Where are Antioch's churches?

We are based in the poorer areas of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester. Usually, they are within the most deprived 20% of parishes in the country, but that includes quite a lot of Manchester! We’re committed to planting, not just in the city of Manchester, but also to the towns around Manchester, including Rochdale and Bolton. See the map below for our current locations, and you can click on the image for more details of current and future church plants:

Our most recent churches to launch are

1. Grace Church Brooklands............................  launched May 2023
2. Connect Church Oldham..............................  launched January 2025 
3. MCR Cantonese Church................................ launched April 2026

Overall, we aim to plant at least 15 churches by 2027! 

How can I get involved?

Here are 6 key ways you can get involved with Antioch Network Manchester...

1) Pray for us - to subscribe to our annual newsletter for news and updates, please email .

2) Train with us -  For details of our "REAP" church planters’ training course, please email us, as above, or click here go to the Training page on our website for in-house content and great external resources.

3) Visit us - to see our Church locations and for further details on our services and activities, please click here.

4) Join us - we are looking for new people to join our Launch and Core Teams. Please email us on to to express an interest. 

5) Work for us - on occasions we have staff vacancies, and if you are interested, please click here for vacancy details. 

6) Donate to our work. Click here to donate to Antioch via our Give A Little account.

Antioch Frequently Asked Questions:

FAQ1 - Why the name "Antioch"?

The New Testament church in Antioch is an inspiration to us.  It was planted accidentally and immediately crossed cultural boundaries.   They reached a big, diverse city with the Good News.   Their leadership team was also diverse.    

They fasted, they prayed, they were guided by the Spirit.  And they were a church that sent people out to plant other churches, and supported them when they went.  We want to keep doing those things in the Diocese of Manchester.

FAQ2 - What is Antioch's "Bishop's Mission Order"

Rev Ben, Co-Founder of the Antioch Network interviews Bishop Mark Ashcroft, then Bishop of Bolton, to explore what a "Bishop's Mission Order" is and how we, as a Network, relate to Parish Churches across the Diocese.

In the video above Bishop Mark and Rev Ben explain how this initiative came about and how it connects to the wider Diocesan plan. You can check out the Diocese's website by clicking here.

FAQ3 - Estate, Diverse or Hybrid?

We understand that different environments need different kinds of churches, so we have two ‘families’ inside the network.  One works mostly in very diverse areas of the towns and cities such as Longsight (Manchester), and the other in more established communities in out-of-town estates such as Breightmet (Bolton).

Most recently, due to population changes, we are exploring church plants which are more of a hybrid between our Estate and Diverse models.

FAQ4 - How do you relate to Diocesan parish churches?

The Antioch Network operates under a ‘Bishop’s Mission Order”.  Although the network in many different places in the diocese, the parish priest maintains responsibility for his parish including weddings, funerals, schools, and the parish church.   We usually meet in community centres, libraries, coffee shops, restaurants and homes.   Beyond the links of friendship and cooperation, the parishes and the Antioch Network are under the authority of the Bishop of Manchester.

FAQ5 - Where to plant next?

We are exploring options for future church plant locations, but this depends largely on the sense of calling on, and the opportunities available to, future plant leaders.  If you have a passion to plant a church within the Diocese of Manchester, especially if it's in a diverse or poorer neighbourhood, but are not sure where to get started, please in the first instance, email us on . 

FAQ6 - When did Antioch start?

We launched officially in November 2018, although by then the network already had two churches, Oldhams Church in Bolton and Hope Church in Longsight.   The network grew out of the experience of Oldhams church and Trinity Community Church in Rusholme/ Fallowfield.  This church, planted in 2009, grew and replanted in 2015, and formed the core of two of the first network churches, Hope Church and E247 in Rusholme. More details are available on the video below.

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