About us

SOMA UK is a rapidly developing Anglican mission agency enabling people to encounter God globally. We equip and send learning cohorts to empower, encourage, equip, enable and envision leaders around the world and bring back hope to their own ministry context.

We are a key member of SOMA International, a global family of SOMAs who work together for the transformation of individuals and churches and the healing of communities and their lands through the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. SOMA is the Greek word for ‘body’ reflecting our original calling to ‘Join the Holy Spirit tending to the nervous system of the Body of Christ’.

We invest in the many through coordinating leadership conferences in places with little or no access to training. We focus on character and competency within a Christian calling.

We invest in a few by bringing them on cross-cultural learning teams. Where possible we then help them develop their own national SOMAs so that the ministry can be from everywhere to everywhere.

SOMA UK was birthed out of a move of God’s Spirit at the 1978 Lambeth Conference when Bishops from around the world came to the UK. Before it started 300 charismatic bishops and senior clergy took the opportunity to gather for a pre-conference renewal meeting. There was an outbreak of God’s Spirit that energised all those in the room. SOMA was born out of this experience of an outpouring of God’s grace.

Since then it has had a calling to ‘Join the Holy Spirit Tending to the Nervous System of the Body of Christ.’ In practice this has often meant going to places that are hurting (e.g. Rwanda in 1996), connecting the church internationally and building the body both overseas and in the sending country as well. Today SOMA continues to connect the church across the world, breaking barriers that can separate us and building up the body of Christ through learning together.

Vision

Many Christians in the UK do not have the privilege of seeing the global Church in all her glory. SOMA UK helps make sure the nervous system of the body of Christ is functioning as it connects us to the world and breaks down those barriers. SOMA UK breaks down barriers through the power of the Holy Spirit, and this builds up the body of Christ.

Justin Welby has described SOMA UK as ‘part of the glue that says to us we belong to each other because we belong to Jesus.’ So we stand alongside our hurting brothers and sisters, as equal ‘heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,’ who ‘share in his sufferings’ and so also ‘share in his glory.’ Romans 8:17

But ‘Sharing of Ministries Abroad’ is not one-way travel. We want the UK church to be emboldened and built up through teams witnessing and experiencing the global church on overseas missions, and back in the UK through sharing what God is doing abroad. This ‘reciprocity in mission’ is paramount to the SOMA UK vision. We are aware that the main function of the nervous system is to wake us up to danger and pain. As God connects the church through SOMA UK we all benefit. ‘SOMA Stories,’ often coming in the face of difficulties and suffering, can awaken parts of the church in danger of falling asleep and bring hope, joy and faith for the future that we face together. 

We also want to think about mission closer to home. Many of the countries SOMA UK has ministered in have a high percentage of Christian believers and therefore there is a need to directly support our church in the UK. 

Over the next few years we want to:

  • Reconnect to places that we have existing links with.

  • Recommission current teams and leaders to minister in the power of the Spirit around the world.

  • Develop a new strategy to take more people to more places on SOMA Entry, SOMA Extended and SOMA Experienced teams.

  • Play a key role in developing future and current leaders in the UK through enabling them to Share in Ministries Abroad.

Values

  • Committed to discerning and doing all that God asks of us.

  • We trust in God’s word and are orthodox in our theology.

  • We live from our knees, demonstrating a reliance on God in all that we do.

  • We work with key leaders to see restoration, renewal and revival in the Anglican Church and beyond.

  • We seek to serve others, and intentionally endeavour to learn with and from the global church.

We are a mission partner of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA), a member of the Evangelical Alliance (EA) and we align to SOMA internationals core beliefs.

 
“Every SOMA team I’ve brought back has had a massive impact on the DNA of mission in my church.”