Encounter is a brilliant opportunity for anyone age 18+ to spend a year in London - transforming lives in schools, churches and communities.

Your Encounter year covers 3 key areas:

Church Placement

You will be placed in a church for your year where you will serve - you will either be placed with us at Chase Family Church or with another local church.

Your church placement will offer a whole host of opportunities and experiences to challenge, develop and equip you.

Here are some examples of what you could be involved in:

EVANGELISM // YOUTH MINISTRY // HOSPITALITY COURSES // WORSHIP // CHILDREN’S MINISTRY DISCIPLESHIP // PRAYER // PREACHING // MEDIA LEADERSHIP // AND MORE!

Training

Monday afternoons are set aside for practical and theological training led by local and national church and ministry leaders.

The training sessions are a time when all the Encounter students come together, along with students from other local gap year programmes. It creates a great community of like-minded people to learn and have fun together.

Subjects include:

Bible Overview, Apologetics, Healing, Evangelism, Leadership, Mental Health, The Atonement, Creative Worship, Discipleship, Persecuted Church, Spiritual Gifts, Prayer, Working with Young People, Mission, The Church, Working with Children, Teaching & Preaching… and more!

Mission

LOCAL: You will be given the opportunity to make a difference in the local community by helping with groups such as Foodbank, Growbaby, a soup kitchen, a coffee morning for the elderly, and more.

You will also be part of the Engage schools team helping to deliver RE lessons, assemblies and CU’s in secondary schools.

OVERSEAS: We take the Encounter team on an overseas mission trip each year - a chance to experience a different culture and step out of your comfort zone!

FAQs

Encounter starts early September and will finish at the end of July (exact dates to be confirmed with each team). We start the Encounter year with a residential where we worship, pray, hear some great teaching and have loads of fun (and food) together! The Encounter year concludes with week of mission - helping to lead teams of young people to impact the local community for Jesus through evangelism and practical help.
Your placement church will provide your accommodation for the year. They will also welcome you into the church family and look after you!
You will be assigned a spiritual mentor for the year - someone in your placement church (or one of our partner churches) who will meet with you regularly to listen, encourage and pray. You will also have regular supervision time with the Encounter Coordinator.
Yes! You will be given regular time off during each week. You will also have holiday time throughout the year, including two week around Christmas.
We recognise that devoting a year out of your life to serve Jesus as part of the Encounter team will be costly to you in terms of your energy and time - so we do not charge for the year. Encounter does have costs in order to run, and so if you feel able to donate towards it we would be delighted!
You will be required to raise money for the overseas mission trip later in the year, but we will help you plan and carry out fundraising.
NOTE: We can accept applicants from other countries but we ask that you cover the cost of your visa, insurance and healthcare surcharge.
Fill out our online application form - once we have received your form, we will review it and take up references. If your application is successful, we will invite you to an interview.

“Through working in so many different areas in church, you will have the chance to try new things and find your talents. Encounter encourages you to grow in these areas and discover how to use them for God’s kingdom.”

— Leonie (Encounter student 2022-2023)

Apply 2025

Meet this year’s Encounter student

Vivi

Vivi is part of the 24/25 Encounter programme. She is from west Germany and love books and music. Her main focus for this year is growing a stronger connection to Jesus and getting clarity from God about His plan for her life.

“I’m really grateful that I was able to go on mission as part of my Encounter year. Even though it was tough sometimes due to language barriers, we were still able to share the gospel and the responses were very positive. The passion and love from the locals and the people we worked with really inspired me to keep pushing myself and spread the good news no matter where I am.”

— Hanna (Encounter student 2023-2024)