Rob Peabody to develop young adults’ strategy

Rob Peabody, of the Awaken Movement, is to work with Fresh Expressions to help develop a national strategy to encourage fresh expressions of church among young adults in Britain.

Rob is the co-founder and international director of Awaken, a non-profit charity that exists to resource the church for action. In 2011, Rob, left his position as campus pastor of a megachurch in East Dallas, Texas to pioneer and lead fresh expressions for 20s-30s in northeast London. He has been commissioned by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to explore church planting for young adults who did not have any previous links to church.

He currently serves as a missional consultant for multiple church networks in the UK, is a member of the speaking team at Spring Harvest, communicates on behalf of Compassion International, and has just led a new national UK 18-30s conference, The Pursuit.

Rob regularly speaks at conferences in the US and across Europe. His first book, Citizen, was published in September 2014, and he wrote a small group film series entitled Kingdom Rise (March 2013). His latest project, a five-week missional film resource, Intersect, was released in March 2015 as a tool to engage those on the outside of church in spiritual conversations. He is married to Medea, and they have two sons.

Rob said,

I am extremely honoured and excited about the potential of this new partnership between Fresh Expressions and Awaken. I am praying that this will be the start of a long-term partnership and that God will help us to encourage a new generation of pioneers across the UK – and overseas. I am excited to play a part in helping shape and release this next generation to make kingdom living a reality in fresh, new ways.

Phil Potter, Archbishops' Missioner and team leader of Fresh Expressions, said,

I am delighted that Rob will be joining the Fresh Expressions team with a particular focus on young adults. The Church as a whole in the UK is keen and concerned to see a more effective and connected strategy in this area. Rob comes not only with a proven track record in leading, motivating and inspiring others strategically, but also as a practitioner doing exciting things on the ground. His addition to the team and our partnership with Awaken offer us a whole new future in this area.

Rob will take up the half-time role from 1st July 2015.

You can find out more about Awaken on the Awaken website, or follow Rob (@AwakenRob) or the Awaken Movement (@Awakenmovement) on Twitter.