazing fun.

The rest of the first decade saw youth work, quite a few Church plants, national coverage and connection with the Pioneer network as I joined their national team. Profile at big national events followed. We enjoyed a notoriety that was not always positive as many found us a little ‘full on’. The media liked us though and we had all sorts of different national TV coverage.

The second decade saw a community and incarnation mindset develop with further Church planting and a focus on ‘indigenous mission’ in club culture, churches amongst different groups of lost young people and a revelation that the early Celtic missionaries had something unique for us in this age. During this period many people in their late teens and 20’s came to be shaped and trained in Revs, one of them a young graduate by the name of Pete Greig. Through friendships with others who shared our passions, we saw conferences like Remix and Cultural Shift be birthed. These gathered people with a radical vision from across the UK and the rest of Europe to catch the wind of what God was saying. This culminated with the Emerge conference, which gathered 1000 leaders with a passion for ‘Church in emerging culture’ from across Europe. The contexts that were to be the launch pad for 24-7 prayer were now in place.

Revelation continued to be the ‘womb’ from which different movements and mission emerged both internationally and in the UK. Prior to this stage a crazy American prophet prophesied 24-7 prayer, a Life Centre and a student movement. In due course both Fusion (the student movement) and 24-7 appeared on the scene (see Red Moon Rising).

We agreed at that stage that I would focus on Fusion and Revelation Church and Pete, with others, would focus on 24-7 prayer. The rest is history!

During the past 2 years I have felt God repositioning me. I’d had the privilege of helping develop and working with some amazing younger leaders and so it was with great joy that I handed over the leadership of Fusion to Rich Wilson and Revelation Church to Dan Slatter. The experience was a challenge but amazing. I remain part of Revs, on the team and serving Dan. My connection with Fusion is also still strong. However, I had no idea what was next.

Throughout this I had kept a strong connection with 24-7 and with Carla Harding (24-7 Int. Prayer Coordinator) overseeing prayer for Revs this was set to continue. Last autumn I came to the European gathering and something happened! It became clear that God was closing the circle and calling me to serve Pete and the team, becoming part of what’s being built within 24-7 Prayer. My wife Maggie and I were so excited by this prospect.

Over the years one of my passions has always been training, mentoring and releasing younger people into their destiny, leadership and Church Planting. I have always prayed that I would be able to help raise up many radical women and men who would live their lives passionately for the Kingdom of God in every sphere of society and across the globe. I have helped mentor loads of leaders of Churches and ministries designing many courses . These, to name but a few, have included summer schools, Church Planting schools, year out projects, Church leadership training and theological training both at local and national levels. However, I believe the best is yet to come.

So, when Pete asked me to lead the development of the 24-7 Academy I jumped at the chance. It’s great to be working with friends, people with whom I feel a deep connection and shared vision. This will start with an exciting new foundations course that will run for 5 months in the UK and 10 months in the US starting in the autumn of this year. I believe this course will be transforming, innovative and life changing and I can’t wait for us to get started. We have an amazing team coming together with a rich curriculum. Everything will be integrated into a 24-7 community and experienced breathing the air of prayer, mission and justice. Full details will follow shortly. Maybe you should join us on the course?