Revd Dr Christian Selvaratnam

Christian Selvaratnam is the founder and Dean of the Centre for Church Planting and the Church Planting Track at St Hild College. Prior to this, he worked for fifteen years at Alpha UK in various roles, including National Director, and concurrently for fourteen years as the Ordained Leader of G2, an Anglican church plant in York.

As an undergraduate at Warwick University, he studied Mathematics and Theoretical Computation. Following this, he had a number of jobs including working as a Church of England verger, as the manager of a printing business and as a pastor and church planter with Newfrontiers. Later, he trained for ministry in the Church of England at Cranmer Hall and was ordained in the first cohort of Ordained Pioneer Ministers in 2008.

Over the last twenty-five years, Christian has personally planted two churches and sent out and supported a number of others. More widely, he is involved in training leaders and advising on church planting, innovation, mission and vocations, particularly in the North of England.

He is an Associate of the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, an Associate Missioner for Fresh Expressions UK, an Archbishops’ Evangelist in the College of Evangelists, a member of the National Anglican Community of Pioneers, a board member of Exponential Europe, a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and co-founder of the Asbury Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry in Church Planting (UK & Europe) Cohort 2021.

In 2020, Christian completed his doctoral studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. His thesis explored how the historic practices of English medieval craft guilds might inform apprenticeship methods of training for the next generation of church planters. This research will be published with SCM Press in 2022.

Christian is married to Amanda, they live in York and have three grown-up children. He is a St John Ambulance Volunteer Covid Vaccinator, cooks a mean lamb biryani and owns a caravan.

Asbury Theological Seminary
D.Min (Doctor of Ministry) with honours
2017 - 2020

Theta Phi Honors Society
Awarded membership of Theta Phi Honors Society
2019 –

Durham University (Cranmer Hall)
PG Diploma, Theology and Ministry
2007 - 2011

Newfrontiers Churches
Theological and Ministerial Studies
1993 - 1995

University of Warwick
BSc, Pure Mathematics & Theoretical Computation
1986 - 1990

Programme Director (morning), MultiplyX Church Planting Conference - Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication
Jan 2021 - July 2021

Exponential Europe
Board Member
Dec 2020 -

Member of the Archbishop of York’s Vision & Strategy Coordinating Group
Jul 2020 - Jun 2021

Tutor in Missiology at Leeds School of Theology
Jun 2020 -

General Synod (Church of England)
Proctor in Convocation
2010–2015 and 2020–

Archbishops’ College of Evangelists
Evangelist
2020 -

York Diocesan Synod
Member
2019 -

National Anglican Community of Pioneers
Member
2019 -

The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication
Associate
2018 -

Fresh Expressions UK
Associate Missioner
2017 -

Alpha Northern Ireland and Alpha Scotland
Board Member
2014 - 2019

Ordained Vocations Working Group (Church of England)
Member
2014 - 2017

Ministry Division (Church of England)
Pioneer Selector and Member of the Pioneer Panel
2012 - 2017

The Order of Mission (TOM)
Associate Member
2004 -

Host of Just 10 (York)
Jun 2002 - Aug 2002

Director of WordPlus School of Theology (Yorkshire)
Sep 2000 - Sep 2002

Founder of Options Pregnancy Advisory Centre (Bishop’s Stortford)
Jan 1998 - Feb 1999

Crisis Counsellor at Nightline (University of Warwick) and The Samaritans (Coventry)
Jan 1987 - Jul 1990

The Craft of Church Planting: Exploring the Lost Wisdom of Appreticeship (SCM Press, 2022) (June 2022)

“Reclaiming the Missing Generation” in Winfield Bevins (ed.), Global Voices: Stories of Church Planting from Around the World (Wilmore: Asbury Theological Seminary, 2019)

Alpha as a Church Planting Tool (London: Alpha International, 2017)

St John Ambulance
Volunteer Covid Vaccinator
2021 -

St Hild College (Common Awards)
Advanced Church Planting in Perspective (TMM46120)
Church Planting in Perspective (TMM3861)
Introduction to Church Planting (TMM1397 ‘Creating New Christian Communities’)

St Hild Centre for Church Planting
Exploring Church Planting
Blueprint: Developing and implementing a Diocesan vision and strategy for church planting

Leeds School of Theology
Missiology

Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication
The Plant Course

Asbury Theological Seminary
Church Planting Movements (DM-CPC-917A/B)

• Church planting, church planting movements and strategy

• Church health and church growth

• Entrepreneurial leadership, leadership development and ministerial formation

• Apprenticeship / medieval craft guilds

• Missiology

• Practical Theology

The McDonaldisation of Church Planting: Why Starting New Churches is an Art, Not a Science (St Hild / YTEP Research Day, May 2022)

Why church planting? and How to start church planting (Chester Diocesan Clergy Conference, May 2022)

Future Trends in the Church of England (St Hild College, May 2022)

Trends in Church Planting Since 1980, Church Planting in Post Christendom Europe (Asbury Theological Seminary UK Cohort, March 2022)

Urban Church Planting (Asbury Theological Seminary, January 2021)

Five critical development areas to sustain growth through church planting (Northern Planters, January 2022)

Church Planting and the Mixed-Ecology of Church (IME2, Diocese of Leeds, December 2021)

Study hacks for busy research students, Church Planting in Post Christendom Europe (Asbury Theological Seminary UK Cohort, October 2021)

Church Planting and the Mixed-Ecology of Church (IME2, Diocese of Leeds, December 2021)

Three Big Thoughts about Church Planting (New Wine United, August 2021)

Missiology, Global Mission and Culture Blindness (panelist), Staying Awake in Gethsemane: Catalyst Theology for the Church of England (Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, July 2021)

Training Pioneers and Planters, MultiplyX Church Planting Conference (Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, July 2021)

The Mission of God: Embedding a Culture of Evangelism in New Churches, Mission Studies Block (Cranmer Hall, July 2021)

Times are Difficult, but God has a Plan (Trinity College Bristol, May 2021)

Disciple Making Movements and Microchurches (St Hild Centre for Church Planting, May 2021)

Planning for City-wide Church Planting (Hull 2030, May 2021)

Getting Ready for Church Planting (New Wine Discipleship Year, May 2021)

Church Planting in a Nation: How is my Church Going to Look After the Pandemic? (Alpha Sweden, May 2021)

The Vital Role of Larger Churches in Re-missioning all the Churches (Yorkshire Baptist Association, April 2021)

Mixed Ecology Legalities Workshop (Archdeacons' Network & Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, March 2021)

The Role of the Evangelist in Church Planting (Exponential Europe, March 2021)

Investing in the Next Generation of Leaders, Vintage: Young Adult Conference (St Nicholas Nottingham, March 2021)

Avoiding Burn-out in Church Planting (Diocese of Leeds, Feb/Jan 2021)