Michael Johnston

About

Hi. I’m Michael, and I am the Children’s, Youth and Families' Lay worker at Christchurch! I am originally from Northern Ireland having lived and studied there, with most of my life living in and around Belfast. I actually studied Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Ulster University. Following the completion of my degree I spent three months in South Africa volunteering on the International Citizen Service scheme with Tearfund. On my return, I felt called to serve the forgotten people of society. I moved to England in September 2017 and started a 'Time for Jesus' gap year at Caring for Life in Leeds, my first experience of working on a farm! I then stayed in Leeds for another year and completed a 'New Wine Discipleship Year' at St George’s Church in Leeds where I was the Children and Music Intern. While studying Criminology my particular focus was on helping ex-offenders as I believed they were a forgotten group of our society. Over my years in Leeds I’ve had the privilege of working and meeting other people from other groups of society who I believe often get looked down on or ignored: the elderly, refugees, those who are physically or mentally disabled, those who are homeless and roofless, and finally children and youth.

I feel it is an honour to be advancing God’s Kingdom amongst children and youth and helping them to mature and become disciples of Christ. It is also a privilege to be given the opportunity of working within this great forward-thinking church to unite people from many different ages and background, and help them come together as Christchurch, a church that has Christ at the centre and is at the centre of the town.

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If anyone would like to find out more about anything to do with children and youth within Christchurch then you can contact me via email or give me a call using the contact info above.

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