The Centre for Christianity in Society was launched in 2020 as a collaboration of friends with an interest in connecting Christian thinking with the issues and trends in contemporary culture.  Two of our three founding directors, Paul Coulter and Rachel Shields, had been involved together in several initiatives in the area of apologetics over many years, including the Northern Ireland Christian Apologetics Network and the Sophron Network.  The addition as a collaborator of Michael Shaw, who came up with the Centre's name, was the catalyst for a new beginning.  Together these three amigos refined the focus of the Centre on our three 'Es' - explaining, engaging and equipping.  They served as a team leading the Centre's work but other associates and friends also contributed to our speaking in churches and training.

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In 2021, growth in our ministries led us to decide to register as a charity.  Paul Coulter brought some of his existing resources (Understanding Christianity and First Steps) into the Centre and we recruited a volunteer Operations Manager, Gareth Kimpton, and a fourth director, Keith Gardiner.  On 6th October 2021, CCS became a company limited by guarantee, registered with Companies House (Company Number NI682889).  In December 2021 we had our inaugural Board meeting and Keith Gardiner was appointed as Chair of the Board.  Helped by another volunteer with experience in launching charities, we have begun the process of registering with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

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An obvious question to ask might be why we are establishing a new charity.  We have two simple answers.  First, there was no existing charity in Ireland with a focus on apologetics, ethics and cultural engagement from an evangelical Christian perspective.  We know there are others elsewhere, and we want to partner with them where we can, but we believe that Ireland needs local contributions.  Second, there was no existing avenue for us to make our contribution as a network of partners.  The Centre is not just an organisation.  It is, and will remain, a group of friends encouraging each other to use whatever gifts we have to make Christ known and to equip his people.  We are a collaborative network seeking to mobilise Christians of diverse gifts, personalities and levels of education to make their contribution to connecting Christ with contemporary culture.

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You can find out about our plans for the future in our Development Plan.