The winner of the 2025 MA prize in Mission is Adam Islip with a thesis entitled Does church size matter? A critical evaluation of the factors that define, drive and measure success in church planting across Europe today. This is the first time the prize has been won by someone from a Pentecostal Member Church of Churches Together in England.
Adam works for Assemblies of God in Great Britain as the International Church Planting Lead, responsible to the Global AOG Council for supporting and coordinating nations in their church planting vision and goals. He is passionate about seeing new churches established that truly make disciples and transform communities, alongside inspiring leaders to extend their reach and step into what God has called them to do. Adam also coordinates Empowered21 across Europe, part of a global network of leaders and movements committed to advancing effective evangelism.
Upon hearing the news, Adam said, “I am honoured to be recognised by Churches Together in England for this award. I am especially grateful that my MA dissertation — exploring the factors that define, drive and determine success in church planting — has resonated with others seeking to understand the complex realities of mission today. I hope this work contributes in some small way to a more thoughtful, faithful and contextually aware approach to church planting across the UK. Thank you to Missio Dei Theological College, part of Assemblies of God GB, for their support and encouragement throughout. It is an honour to serve such a great movement of churches.”
Dr Heather Major Lead Researcher for New Places for New People in the Methodist Church and the Chair of the Mission Research Network said, “The student presented a thorough and comprehensive discussion of the field of scholarship on church planting. He demonstrated a clear awareness of the historical and present contextual issues relating to church planting. MA articulates some important aspects and critiques of the culture and perception of church planting in our present context and would, in my view, be worthy of publication after some revisions and clarification”
Dr Tim Davy from All Nations College said, ‘The thesis had a lot of good material and included historical background and an awareness of critical issues. It had a logical flow, albeit rather densely written. I felt like the author really knew their stuff and they provided plenty of critical evaluation.”
Adam receives a cash prize of £100.00 and will work with editors of the journal Ecclesial Futures to have his thesis reworked for publication.
Adam’s thesis, Does church size matter? A critical evaluation of the factors that define, drive and measure success in church planting across Europe today, is available to read in the online CTE Mission Research Library. The library contains close to 150 MAs and PhDs on range of mission topics.
Explore the other theses in the Mission Research Library.
Find out more about the MA Mission Prize and previous winners.