It is Easter, and there is Hope

The growth of the church I attend is testament to that

I've just come back from an incredible Easter service at the church I attend, Holy Trinity Brompton.

Strap yourselves in - they don't do half measures!

The church was so packed, every outbuilding, every annexe, the cafe, were all put to use to ensure every attendee could be part of the celebratory atmosphere.

And looking around, the congregation represented every possible person in society.

In fact, HTB is the fastest growing network of churches across the UK. And is also spreading Anglicanism internationally.

It was from Holy Trinity Brompton that The Alpha Course emerged, enabling anybody curious about Christianity or just looking for life guidance to sign up and take part in a short series of group discussions rooted in the teachings of the Bible.

The Alpha course is now an international, interdenominational phenomenon, with over twenty-four million attendees in 146 countries.

The church also offers a brilliant easy to use app, The Bible In One Year, which covers all elements of the Old and New Testaments in a short school assembly style format.

Last year, more than 1.2 million users across 11 languages connected, leading to a milestone of more than 10 million users since its launch in 2010.

Because of the overwhelming success of HTB in London, which now offers ten Sunday services, it was asked by The Church of England to start ‘planting’ and reviving churches across the UK, and has since been made responsible for halting Church decline since 2017.

There are now 184 churches that are part of the HTB Network,

The church also offers its own ordination programme, and last year saw over 540 students enrolled, including 225 training for ordination, and 109 sent out to serve in curacies across the country.

Meanwhile HTB offers Bible teachings in prisons, and also offers highly successful relationship counselling, debt advice and careers training.

Surely exactly what the Church Of England should be doing.

It's founder, Reverend Nicky Gumbel, probably the most influential man in the Church in modern times, last year received a CBE.

It may not appeal to traditionalists, who may not embrace the rock music and plain English lessons, but it is exactly this adaptation to the modern world that is driving people who had not worshipped before to the Church.

After all, Jesus sought to connect with the crowds, not ostracise them through strange languages and pomp and ceremony, nor ritualistic rites. His teachings were user friendly and went straight to the heart of the community. Jesus didn't wear robes or speak in Latin or demand strict conformity to worship. His focus was pure evangelising.

Despite being a modern revival of Anglicanism, the teachings of HTB stay true to the Bible and avoid politics altogether. Whereas many examples of High Church have embraced ‘woke’ culture, HTB is modern, diverse, apolitical and fundamental in its approach to Christian teaching.

What's not to like? A church that is bursting full, spreading Christianity across Britain, but also Anglicanism around the world, free from proselytising about identity politics, free from the toxic retrospective guilt of colonialism or whiteness, embracing congregations from every land on earth and preaching positivity, while also contributing in lasting and constructiveways to the community at large.

For those who feel as though Britain has lost its stuffing, its confidence, its culture and its cohesion, I urge them to find an HTB church.

Because quiet miracles are taking place.