Gloucestershire curate uses Twitch to support gamers

Mr Niblett said everyone's mental health went downhill during the pandemic and he wanted to do something to help

A parish curate has started streaming on Twitch to support the mental health of gamers.

Jay Niblett, 35, said he had managed to help people from communities that the church finds difficult to reach.

During live streams gamers will speak to each other, often forming friendships over the internet.

Revd Niblett said: "I thought it was important to be on that platform and be a presence there as a Christian."

An avid gamer himself, the Chipping Campden-based curate said he and he friends would regularly share their feelings and encourage each other during games.

"We thought 'other people deserve this,'" he said, so he set up a profile on Twitch, the live-streaming service.

According to Stream Elements and Arsenal.gg, Twitch grew 45 per cent between March and April 2020; the first Covid lockdown.

"People are taken aback that I work for the church, I'm a curate, and I'm 'normal' whatever that means! I drink beer and I play games and get tattoos and have a laugh"

"Playing games for me is a really social and interactive form of entertainment," said the dad-of-four.

"Through the pandemic, being online meant I got to catch up with friends and it felt as though we weren't separated from each other.

"A whole globe of people needed to go online to 'do community', and they realised it's actually legitimate. I want to be in that community and be a light in that place."

Revd Niblett said through gaming he can reach people that the church often cannot, including members of the LGBTQ+ community who did not have a positive view of it.

"There was one guy who was really struggling.

"Some of the challenges that he was facing were around mental health but also identity, sexuality and feeling excluded for who he was.

"I sent him a private message saying that I was here to chat if he needed me.

"He was blown away that I wasn't another Christian writing him off, in the way he had experienced before from the church," he added.

Be yourself

Revd Niblett said he had been able to make a difference in a lot of people's lives, regardless of their religious beliefs.

After the stream he told one man he connected with that he was praying for him regularly.

"And that friendship's become a really lovely one," he added.

"Vicars often get put on pedestals - you're not allowed to be human, you must have this perfect life, perfect family, everything all together.

"On social media and in the streaming community, you can just be yourself and I love that."

"I want to show people that there are Christians out there that think following Jesus isn't about telling others what they're doing wrong in their life.

"It's about saying 'you're loved, you're valuable and infinitely worthy of my time and care'."