Winter Gardens in Blackpool will host inspirational christian conference in 2025

When people think of Blackpool as a town, they have so many fond memories. Maybe it takes them back to their childhood, remembering the lights. Or the thrills of the Pleasure Beach. Or even as the home of ballroom dancing, with an annual focus on the town.

One of the enduring images is Blackpool Tower – the UK’s copy of the Eiffel Tower – which has been firmly at the centre of the town for well over a century. It provides an amazing view entire Fylde Coast for those that are brave enough to climb it.

Well, every month, the top of Blackpool Tower is where you will find members of Refreshment UK – a charity passionate about encouraging and equipping Christians to serve in mission. Thanks to an amazing partnership with the tower, the top is closed off for an hour every second Saturday so that the team can pray over the town from the glass floor. The tower allows this access for free, so that strategic prayer can take place.

Simon Cooper, National Director of Refreshment UK, has been leading this for seven years. “The relationship between Refreshment and the Tower has been wonderful and grown year on year. In the last couple of years, they’ve given us extra time to pray, allowed us to be at the foundations and also, offered us the chance to hold a carol service in the Circus for up to 1000 people. They have been right behind us in everything.”

Refreshment has three clear aims to their work – to be obvious in the gospel, bless the local church and engage with the culture. The prayer meetings are one of several activities in the weekly programme that take place at well-known locations in the town. You will very rarely find them working in a church building, but provide activities that put Christians right at the heart of what is going on in a town. In the next five years, the charity plans to keep their training centre and town centre hub going in Blackpool, but also plant six further hubs right across the UK.

To help raise the profile of this work, in 2025, Refreshment are holding a conference at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool that combines mission, outreach and inspirational teaching. Speakers at the event include Gavin Calver of the Evangelical Alliance, Simon Guillebaud from Great Lakes Outreach and the Rt Rev Jill Duff, Bishop of Lancaster. Alongside talks, there are practical ways to get involved in mission including a performance of Saints Alive, with Roger Jones of Christian Music Ministries conducting a local choir in the venue. Worship is led by Blackpool Church, a HTB plant in the town, and other leaders including Revelation Daze, Ann Steer and Gareth Hides.

Other sessions within the weekend include a large prayer walk, street outreach and a chance to visit the local parkrun to see how you can use even clothing to demonstrate the gospel. All 11 sessions at the weekend cost just £35 and there are discounts for readers of Christianity Magazine using the code “CHRISTIANITY” for a full weekend ticket.

Simon is excited about the whole weekend. “For many years, we have tried to promote something called experiential theology – a term we made up. We have spent time sharing exciting testimony based around nothing in impossible with God – not to inspire others, but to let them know that God can do impossible things in their lives too! We can read the Bible, we may remember it, but living it out practically keeps us exciting. That’s the heart of the conference – to see people receive amazing teaching that they can immediately put into practice on the streets of Blackpool.”

Through the mission hub in Blackpool, people have discovered faith, been baptised and then been part of missions in the town. In the recent mission in the summer, some of the team learnt that just by going, God opened up amazing opportunities. Simply by taking to the streets and being a light saw people drawn. One team member said: “In the space of an evening, I heard God speak to me, give me a word that seemed to lift someone in a dark place and then, within 30 minutes, I found myself speaking to a suicidal person, telling them that God loved them. It was instant.”

It’s those stories and encounters that Simon expects to happen at the conference. “Not every agrees, but in our town, the workers are few, but the harvest is very ripe. We hope that by people descending on Blackpool for an inspiring conference, the local church will see amazing and impossible things happen.”

Find out more about the Refreshers Conference and the other events ran by Refreshment UK at their website – www.refreshment.org.uk