At Christmas we are drawn, year after year, to a simple but world‑shaping scene of a child lying in a manger. It is so familiar that we can miss its sheer audacity. The baby is helpless, poor, and unremarkable by worldly standards, but this child is the King. More than that, He is God with us. In Jesus Christ, the eternal Word steps into history, into weakness, into our mess. Heaven touches earth.
The Apostle John puts it with unforgettable clarity, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Christmas begins with love. A love that that is costly, deliberate, self‑giving. God sends His Son on a mission of salvation because He loves the world He has made, even though it is broken.
But salvation, wonderful as it is, is not the end of the story. In Christ, God is not only rescuing us from something; He is also restoring us for something else. Through Jesus, we are invited back into the work God first entrusted to humanity in the Garden of Eden. We return to our original function, to steward His world, to walk with Him, and to serve His purposes. The good news of Christmas is that, in Christ, that calling is not abandoned. It is renewed.
That conviction lies at the heart of the Relay Trust. We take seriously the privilege of playing our small part in God’s mission for the world. Our focus on enabling churches to equip and support grassroots Anglican leaders is not simply about skills or systems; it is about enabling the Church to flourish so that God’s people can once again do the work He has prepared for them to do. As Paul reminds us, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
This Christmas comes at the end of a year of considerable change for the Trust. In 2025 we have seen the departure of our previous CEO and my own stepping into this role. We have said farewell to our Regional Relationship Managers for West Africa and the Province of the Indian Ocean. Each has served faithfully and sacrificially, and we give thanks for their contribution to God’s mission through Relay Trust. We continue to pray for them as they move forward in God calling for their futures.
These transitions have meant that three of the eight team members we began the year with moved on during 2025. Alongside this, we introduced Fluxx, a major upgrade to our grants management systems; we navigated significant changes in governance; we made painful but necessary cuts to some areas of support due to financial uncertainty; we began our fundraising efforts; and we sharpened our focus on defining our core outcome, namely flourishing churches. It has been a demanding year, with much to absorb.
But through it all, our central conviction has only deepened that discipleship is key if churches are to flourish. Training remains essential, particularly for grassroots leaders serving in the poorest parts of the Anglican world. At the same time, we are increasingly aware that training alone is not enough. Churches do not flourish if other critical bottlenecks remain blocked, and so we are prayerfully exploring how best to address these wider challenges.
As we reach the end of the year, I believe we are clearer about what God is calling us to achieve and about the direction in which we are travelling. In 2025, more than 14,000 people across Africa received Relay Trust enabled training. If even a proportion of those go on to serve congregations at a ratio of one leader to 150 believers, then more than two million people will have access to a pastor with at least some training next year who did not have one this time last year.
Christmas, however, never allows us to be sentimental or complacent. The child in the manger is born into a world of violence, injustice, and fear. That remains true today. As we look towards 2026, we do so conscious that the coming year is likely to be one of real challenge. Across the world, we see a number of ongoing and brutal conflicts that continue to cause instability across the areas that we work. Equally, within the Anglican Communion itself, there are deep tensions and divisions which may become even more defined in the coming year.
We remember in particular our partner churches serving in contexts of extreme suffering. Sudan weighs heavily on our hearts this Christmas. Many of our brothers and sisters there face displacement, violence, hunger, and loss on a scale that is hard for most of us to imagine. And yet, even there, the Church endures. We pray that the light that shines in the darkness, the light of Christ, will not be overcome (John 1:5).
The paradox of Christmas is that hope does not come through power or dominance, but through humility and faithfulness. God’s answer to a fractured world is not to stand at a distance, but to draw near. And that same pattern shapes our calling as His people. As the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). That good news is still entrusted to the Church, in every place and generation.
So we look ahead with confidence, not in ourselves, but in God. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). We enter the new year assured that God is on the throne, and we do so in hope; a hope grounded in the character of the God who keeps His promises.
I thank God for the many blessings He has given the Relay Trust this year, and I want to thank each of you for your support, encouragement, prayers, and patience. Through encouragement, advocacy and prayer, you are partners with us in this work, and we do not take that lightly. I wish you and those you love a very happy and peaceful Christmas, and every blessing for the year ahead.
Merry Christmas
Doug Ingram