Ichthus Christian Fellowship

Roger and Faith Forster

Roger attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he graduated in mathematics and theology. After a period in the Royal Air Force, he worked as an itinerant evangelist until 1974 when he established the Ichthus Christian Fellowship. Among his many responsibilities, he serves on the Evangelical Alliance’s council, has served on a number of EA committees and is an honorary vice president of Tearfund. Roger was one of the founders of March for Jesus, and was on the board of the AD2000 Movement and was chairman of the council of the Evangelical Alliance. He is the author of several books including ‘God’s Strategy in Human History’, ‘Suffering and the Love of God’, ‘Trinity’, ‘Prayer’, ‘The Kingdom of Jesus’, ‘Reason, Science and Faith’, ‘Finding the Path’, ‘Explaining Fasting’ and ‘Christianity, Evidence and Truth’.

Faith has been involved in Christian ministry and leadership for many years. Within Ichthus, she is responsible for Ichthus prayer community. She preaches, teaches and pastors, has also served on a number of boards and councils, including the UK Evangelical Alliance and the World Evangelical Alliance. She is a published poet and author. She believes passionately in the power of prayer and the word of God, and loves to see lives transformed by these means.

Roger and Faith have three married children, two in full-time ministry and one an artistic director in theatre.

Ministry and Management

Roger and Faith meet a couple of times a month with the ministry and management team, looking at all aspects of the fellowship life, including church growth, worship and spiritual life, and financial stewardship. The members of the group, who lead congregations themselves, are (left to right) Phil Tate, Faith Forster, David Curtis, Roger Forster, Debbie Laycock, Abi Willetts and Joel Todd (not pictured).

Vision, Values and Characteristics

Ichthus exists to bring the salvation, power and Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ to the nations. We adhere to the Evangelical Alliance’s basis of faith, and define our identity and character by the following values:

Father

Son

Holy Spirit

Trinitarian

Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

We believe that our experience, the Bible and reason all point to one creator God who is a plurality and who made the diverse universe. The three persons of the Godhead exist in a state of mutual fellowship, relationship and sharing. Their mode of existence is loving communion which is to be reflected in our lives together in his church. We are a relational movement because we have a relational god - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in loving relationship with us.

Love

Spirit-led humility

Evangelistic heart

Values

Love, Spirit-led humility, Evangelistic heart.

Therefore we believe that the values by which the movement exists and grows are firstly love, which is the first definition of God (1 John 4:8,9,11), then humility which gives room for the Holy Spirit to guide the church (Luke 4:1) and thirdly evangelistic hearts like Christ’s who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Whether we think we have an evangelistic ministry or not we are all witnesses to his grace and power.

Fellowship

Training

Mission

Constitution

Fellowship, Training, Mission.

The make-up of the church is also three fold. First we are a fellowship where laughter, tears, joys, sorrows, and resources are shared together in training and mission. We believe the whole body of Christ must learn and train, and find a purpose in the mission of serving the world. Whilst we acknowledge the good work of theological colleges and missionary societies, we believe that the church is the place for hands-on training for service and mission.

Celebration

Congregation

Cell

Structure

Celebration, Congregation, Cell.

The full participation in Ichthus life will be found through three fundamental meetings. The celebrations where congregations may come together to worship, where God’s truth and power are more fully manifest and where guidance and inspiration are given for the movement. Congregations are a local expression of the movement. They give opportunity for service and witness both to the body of Christ and the world, salting and lighting as Jesus says (Matt 5:13-16). Cells (homegroups) are linked to congregations and are occasions where lives are shared more meaningfully in homes or houses and support is found in one another.

Words

Works

Wonders

Means

Words, Works, Wonders.

We proclaim the good news of Jesus through our words in evangelism (truth), through the good works which we practice in the church and the community (goodness), and through the miracles and grace of healing and deliverance which we expect to flow from the church (beauty/glory). All these reveal the heart of God.

Radical

Christocentric

Eschatological

Theology

Radical, Christocentric, Eschatological.

We seek to make known the reasons behind what we do and experience in our lives in Christ. This is our theology or study of God. It is ‘radical’ in that it continuously resorts to our ‘roots’ in the Bible and the early church. Equally it is ‘Christocentric’ in that we look for Jesus in all of the Bible and in our experience of the Spirit of God (John 5:39-40; Luke 24:26-47). When we say our theology is ‘Eschatological’ we mean that while Jesus has brought in the Kingdom of God it is not yet manifest or operating in its fullness. This is why we pray ‘Your Kingdom come’. When Jesus returns we will see and experience the fullness of the kingdom of God which at present we see only in part.

Faith

Worship

Warfare

Distinctives

Faith, Worship, Warfare.

We are a faith movement. We recognise that ‘if we do not stand firm in the faith, we will not stand at all’ (Isaiah 7:9). We completely trust God for growth, provision and our life as a movement. Through worship we touch God’s heart, receive healing and strength to increase our faith and love, and live in the love of God. Because faith and worship will always be contested, we understand that our walk with God often involves warfare against the spiritual powers that oppose and distract us. We are soldiers of Christ, as well as beloved children

Race

Age

Gender

Inclusivity

Race, Age, Gender.

Paul states that in Christ there is ‘neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female’. We seek to see all people as persons of equal worth and potential, seeking to involve all without discrimination of race, age and gender. We aim to be inclusive.

London

United Kingdom

Overseas

Spheres of Operation

London, United Kingdom, Overseas.

Ichthus is composed of congregations in London working closely together, and link churches in the UK and overseas. We seek to serve all Christians of all denominations in the light of Jesus’ words (John 13:34-35).

Churches Together in England

Evangelical Alliance

Tearfund

Links

Churches Together in England, Evangelical Alliance, Tearfund.

We believe in Christians standing together and cooperating to see the good news of Jesus made known. For this reason we are part of Churches Together in England, a body devoted to ecumenical cooperation on a local and national level. We are also a member of the Evangelical Alliance, whose basis of faith we adhere to, and with whom we have had a close relationship since our inception. We also link to Tearfund and its umbrella body, Integral, in order to support relief and development work across the world. This is love in action and we believe in it.

Contact

The Ichthus office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
admin@ichthus.org.uk
Ichthus Christian Fellowship, PO Box 74253, London SE23 9EL
+44 (0)20 8694 7171
+44 (0)20 8694 7172