--- title: Northern Leaders Day date: 2026-03-24T00:00:00+00:00 author: Kate Butt canonical_url: "https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/events/northern-leaders-day" section: Pages --- We are living in times of both battle and blessing. Research and lived experience point to a growing spiritual openness among those outside the Church. Many are searching for help with life, deeper meaning, community and hope – often leading them to engage with the Bible, connect with our churches, and explore faith for themselves. Join us for a Leaders’ Equipping Day where Rachael Heffer, Head of Mission, alongside Phil Knox, Head of Gospel Impact for the Evangelical Alliance, will unpack insights from the *Finding Jesus* research. Together, they will explore how people are coming to faith today and how we can foster a culture of evangelism and mission in our local churches. This interactive session will offer insight, encouragement, challenge and inspiration, as we share both the statistics and the stories of what God is doing across the UK – and consider how our local communities can play their part in making Jesus known. This is a free event, open to leaders and their teams – sign up below and join us. **Event Details** Date: Tuesday 30 June Time: 9:30am — 3:00pm Venue: The Hope Centre, Bernard Road, Sheffield, S2 5BQ ## Speakers [ ![Rachael Heffer](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==) ![Rachael Heffer](https://cdn.eauk.org/people/_800x1066_crop_center-center_82_none/D9B0C85D-D295-462C-B651-5B4307007199_1_201_a.jpg) Rachael Heffer Head of mission ](#rachael-heffer) ![Rachael Heffer](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Rachael Heffer](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ### Rachael Heffer #### Head of mission Rachael worked for British Youth for Christ for 13 years, most latterly as corporate director within the leadership team before working for four years with the Diocese of Ely as youth adviser – developing training, resources, and strategy for equipping churches in their outreach to young people. Rachael is married to Darren and lives in Ely, Cambs with her two sons, Jacob and Isaac. She is passionate about evangelism, mission, and church unity, and is very involved in her local church – overseeing the youth work and ministry to teenage girls in particular. She is a trained coach and mentor, loves travel, languages, shoes, and is a reluctant soccer-mum! [ ![Phil Knox 2](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==) ![Phil Knox 2](https://cdn.eauk.org/people/_800x1066_crop_center-center_82_none/Phil-Knox-2.jpg) Phil Knox Head of gospel impact ](#phil-knox) ![Phil Knox 2](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Phil Knox 2](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ### Phil Knox #### Head of gospel impact Phil Knox is an evangelism and missiology senior specialist at the Evangelical Alliance and is trying to be a good friend. His book on the subject, *The Best of Friends*, was published on 16 February 2023. You can read his first book, *Story Bearer* at [www.storybearer.com](http://www.storybearer.com) [ ![Ben Jeffery](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==) ![Ben Jeffery](https://cdn.eauk.org/people/_800x1066_crop_center-center_82_none/Ben-Jeffery.jpg) Ben Jeffery Head of church unity ](#ben-jeffery) ![Ben Jeffery](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Ben Jeffery](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ### Ben Jeffery #### Head of church unity Ben is the head of church unity and also leads soulcity church, Stockport, which he planted in 2017. He is unapologetically passionate about the local church, reaching people far from God and seeing the movement of Jesus reproduced in others. He also loves good coffee, falling off surfboards and getting lost on mountains. Error: Please check your details and try again. If this error continues, please contact us. Thank you! Your registration has been submitted successfully. Loading... Keeping your data secure is very important to us. By providing your personal details you agree to allow the Evangelical Alliance to contact you either on the basis of the consents you have given us or for our Legitimate Interests in accordance with current data protection regulations. We will never make your personal data available for marketing purposes to external individuals or organisations. For more information view our [privacy policy](/privacy-policy) or email [info@eauk.org](mailto:%20info@eauk.org).