As the director of communications and engagement at the Evangelical Alliance and co-lead of our Being Human project, Jo Frost has definitely left an impression. Our Being Human associate, Lara Dean, had a chat with her as she left her parting words of wisdom and aspirations for the journey ahead.
We’re going to start right back at the beginning of your career, long before you arrived at the Evangelical Alliance. What did you want to be when you were little?
Long distance lorry driver, like Clara from Pigeon Street. Also a violin player, a ballerina, a marine zoologist. Then I really didn’t have a clue. At university, I decided I was probably going into law. And then I became a Christian.
I certainly didn’t know comms existed until I was about 25. And I didn’t know what a career path in comms looked like until I was in my thirties.
When you were on the path of law and then you found God, what was that change like?
Law just made sense. My degree was in English and philosophy, so it wasn’t exactly vocational. But law, politics and international relations seemed quite interesting. When I became a Christian as a student, it was a very dramatic and prophetic conversion. There was a calling to Christ that involved evangelism and mission quite loudly. So I poured myself into evangelism and it became really obvious that out of university my calling was, at least initially, going to be towards ministry, evangelism and mission rather than law.
When did you see that thread drawing you towards comms?
That took a long time. I was doing youth and young adult work, lecturing, researching, speaking into culture.
But it wasn’t until a coffee with a friend who said, “Evangelism’s a bit like marketing and you’re quite good at it.”
I decided I didn’t like marketing because it was too economics-based, but I really liked people. I did a master’s in public relations and public communications. It was all from one tiny throwaway comment in a café that I have no doubt my friend would not even remember, but that little seed set my path.
You mentioned exploring cultural stories. How did that line up with Being Human?
My degree was philosophy, but I was really interested in phenomenology, which is the study of being, experience and consciousness. It was driven by these questions: What does it mean to know God? What does it mean for God to be your reality? And what does it mean to know that the world is more than what you experience through your senses?
When I came to the Evangelical Alliance, all of that started to thread together: the public policy, mission, cultural stories, starting to work with Peter Lynas on some of the Transformed work around gender. So many of our theological conversations were about responding to the questions that culture was asking then having good, robust, theologically grounded responses. We eventually realised that our responses were actually really weak, so we needed the Being Human lens to build up our responses and be prepared for whatever culture was going to throw at us.
What are your memorable moments from the Evangelical Alliance?
The first time the Being Human podcast went out was really scary. Trying to record a good quality sounding podcast in an office built of glass is more of a challenge than you would think. You’re trying to put anything in that would deaden the sound. We brought in every exhibition display stand that we owned. There was a stack of spare carpet tiles in the cupboard. We brought them out and scattered them all around the room and we put a load of coats in. It still sounded awful.
Also we scripted the first couple of seasons. If you think Peter’s dad jokes are bad now, when they were scripted, it was really bad!
Are there any pearls of wisdom you’re leaving behind with us at the Evangelical Alliance?
No wisdom. Only grace.
It’s really hard to destroy an organisation that’s been around for 180 years. That took a huge amount of pressure off me. The responsibility felt, at one point, overwhelming: how do you steward an organisation that’s been around for 180 years? But its longevity is testament to how faithful God is, not necessary how competent the staff team is.
Of all the spiritual gifts to desire, wisdom and discernment are really helpful prayers for God to answer.
And is there something that you’re taking forward with you to The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics?
God’s timing is beautiful, even if it’s frustrating. God seems to not only be stirring His church to faith in sharing His gospel but also softening the hearts and minds of those in our culture and around us.
I am super excited to see what the Evangelical Alliance is doing in this moment, and what I get to do with a space that’s dedicated to giving a reason for the hope that we have. I’m also really excited to see the fullness of Jesus’ bride make the most of this particular moment.
How can we be praying for you?
Find out more about the Being Human project
Being Human
What does it mean to be human?
