Now we’re seeing fruit it’s time to start planting

Have you ever poured your energy into something and seen almost no fruit, then “let go and let God” and watched it spark into life? This is James Earnshaw’s story at City Church in Liverpool

When James Earnshaw and his wife Cathy stepped up to lead City Church in Liverpool in 2022, James had the perfect training ground for his new role. “Before joining our church in 2014 I’d been in leadership at an AoG church for four years. It was organised, polished and efficient, so I’d experienced the organisation and structure our church was missing,” he says.

When he prayed, planned and employed his expertise to launch various projects and ministries, therefore, he expected them to take root quickly. He was frustrated to see a surprising lack of fruit.

As James brought the problem to God, some other invaluable experience gained while working with his father-in-law, Dave Latham, came into play.

“I learned from Dave about reliance on God and the Holy Spirit,” he says.

It was seeking and fully relying on God that led to turnaround in the church over the past three years. “I said to God, ‘In theory these are good ideas. I don’t get why I’m not seeing any fruit’.

“God told me that if my plans had succeeded I would have taken most of the credit. If he brought the increase instead, I would recognise it was all him.”

Since then, the church, which is based in Liverpool’s Kensington suburb, has grown and flourished.

Gifted leaders

One example has been an influx of gifted leaders.

“When I got to the stage where I was saying ‘God I need to stop’ he provided people very quickly who have taken the burden off me,” James says.

“There was a time when we couldn’t find trustees for love nor money. Now we have trustees who are successful in business and experienced in managing projects.

“One guy, Ian, felt called to come here and he’s become our building manager. I was doing a lot of the renovations before, but organising budgets and builders was stressing me out. He’s a specialist, so that’s been amazing.

“Another guy, Ben, has joined our leadership and is fantastic at tech. He manages the computer systems at one of the universities in Liverpool.

“Others had sensed a clear calling to Kensington too, which is pretty unusual. You need to understand that Liverpool’s Kensington is very much the poor opposite of London’s. Mention it around here and people say, ‘Urgh, horrible!’”

Services and ministries which James struggled to get off the ground are bursting into life with new leaders.

“One lady, Esther, has got involved with our students and young adults ministry. She’s in her 50s but at heart she’s in her 20s and has this amazing ability to connect with younger people with the wisdom of someone older.”

Season of transition

These new additions are especially important as City Church enters a season of transition.

“Our associate pastor and administrator, Paul and Caroline Hampton, were with us for three years but have just left to take responsibility for Longton Elim,” says James.

“Initially we were concerned, but we realised God has been bringing other people in with gifts and hearts to serve.”

With the church in growth, James’ long-term dream is church planting.

“God has given me a heart to plant in areas of Liverpool where no one else wants to be – where there aren’t great churches, where there’s poverty or large international communities.

“Often, people plant in the city centre or the wealthy areas in south Liverpool.

“That’s great, but Liverpool doesn’t need any more city centre, student or middle class suburb churches.

“It needs them in the gritty and grimy places where church life is virtually nonexistent.”

The fruitfulness James has seen at City Church and hopes to extend beyond it has only been possible because of God, he says.

“It’s been completely God. He showed me, ‘You’ve done everything you can and produced very little, but now you’re letting me do the work fruitfulness is coming without you having to slog.’”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.