|The Community of Celebration Christian Trust has been linked with several communities, not all of which were called by the name of the Community of Celebration, or were supported by the Trust directly. Click on a photo to read about the communities that played a significant part in CCCT's history.|
During the 1960s, the Rev. Graham and Betty Pulkingham moved to the Church of the Redeemer in Houston, Texas, where Graham was the Rector. The story of how initial failure and despair was transformed with the growth of a worshipping community, "holding all things in common" and providing a beacon of hope in Houston's east end, is told in Graham's book Gathered for Power.
In 1972, partly as a result of a visit to the church by the then Bishop of Coventry, Cuthbert Bardsley, Graham and Betty with members of the Redeemer community came to Britain to establish a small community in Coventry. The new community had no name or corporate identity of its own, but in the following year, with the founding of the Trust, it became known as the Community of Celebration. From then on CCCT became the vehicle through which it conducted its affairs.
Assets and income were held in common. Members of the public donated funds. Community business ventures contributed their profits. All these were held by CCCT, which paid expenses and supported Community members by means of a monthly allowance - the same for all, regardless of status.
The Community of Celebration in Britain had a worldwide ministry, primarily within English speaking countries. Although many people came to the Community for personal healing and teaching, it was most well known for the Fisherfolk, ministering teams of mainly young people who travelled widely in the UK and overseas. Their songs and style of worship were extremely popular, and had a substantial influence on church worship during the 1970s and 1980s. Records and songbooks sold in hundreds of thousands throughout the world. Administratively, CCCT and its business subsidiaries were the vehicles for this.
Being a dynamic body, the Community did not remain in one location, nor was it limited to a single group of people. By the early 80s there were several Communities of Celebration, located in Britain and the USA and linked as a Society. Since it was clearly impractical to maintain the same administrative relationship with all of them, CCCT was confined to the support of the parent group initially, and later, as communities reduced in numbers and size, to the support of the work in Britain.