What is Spring Harvest?
We make space for all ages to encounter Jesus and be equipped for life with Him.
Spring Harvest is a vibrant Christian event that takes place every Easter. It’s a life-changing week of worship, teaching, fun and community for all ages. It’s where the Church gathers to be equipped for all that God is calling us to be and do. We gather, grow and go.
It all started in 1979 with a bold idea and a few thousand people hungry for more of God – learn more about our history here.
Today, Spring Harvest is still going strong. We draw thousands together at Butlin’s resorts each year across two weeks and reach far beyond with a growing digital and year-round ministry.
But Easter is our big moment. It’s the heartbeat of who we are.
But Spring Harvest doesn’t stop when the event ends. We’re a 365 community, streaming hope into homes and prisons, inspiring churches, equipping worship musicians, creating resources for leaders and families and standing together to see lives transformed across the UK and beyond.
Spring Harvest is a full-on, all-in experience. Over the course of five incredible days, you can expect:
- Worship that inspires and draws you closer to Him - led by Spirit filled worship leaders and passionate musicians alongside visual artists.
- Bible teaching that goes deep - from expert theologians and brilliant communicators who love Scripture and want to see lives transformed by it.
- Sessions for all ages - from toddlers to teens, youth leaders to grandparents. Everyone belongs and everyone gets involved.
- Workshops and seminars - covering everything from parenting and prayer to justice, theology, wellbeing and mission.
- Time to rest, reflect and respond - it’s not all busy. There’s space to breathe, pray, and listen to God.
- Moments of fun and connection - live music, comedy, late-night talks, fun pools and high ropes, cafés and conversations with friends old and new.
Our Easter events take place at two Butlin’s resorts, Skegness and Minehead, which means everything is on-site and indoors. There’s no camping, no weather worries, just your own accommodation, a short walk from everything going on.
When you’re not in sessions, you can enjoy all Butlin’s has to offer: indoor swimming pool, interactive Skypark playground, a fairground, soft play area, restaurants and cafés, a beach on the doorstep, high ropes, arcades and loads more. It’s a brilliant setting for families, church groups, and anyone who wants a holiday with spiritual depth and loads of joy.
Spring Harvest is more than just ten days a year. We’re here all year round, supporting the Church and resourcing people to live out their faith every day.
- We stream Spring Harvest into homes across the world and into UK prisons, bringing the gospel to places often overlooked.
- We produce podcasts for parents and leaders, host prayer training for churches, and fund small gospel initiatives in local communities.
- We have a streaming service with over 20 years of Spring Harvest and other event teaching sessions.
- We create practical and creative resources — Bible studies, songbooks, ministry directories, family tools and more - all to help everyday people go deeper with God.
We believe that when the Church gathers, something powerful happens. Lives are changed, hope is renewed, and people go back home ready to make a difference.
That’s why we do Spring Harvest - to equip the Church for action, to encourage one another in faith, and to see the name of Jesus lifted high in every part of our world.
What We Believe
At Spring Harvest, we are passionate about gathering Christians from across the Church to worship God, explore His Word, and respond to His call on our lives.
We welcome people from every Christian denomination. What unites us is far greater than what divides us. Whether you come from an Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Independent or other tradition, you'll find Spring Harvest to be a place where you can belong, even if just for a week (or two). Our events are an opportunity to grow in faith, be challenged on your perspective, and be inspired to live out your life in the way God has designed.
It’s all about Jesus. This is the bottom line. It’s all about knowing Him more.
We believe that following Jesus means engaging both heart and mind. That’s why we encourage all who come to Spring Harvest to think deeply about faith, ask honest questions, and live out their beliefs in life-changing and meaningful ways. We believe in the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer, and the beauty of coming together as one body to Gather, Grow and Go.
At the heart of Spring Harvest is a commitment to:
- Study the Bible with care and curiosity.
- Worship God with passion and reverence.
- Join in God’s mission to bring hope, justice, and transformation to the world.
- Create events that encourage seekers to come and experience Jesus.
Our speakers and contributors are expected to live and teach within the framework of the Evangelical Alliance Basis of Faith and the Lausanne Covenant, providing a shared foundation while allowing for a rich diversity of voices and perspectives.
Whether you’re a church leader, a seeker, or someone walking faithfully with Jesus, Spring Harvest is a place to meet God, be equipped for everyday mission, and be part of something bigger.
For many, Spring Harvest has been the start of an exciting journey. We’ve seen so many people go and change the world after God whispered in their ear. It’s happened so many times that we’ve lost count. After-all, we’ve been doing this for nearly 50 years! Thank you Jesus!
Our History
For nearly 50 years, Spring Harvest has been at the heart of the Church’s journey in the UK and beyond. What started as a small Bible-teaching event in North Wales in 1979 has grown into an ever-growing community of passionate people wanting to see Jesus touch our world, shaping, inspiring, and equipping generations of Christians.
In Prestatyn, visionary leaders Clive Calver and Peter Meadows sparked a fresh wave of hope and unity by bringing Christians from diverse traditions together to worship, learn, and engage deeply with God’s Word. That first event attracted around 2,700 hungry believers, ready to be transformed and to make a difference.
Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Spring Harvest expanded rapidly, drawing tens of thousands to multiple venues across the UK. We became a unifying force, breaking down denominational walls and creating a space where evangelicals from every background could stand shoulder to shoulder.
Since 2000, Spring Harvest has pulsed with life as thousands gather for vibrant worship, dynamic teaching, and powerful encounters with God. Year after year, it sparks fresh faith, ignites passion for mission, and unites believers across traditions - fuelling a movement that continues to shape Christianity’s story in the UK and beyond.
Through the years
Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Spring Harvest expanded rapidly, drawing tens of thousands to multiple venues across the UK. We became a unifying force, breaking down denominational walls and creating a space where evangelicals from every background could stand shoulder to shoulder.
Spring Harvest is no longer just an annual gathering. It is a vibrant, year-round community that empowers the Church at every level. In 2022, we branched out in an effort to reach even more people online and in person.
- We stream our life-changing teaching and worship into homes across the globe, reaching people who can’t be physically present.
- We bring the gospel directly into UK prisons, offering hope and new life to those society often forgets.
- We create insightful podcasts for church leaders and parents, equipping them to lead with wisdom and grace.
- We deliver prayer training nationwide, strengthening the spiritual backbone of local churches.
- We support grassroots initiatives, funding bold projects that bring the gospel into communities in fresh and creative ways.
- And we produce trusted resources, teaching books, songbooks, and more, that empower the Church to live out its calling every day.
Our commitment to Bible teaching, worship, and mission has helped shape the spiritual landscape of the Church for half a century. Over the years, Spring Harvest has welcomed bishops, prime ministers, international church leaders, theologians, politicians, comedians, music artists, choirs, TV personalities, and leading experts. These voices have challenged and encouraged us, demonstrating how faith impacts every part of life. Yet, through it all, the message has remained clear and unwavering: Jesus is at the centre.
Spring Harvest is also a fertile ground where new charities and initiatives have been birthed as a direct result of people meeting together, hearing Jesus’ call, and joining hands in collaboration. The events spark partnerships, ignite fresh vision, and fuel a spirit of unity that continues to ripple across the Church and the world.
The world has changed dramatically since 1979, but Spring Harvest’s mission remains as vital as ever. Every Easter, thousands gather in Minehead and Skegness to worship God, immerse themselves in His Word, and seek His direction for the future. Beyond those weeks, we continue to serve the Church relentlessly, online, on the road, and wherever the good news is needed most.
Spring Harvest is now much more than an event; it’s an ever-growing community shaped by its past, active in the present, and full of faith for the future. We’re so glad to be on this journey together, passionate to see Jesus transform lives and renew the world.
Who We Are
Spring Harvest is powered by a small, passionate team of people committed to seeing the Church strengthened and equipped to live out the gospel. We're part of the wider Essential Christian charity. As a team, we're passionate about creating space for God to do his awe-inspiring work in and through us all.
- We aim to make space for everyone to encounter God.
- We work to inspire and equip Christians to grow confident in their faith.
- We believe in the power of God to transform lives and communities.
This is what we’re all about: Connect with God. Grow your faith. Live life transformed
There are six of us who work on Spring Harvest full-time: planning, creating, designing, partnering, praying and preparing. When our Easter events come around, we repurpose the wider Essential Christian team to help deliver the events at Skegness and Minehead, and we bring in an incredible extended team made up of agencies, freelancers, partners, and contributors who help make it all happen.
But none of it would be possible without the army of faithful volunteers who show up every year to serve with joy and purpose. From stewarding to children’s work, worship to production, prayer ministry to accessibility teams - hundreds of people give their time, skills and energy to help make Spring Harvest a place where lives are changed. They are the heart and hands of everything we do during the events, and we are deeply grateful to them for giving their time so generously.
Would you like to volunteer? Look here
Cathy Madavan
Cathy is an author, speaker and broadcaster, who speaks extensively across the UK and beyond with charities, churches, conferences and festivals such as Spring Harvest where she is on the Planning Group. She is also on the board of the Kyria Network which supports and equips women in leadership. Cathy is married to Mark, a church leader in Bristol, and they have two wonderful daughters in their twenties.
Cris Rogers
Rev Dr Cris Rogers is a Church of England church planter, artist, and Star Wars fan. In 2010 Cris and his family moved to Tower Hamlets, one of the toughest estates in East London, and took on the leadership of All Hallows Bow. Their desire was to restart the church, which had shrunk to seven people, and see people flourish. Cris has a deep passion for discipleship and runs the weekly podcast Making Disciples and wider ministry of Making Disciples. He is chair of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Cris will be hosting in the Gathering Celebration in Skegness and the Pursuit Celebration in Minehead.
Debra Green OBE
Debra is the national director and founder of Redeeming our Communities (ROC) which aims to bring about community transformation by creating strategic partnerships. She has over twenty years of experience in bringing together organisations towards the goal of social transformation. Debra was recently appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester.
Debra is a member of the Spring Harvest Planning Group and also on the Essential Christian Board (the parent charity of Spring Harvest).
Jo Moir
Jo Moir is the Head of Spring Harvest and is a broadcaster, collaborator and people gatherer. A former Midwife and Salvation Army officer she has a heart for social justice and intergenerational ministry and loves to create events and spaces where people can encounter God and go deeper in their relationship and experience of Him. She is excited to be part of the incredible Spring Harvest team, listening closely for God's vision for the future.
Leon Evans
Leon is the Lead pastor of Lifecentral Church, a multi-site church based in Halesowen. He is also part of Elim’s regional team and one of founders of the Further Faster Network, helping churches to grow by reaching people currently not engaged with church. Leon is part of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Lisa Holmes
Lisa is a Baptist minister who works as Deeper Church Lead for the national team of the Baptist Union of Scotland prioritising caring for ministers and encouraging prayer, spiritual formation and discipleship. She is also part of the Spring Harvest Planning Group and a member of the EA Council.
Lisa Olsworth-Peter
Lisa is the deputy director of Spring Harvest and was previously the worship pastor of a church in Surrey. She trained at the Royal Academy of Music on the postgraduate musical theatre course and later went on to perform with the RSC and in the West End. Lisa pioneered the livestream into prisons in 2023 and continues to be passionate about the church's role in social transformation.
Mark Watson
Mark is Centre Director for Cambridge and District Youth for Christ and sits on the Planning Group for Spring Harvest. He has over 16 years experience in youth ministry and is passionate about seeing young people encounter God and be equipped to be life-long disciples. He loves coffee, board games, musicals and a good theology book.
Mark is part of the Event Leadership Team representing the youth programmes in both Skegness and Minehead, and will also host the Pursuit celebration in Skegness.
Martha Shrimpton
Martha Shrimpton is an actor, presenter and author who has worked within creative arts for many years. She is the director of Nimbus Collective, which encourages individuals, families and churches to connect with God in creative ways. Martha has written many Christian resource and activity books for children, leads workshops and produces resources to inspire creativity and play! Martha is a member of the Spring Harvest Planning Group and recently joined the head office team as creative coordinator.
Nick Herbert
Nick is a songwriter and worship leader, who is part of the Worship Central team. He and his family moved to be part of the church planting team for Gas Street Church in Birmingham alongside lead pastors Tim & Rachel Hughes. He is passionate about seeing encounter in worship and not just that we sing a few songs together! Nick is also part of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Nick and his wife, Ali, will be leading Receiving More from the Holy Spirit sessions each evening in Skegness, as well as a seminar on prophetic ministry at both Skegness and Minehead.
Paul Weston
Paul is the leader of New Generation Church in south-east London and serves on the leadership team of Pioneer. Paul is passionate about the local church and has founded a new free school, Hope Community School, in Sidcup. He is a husband, dad and qualified chef. He is also a member of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Phil Loose
Phil joined Essential Christian as CEO in 2020. He has a background in church leadership and the Christian music industry with 20 years’ experience in digital and creative song publishing. Prior to joining Essential Christian, Phil was MD of Integrity Music Europe with offices in Brighton UK and Nashville, USA. Phil is married to Jan, has two grown up children.
Sammy Jabangwe-Hanton
Sammy is a creative evangelist and preacher, who recently graduated from Nazarene Theological College with a BA in Biblical Studies. She is part of The Message Trust in soul rap duo SoulBox, which travels around the UK and beyond sharing the gospel with young people. Sammy longs to see people transformed by the gospel and equipped to live life to the fullest. She is also a member of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Sammy will be hosting in the Gathering Celebration in Skegness, and leading the 16-18 Youth as well as hosting the Pursuit Celebration in Minehead.
Sarah Whittleston
Sarah is a Pastor at Elim Life Church, in North Birmingham. Sarah leads ELIM Prayer, Elims national ministry for prayer. She loves to inspire people to life transforming prayer, prophecy and intercession. She loves to see people released into all God has for them. Sarah is also part of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
We are especially passionate about helping children and young people grow in discipleship and be inspired to change the world. That’s why we work with consultants to help us do this.
Rev Malcolm Duncan
Theologian In Residence
Malcolm is the Senior Minister at Kensington Temple in London, chairs Elims’ Ethics and Public Theology Task Force and is Theologian in Residence for Spring Harvest.
Patrick Regan OBE
Patrick is a director of Brighter Days a business supporting wellbeing in the workplace, he also works closely with the Centre of Compassionate Leadership. He is also the founder of urban youth work charity XLP and the co-founder of mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Patrick was awarded a OBE from the late Queen Elizabeth, is an honorary fellow of London South Bank University and has written seven books. He is married to Diane and they have 4 children.
Constance Chinhengo
Constance is a senior financial services leader and experienced trustee with strong expertise in operational performance, regulatory oversight, governance and organisational transformation. Currently an Ombudsman Leader and Head of Department at the Financial Ombudsman Service, leading large multidisciplinary teams responsible for resolving complex financial services complaints. She brings a deep knowledge of regulation, consumer protection, operational risk, and board governance, alongside significant experience delivering large-scale change programmes and strengthening organisational performance.
Constance is passionate about her Christian faith and the role Spring Harvest has in the lives of so many families and young people. She champions inclusive leadership, ethical decision-making and fair outcomes for diverse communities.
Cris Rogers
Rev Dr Cris Rogers is a Church of England church planter, artist, and Star Wars fan. In 2010 Cris and his family moved to Tower Hamlets, one of the toughest estates in East London, and took on the leadership of All Hallows Bow. Their desire was to restart the church, which had shrunk to seven people, and see people flourish. Cris has a deep passion for discipleship and runs the weekly podcast Making Disciples and wider ministry of Making Disciples. He is chair of the Spring Harvest Planning Group.
Cris will be hosting in the Gathering Celebration in Skegness and the Pursuit Celebration in Minehead.
David Dorricott
Married to Alison, David is Managing Director of a software company based on the Isle of Man. He brings his business skills and deep Christian commitment to the work of the Board of Trustees. David and Alison spend much of their time on Friends and Heroes, a major project to produce a world-class animated Bible story series.
Debra Green OBE
Debra is the national director and founder of Redeeming our Communities (ROC) which aims to bring about community transformation by creating strategic partnerships. She has over twenty years of experience in bringing together organisations towards the goal of social transformation. Debra was recently appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester.
Debra is a member of the Spring Harvest Planning Group and also on the Essential Christian Board (the parent charity of Spring Harvest).
Elaine Duncan
Elaine is the Chief Executive of the Scottish Bible Society. Elaine’s passion is to help people know God better through engaging with the Bible. Originally from Cumbria, Elaine now lives and works in Scotland. She loves being outdoors, usually walking her pal’s two dogs.
Hugh Francis
Hugh has more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance sector and has worked for Aviva since 2001 where he is Director of External Reporting Developments. Hugh is responsible for assessing and responding to future external reporting and regulatory and accounting developments, including IFRS and Solvency II, which impact the Aviva Group.
Martin Young
Martin Young has been leading and planting churches for over 25 years, with ministry emphases on community engagement, global mission, leadership development, and the arts. Martin also chairs the board of Essential Christian, the parent charity of Spring Harvest.
Olivia Amartey
Olivia is the executive director for the Elim Pentecostal Church having previously worked in senior leadership positions in the NHS. She is also associate pastor of Crosspoint Church, a church plant based in north Birmingham and has a passion for sharing God’s word creatively (lightly sprinkled with a little humour). Olivia is a member of the board of Essential Christian, the parent charity of Spring Harvest.
Tarn Bright
Tarn is the CEO of the national fostering and adoption charity, Home for Good and also an adoptive mum to two incredible boys. Previously Tarn (as affectionately known) was interim CEO at CapitalMass compiling the next ten-year strategy for social action across the Diocese of London. She is a seasoned public speaker, author and executive coach and has 20 years of ministerial experience as well as a background working in FTSE100 companies.
Policy and Governance
At Spring Harvest, the safety and well-being of everyone who attends our events, participates in our activities, or engages with our community is our highest priority. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels safe, respected, and valued.
Our policies and governance documents are designed to ensure we meet the highest standards of care, safeguarding, and integrity. These documents guide how we operate, how we protect vulnerable people, and how we maintain transparency and accountability across all areas of our ministry.
You can find below the key policies and governance documents that reflect our commitment to safety, good practice, and faithful stewardship.
If you have any questions about these policies or need further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch (link).