A multi-generational evening to gather the Black Country Church to celebrate what God is doing and to imagine what is yet to come.
On Saturday 4th January 2020, we invited Christians across the Black Country:
To GATHER with the Church of the Black Country, to make a statement to our children and young people about the size of the Body of Christ to which they belong.
To CELEBRATE what God is already doing through our togetherness across our region.
To IMAGINE together what else God could do if we will stand and work as one.
“Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4)
What a night! Read the full report here.
The Vision
Together 2020 was a multi-generational event organised by the Love Black Country network. We encouraged people of all ages - children, teenagers, adults and those older in years - to join as one. We wanted to create a true representation of the size, scale and diversity of the Body of Christ in the Black Country.
And what a representation there was! Over 2500 people gathered on Saturday 4th January 2020 at Bethel Convention Centre in West Bromwich. We stood together as one, celebrated all that God is doing through our togetherness and imagined what the future of our region may look like if we truly are together.
Partner Churches
In order to gather a mass representation of the Body of Christ from across the Black Country, we asked individual congregations to become Partner Churches.
Church partnership involved 2 main factors:
- Bringing people along on coaches.
This helped logistically as the car park of Bethel Convention Centre was not big enough to handle cars for 2000+ people. Coming on coaches also fulfilled the whole ‘call’ of the evening which was to come together.
In total, 22 double-decker busses brought people to the event, from all over the area. It was an incredible sight to see hundreds of people streaming from busses into the convention centre.
- Helping support the costs of the evening
This was optional as we did not wish to make a charge for the evening, but in the spirit of partnership, we suggested a ‘notional expense’ of £3pp. However we were happy for people to support as they felt led.
What an incredible response we had! Over 80 churches and Christian organisations and businesses partnered with us for Together 2020 from all four Black Country boroughs and from a variety of denominations and Christian traditions, all of them giving generously to the cause. Thank you so much if you were one of them.