Nicky Gumbel and the evangelisation of the nation According to its leader, Rev Nicky Gumbel, Holy Trinity Brompton’s planting strategy is part of a ‘hidden revival’ in the UK Church. Justin Brierley finds out more. Several years ago, I listened to a sermon on the Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) podcast in which Nicky Gumbel spoke of the need for the church he has led for the past ten years to ‘accelerate’ its vision for ‘the evangelisation of the nations, the revitalisation of the Church and the transformation of society’. The fact that I (despite having never once attended HTB) regularly listened to the church’s podcast and, like thousands of others, had attended and led multiple Alpha courses, was just one indication of how far HTB’s influence had already spread. When I finally get round to visiting HTB, which is tucked away behind the imposing grandeur of the Brompton Oratory in Kensington, I am struck by just how unprepossessing the 19th-century building is, given the church’s enormous global impact. I have come to interview Nicky Gumbel, the 60-year-old leader of HTB. The church has produced various ministries, including marriage and parenting courses, Worship Central, prisons work, leadership conferences and, of course, HTB’s best-known export, Alpha. Central London doesn’t afford the luxury of land space to build a US-style megachurch auditorium. Nevertheless, 5,000 people attend one of the church’s ten services across four locations every weekend. What’s more, since 1987, when a team was first sent to spark new life into a dying congregation at St Mark’s, Battersea, HTB has been in the business of breathing fresh life into Anglican churches that are on the brink of closure. Today, this is where the ‘acceleration’ is perhaps most exciting. Currently, 27 church plants and partnerships are listed on HTB’s website. Yes, the church has its critics, who dislike enthusiastic evangelicals arriving in town, but what Nicky has overseen is not so much an HTB takeover as a rescue mission of historic buildings that would have otherwise ended up as carpet warehouses or gastropubs. Its first church plant outside London took place in 2005, when a team of 30 people from HTB, led by a newly ordained Archie Coates, took on the enormous but semi-derelict shell of St Peter’s, Brighton. Today, St Peter’s welcomes nearly 1,000 people into the building for worship services every week. Click here for the rest of the article: http://www.premierchristianity.com/...y-Gumbel-and-the-evangelisation-of-the-nation