Missionary fights 'Godless town' claims

Four years ago Telford was branded one of Britain's most Godless towns.

But a pioneer missionary has been attempting to encourage more Telford residents to get in touch with their Christian side. And tomorrow, a radio documentary will reveal how successful he has been.

The 30-minute radio documentary, called Telford, the Most Godless Town in Britain, will chart Mark Berry's challenge to encourage more people to tap into their spirituality on behalf of the Diocese of Lichfield.

Jolyon Jenkins trailed the Church of England missionary on several occasions over a six-month period and the results will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11am.

A national newspaper labelled Telford as the most Godless town in Britain when it emerged in 2005 the town had one of the lowest church attendances per head of the population, with less than one per cent of people attending an Anglican church on Sundays.

The Diocese appointed Mr Berry to the newly-created post of Pioneer Leader to young adults in the Telford area in 2005.

The former youth worker, who lives in Telford with his wife Louisa and four-year-old son Nathan, has initiated a number of projects under the Safe Space banner, including forging links between AFC Telford United and local methodist churches.

Mr Berry said he had taken issue with the title of the documentary because he believed church attendance did not accurately reflect the number of Christians in Telford

"It's absolute nonsense," he said.

"The number of people attending church does not make a place more or less Godless. God doesn't live in churches.

"Hopefully the documentary will reflect the work we are doing. My role is not to get more people into church, but to engage with people in the 20s and 30s and serve the community."

Mr Berry, who has also been approached to feature in the Channel 4 series Christianity: A History, said he had done a five-hour interview with the presenter who had also shadowed him at a number of events and visited projects with him.

"I am looking forward to hearing what he has made of it," he said.

By Jo Cunningham

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