Gavin Calver appointed director of mission/England at Evangelical Alliance

Gavin Calver has been appointed director of mission/England at the Evangelical Alliance.

He will leave his current role as national director of Youth for Christ (YFC) to take up his new appointment on 1 June 2015.

Gavin said: "After six years as national director, and 13 years at YFC, I feel the time is right for me to move on from this role. I feel God has called me to serve the local Church by helping to mobilise mission across England. I am passionate about seeing the local Church fulfil its calling to take the gospel of Jesus – in both words and deeds – into every community in the land."

In this new role, Gavin – who has been a Council member of the Alliance since 2012 - will be responsible for developing creative initiatives to draw together member organisations into coalitions that serve the Church and help position the Alliance as a catalyst for change, as well as being a voice for the Church to government and media.

Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: "We are delighted that Gavin will be joining our leadership team. His passion for serving God through the Church coupled with his vision for evangelism will be such an asset to our movement. His appointment will open up a new chapter in our journey as we seek to support churches as they reach out to their communities."

Commenting about the announcement, Ken Wright, chair of the YFC Board, said: "We are enormously sorry to see Gavin move on. He is an outstanding and inspirational leader who has steered YFC to grow and develop in so many ways, taking the good news of Jesus to hundreds of thousands of young people. But we are thrilled that God has called him to an exciting new chapter in ministry and we look forward to working in partnership with the Evangelical Alliance as we seek to serve the local Church in mission."

Gavin will take up his position at the Evangelical Alliance after his predecessor Dr Krish Kandiah left the position as director: churches in mission to become president of the London School of Theology and founding director of Home for Good.

The search is now on to appoint a successor for Gavin at YFC. Anyone wishing to find out more should visit www.yfc.co.uk/nationaldirector for more details. The closing date for applications is 13 February 2015.