Secondly, we hosted two events for the local community and invited a magician, Steve Price, to entertain us. Both events were well intended and it was a low-key friendship based events but where the Christian faith was clearly presented. I found this one of the easiest events to get people along to and would certainly recommend both Steve and the idea of a church hosted magic night.
Thirdly, we delivered 5000 flyers to the local community informing them of our just10 preaching series.
With a little bit of help from some friends we received some press coverage in the local press and the news of a merger/marriage between an FIEC and a Newfrontiers church has begun to spread quite widely.
Lastly, we invited the wider church to come and celebrate with us. Around 150 people came to one of the most diverse (in terms of attendance) church services I’ve ever been to with a wide cross section of the Christian community in our town present. We shared the story, history & vision of the church and were grateful for the prayers and support of those who came.
So another marker in the journey has been laid down and we press into the future with some confidence. There is still much to be done to really transform it into one church in two places with a common identity, vision and goal. For those things to be more than just words from the leaders but an actual grounded reality but that doesn’t happen overnight but through worship, prayer and shared mission together. We think God began this good work so we’re confident he’ll complete it.
For the past seven years or so North Shrewsbury Community Church has been nomadic, of no permanent abode. We’ve been mostly using this school as our home but have used at least five other buildings in that time and have used two different office units. The Grange Free Church owns two buildings and it’s easy to think ‘yippee’ because we’re no longer nomadic. But we should always be careful that having a fixed address doesn’t lead to the church becoming static and motionless. We mustn’t forget that the people of God are intended to be a nomadic people (1 Pet 2:11).
But buildings are not always a total blessing. Both of the two buildings we are now responsible for have their limitations and need some investment. We’re converting one into our new offices (saving money and moving us into the heart of one of the communities) and that comes at a cost. There are access, storage, heating, security issues to deal with.
Over the past few months getting to grips with and resolving these issues have taken up considerable time and energy and if you’re not careful dominate the landscape. A greater goal needs to be kept in sight. We must increase not simply the buildings number capacity but it’s missional capacity. The buildings must become a servant to the mission of the church and not a drain.
Soon builders will begin their work and the lawyers will hopefully have finished theirs but for us the work of increasing the mission by more effective use of the buildings is just beginning.
So there you go. It’s not original but that wasn’t one of the criteria so I’m not bothered about that. There are plenty of Hope Churches in the nation but none in our town. It’s unique where it matters most, in our local area.
Hope more than adequately expresses the call of God on us as a local church. Through our Kids Club we bring hope to children, through our youth work hope to teenagers, through our social enterprises hope to the unemployed, through events like Soul Purpose we bring hope to the community, through beach trips we bring hope to families. Most importantly through initiatives like Alpha and our Sunday services we seek to bring hope for forgiveness of sins, freedom from guilt and shame, hope for the present and hope for eternal life to all who will listen.
Hope not only says something about what we’re about but it’s a word that makes sense to people even if they live (as many do in our area) without it. Hope Church gives expression to our expanding vision and growing church over the coming years.
It’s also a lot shorter than North Shrewsbury Community Church.
To go along with such things a new website is being constructed, and events are being planned and all that sort of thing to launch Hope Church. In the meantime we’ve had a play with some logo ideas. These aren’t final and I’m not telling you yet which one we’ve chosen, but I’d be interested to know which one you like or not.
I believe Jesus when he said 'life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions'. I believe he offers something better. This blog is mostly about that search.
I'm also a husband, a father, church planter, keen runner, reader, and motorcyclist. These and a few other things make guest appearances from time to time.
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