In case you missed it, we made a pretty big announcement at our International Conference in Belfast

There will be more details to follow, but for now, here’s the news as penned by our bewildered founder, Pete Greig…

OK this is big (drum rolls please)…

I couldn’t be more delighted to announce that yesterday, after 20 years leading the 24-7 Prayer movement, I passed the day-to-day leadership of the organisation to Mike Andrea. He’s going to be absolutely brilliant.

Mike brings years of experience as a Senior Pastor and social entrepreneur to his new role as International Team Leader / CEO. Radically saved from a life in violent gangs and crime, Mike was recently honoured by Her Majesty the Queen for his work in community transformation.

Mike is married to Stella, dad to Hope and Jesse, and pastor to Global Generation church in Thanet. He is well-known and much-loved throughout the worldwide 24-7 family for his big-hearted Greek generosity, his irrepressible faith, and his irreverent sense of humour. Everything he does is centred in prayer.

Sammy and I are entering a new season having celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary while our sons turned 21 and 18, I turned 50, and 24-7 turned 20 all in the last year. We sense that this is meant to be a time of jubilee!

Of course, we will continue to bring leadership to the 24-7 movement – speaking, writing and offering hospitality, mentoring and convening key leaders, supporting the worldwide family of 24-7 communities, shaping culture and vision at a high level. We will also continue to lead and be deeply rooted in our Christian family at Emmaus Rd Church, serve on the Wildfires Festival team and Sammy will continue to train as a Counsellor. There’s plenty to do!

Meanwhile, the church and the movement continue to grow which means that the pressures on my schedule have been increasing unsustainably for quite some time. Candidly, I need to slow down without slowing the movement down. This means relinquishing position, power and control – something that leaders aren’t always very good at – but by God’s grace we find ourselves simply overwhelmed with joy.

Mike’s job will be to run the organisation at the heart of 24-7 Prayer day to day, which involves managing our brilliant team, developing resources, running events, supporting churches, raising funds, working with partners, reporting to the Board and outworking our global strategy. There’s certainly plenty for him to do too!

Mike’s appointment, which follows two years of prayerful discernment, was initiated by me and unanimously approved by the senior leadership teams that serve the 24-7 movement. We have no doubt that the Lord has spoken. Mike will release new energy, expertise and enterprise as we enter our 21st year.

Let me reiterate – Sammy and I aren’t going anywhere. We are as committed as ever to the 24-7 community and more compelled than ever by the vision. Our world needs prayer, mission and justice more urgently now than ever. But we are stepping out of day-to-day leadership of the organisation and passing that responsibility with great joy to Mike.

The opportunities and invitations seem almost limitless as we seek to play our part in reviving the church and rewiring the culture. I have a strong sense that it’s time to transition and restructure organisations all around the world. We’re grabbing our surf-boards, paddling like crazy because it’s time to catch the next Big Wave.

C’mon!