History
The Relay Trust has a vision of reaching remote pastors, possessing no instruction or resources other than a Bible. Without support or knowledge, these leaders faithfully try to serve their villages’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. For many areas around the world, this is a reality.
The Vision and Foundation
The Relay Trust was established in 2016 with a clear mission: to equip church leaders with the resources, training, and support they need to help their communities grow and thrive in their Christian faith. What began as a vision for using technology to enhance training quickly evolved into a global network of partnerships, empowering grassroots ministry across the church.
Our journey began with two Danish missionaries who, between 2013 and 2016, recognised the challenges of scaling in-person training while working with lay leaders in Sierra Leone. This experience led them to explore the potential of technology for providing more accessible training. Their vision resonated with Australian businessman Neil Smith, who founded The Relay Trust in August 2016 to turn this idea into reality.
Growth and Expansion
Over the next two years, we built a network of partners around the world, identifying the most effective methods, courses, and resources used by other ministries. At the same time, we prepared for direct engagement in West Africa, opening an office in Sierra Leone, establishing strong relationships with church leaders, and launching the construction of Mount Zion, a dedicated training and retreat centre in Freetown.
During this period, we also supported the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) Bishops Training Institute, which provided mentoring and network-building opportunities for new Anglican leaders. We funded these conferences until October 2019, after which we shifted our focus to new initiatives better aligned with our evolving mission.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 marked a turning point for us. While operations shut down across the globe, we responded by tripling our team and further developing our digital training infrastructure. This period reinforced the critical role of digital education in equipping church leaders. In 2021, we launched a dedicated engagement initiative, Relay 200, to strengthen connections with the 200 most in-need dioceses within the Anglican Communion.
Renewed Focus and Future Impact
In April 2023, we undertook a significant restructuring to sharpen our focus on supporting church leaders and their communities in Africa. Relay 200 emerged as the core of our work, proving to be the most impactful aspect of our mission. To maximise our effectiveness, we transitioned our content production and system development functions into a separate entity, DECIBEL Training, allowing us to concentrate on direct engagement with partner churches.
Today, we remain committed to transforming the training landscape for church leaders in the 200 most in-need dioceses across the Anglican Communion. Our vision is to see every believer in our partner churches shepherded by a biblically trained leader within a self-sustaining church community. Through our partnerships, we are witnessing lives and communities transformed by the word of God, as pastors are equipped to serve their congregations more effectively.
As we move forward, our renewed focus underscores our unwavering commitment to empowering church leaders and strengthening their communities. We are excited to see how God continues to use The Relay Trust to bring hope and transformation to churches and individuals across Africa and beyond.
