Pioneering History Highlights to the Cross Rhythms Ministry...

Since 1983 Cross Rhythms has been using media to increase the impact of the Kingdom of God into our nation and beyond. It was founded upon a word given to Chris Cole in 1982 to “...reach thousands, no millions, for Christ, through media”. In 2009, that word was re-confirmed to current leaders Jon & Heather Bellamy as “...may your broadcast children be more numerous than the stars”.

As a testament to those two words and the call over Cross Rhythms, here is a list of the main highlights, to the glory of God, of how He has used Cross Rhythms to pioneer media ministry, and which underpins our confidence as we pursue the xRhythms vision today:

1983: we produced one of the first UK radio shows to use Contemporary Christian Music. At a time where many in the church believed “rock ‘n’ roll was of the devil”, this show went out on local radio for 18 years and became the most listened to show in its time slot in the region.

1990: we launched the Cross Rhythms music magazine, giving a voice to profile the music and ministries of UK and worldwide Christian music artists. To date we have covered over 30,000 artists and their releases.

1991: we delivered the first Cross Rhythms Festival. This music, arts, and Holy Spirit ministry festival saw up to 4,000 people gather yearly for 12 years to a field in Devon to see 40+ music artists, 30+ speakers, and to receive teaching and ministry. Our survey showed that 95% of attendees said they encountered God at the events.

1995/96: we were one of the first UK Christian organisations to significantly invest ourselves into the emerging world-wide-web. At its height this website has reached just shy of 1million unique users a year.

1997: we launched a full 24 hour a day Cross Rhythms radio station on Sky Digital in partnership with UCB.

2002: we launched Cross Rhythms City Radio in Stoke-on-Trent, the UK’s first FM community radio station, and the first FM licence owned by a Christian group.

2007: a second FM Community radio station, Cross Rhythms Plymouth, launched. This was followed by a third in 2009, Cross Rhythms Teesside.

2011: we set up an accredited Media Training Centre at our HQ in Stoke.

2011: we launched Cross Rhythms Thailand, a weekly radio show on Thai National Radio.

2014: we launched an online community radio station, called Radio Hayah, for Palestinian Arab Youth, in Arabic, and housed in our base in Bethlehem.

2019 March: we set up a co-working business hub at our HQ for local digital based companies and to increase our engagement in the local business marketplace.

2019 September 28th: xRhythms launched for the UK teenage generation...