READING, UK
UNIVERSITY OF READING
WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE HERE!
College is where you can make some of the best friends of your life. We desire to build community on college campuses that transforms and equips the next generation to treasure Jesus in their hearts and glorify him among the Nations!
Our vision is to create life-changing community with a world-changing purpose, all because of Jesus.
Meet the lead planters
Konnor & Chelsy Massa
Both Konnor and Chelsy had their lives transformed by Jesus as part of Resonate Church at Washington State University. It was at Resonate that they first learned what obedience to Jesus looked like, where they first learned to make disciples, and where they committed to getting the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
Chelsy and Konnor met overseas while evangelizing and helping to disciple students as a part of a house church aimed at reaching nearly half a million college students, many of whom were from unreached people groups. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to move back to the US, they moved to Moscow, Idaho where they continued their work among college students at the University of Idaho. After being close friends for years, they dated and in the fall of 2021, got married.
Since getting married, Chelsy and Konnor have gotten to see God move in Moscow. They led freshman village together, constantly had students in their house (they still host events for students three nights a week) and gave everything they had to the next generation of disciple makers. By the grace of God, students came from death to life, young people matured, and the church multiplied. But, Chelsy and Konnor never lost sight of their desire to see people from every tongue tribe and nation reached with the Gospel.
Even while they were stateside, Chelsy and Konnor never stopped advocating for Gospel work among the nations. They helped our church find its focus for the future of global church planting, they fell in love with a vision for reaching the global cities of the world, and they led our first Resonate Global project in the UK, scouting different universities for a future church plant. Now, a few years later, they get the joy of leading a church plant to one of the universities they initially scouted–the University of Reading.
The easier place to start might be “why England?” God is sovereign, and we are seeing him bring peoples from the difficult to reach places around the world to Global Cities. In 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will have migrated from rural settings and will be found in the urban centers of the world, many of them in places like London, just half an hour away from the University of Reading. The future of Resonate Global is the Global City.
Imagine reaching someone from an unreached people group in a global city. He or she is discipled by the church, and as she returns to her hometown, whether for vacation or to live, she begins to share the gospel with her family and friends. The gospel takes root and through those disciples a new church is birthed. This is what is happening through the planting of churches in Global Cities, and we believe God is calling our church to join Him in that work.
Despite a history of God’s power at work, the United Kingdom’s evangelical growth rate is currently stagnant. Both Brits and people from all over the world live their lives in the shadow of ancient churches, yet many of them have never heard the Gospel. We believe that God is leading our church to join him in reaching these people.
We believe that God is already at work in Reading, opening people’s hearts to receive the good news of Jesus. We believe that He can use places like Reading as a beacon to call people to himself and send them all over the UK and to the ends of the Earth, and we are sending a team to plant a church there in the hope that he does just that.
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• There is a 0.0% church growth rate in the UK; this means that churches are rapidly dying.
• In 2019, only 1% of 18-24 year-olds in the UK identified as belonging to the largest protestant denomination in the country. This mean the next generation is going largely unreached
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• Students are a few generations removed from the UK being a predominantly Christian culture; this means they have little personal opposition to learning about Jesus.
• Students are hungry for meaning and purpose.
• Almost 30% of students at the University of Reading are international students, and barriers to sharing the gospel are low legally, linguistically, and culturally.
• As we have scouted the University of Reading, students have been quick to welcome us, and willing to learn more about Jesus.
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The University of Reading is a diverse community of college students. Amongst 23,000 international students, they represent 160 countries! From all different walks of life and backgrounds, there are many opportunities to join societies, sports, and participate in the arts. Along with a lively campus life, downtown Reading provides shops and restaurants to try and enjoy.
Take the next step
Are you interested in learning more about God’s heart for the nations? Are you praying towards moving to a Global city with Resonate Church? If you answered yes to either question, take the next step to sign up for the Case for Global Church Planting course.
Please Note: This is a required course for individuals praying towards moving on a Global Church Plant.
