When David Bown arrived in Wythenshawe, one of the largest housing estates in Europe, in the conurbation of Manchester, he found five Methodist churches struggling for survival. It would have been easy to close and concentrate the membership in one place, as a rational way of ‘managing decline’. But David wanted none of that. He set about working to devise a strategy for the future which built on the vibrancy and creativity of the local people. He went on to devise a myriad of tactical responses, based on the needs and opportunities he found.

The resulting 36 regeneration projects, which ranged from street dance to alternative therapies, and from rummage sales to community lunches, connected the people, activities and organisations in the communities around the 5 churches, creating a pathway to the Kingdom of God for ordinary working class people.