SPRING 2017
General Manager: Giles Arnold
Trustees: Leslie Lucas, Dave Foster, Trevor James, Richard Naylor, Neil Walker, Paul Withams, Richard Canham and Nigel Allen. Church Growth Trust is a charitable company providing property expertise to independent churches by: offering a sustainable long term trust-holding service; helping churches occupy existing buildings at concessionary rents; helping these churches funds extensions or improvements; providing professional property advice; giving guidance in church practice and governance; offering in-house architectural services.
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The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Church Growth Trust.
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FOUNDATIONS
Operations Manager: Andy Harris
SUPPORTING
KINGDOM
BUILDING
COMMUNITY
HUBS
A look at three churches reaching out into the community and modelling Christ’s love and compassion. Also in this issue: Party walls case study
Rebuild or renovate?
Multicultural churches
Bound
FOUNDATIONS SUPPORTING
KINGDOM
BUILDING
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Welcome to the first edition of our new magazine Foundations. As a charity that holds church properties and advises church clients on their property matters, it seems only right that our magazine should have a property theme. As a surveyor, I understand that no building is likely to last long without good foundations and as the apostle Paul points out in his first letter to the Corinthians any church that does not have Christ as its foundation is unlikely to last long or be able to substantially grow. God has proved himself faithful again and again in the short time that Church Growth Trust has been in existence, in providing us with resources to be able to not only support churches with our advice and allowing them to use properties at low rents, but also to be able to provide architectural services and access to funding for improving some of our properties and even building a new 200 seater church building. I trust that you will enjoy reading the magazine, will be inspired and encouraged by some articles and better informed by others.
p.10 p.12
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A Party Wall or Structure is a wall standing astride a boundary
p.14 Cover photo by Paul McKie.
May you be established on the One Foundation and may He build His Church.
Giles Arnold General Manager of Church Growth Trust
Potential new cafĂŠ extension to the front .
Existing front view
CONTENTS Article
Page
Community at our heart
4
Party Walls case study
10
Church restores building to reach out to local community
12
Rebuild or renovate?
14
Looking to the future
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The Hope Centre 8, Princewood Road Corby NN17 4AP Meet the Church Growth Trust team 01536 201339 www.churchgrowth.org.uk
Multi-cultural churches
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COMMUNITY HUBS:
young people don’t have a dining room table or anywhere to sit to do homework. They are bringing tasks home which their parents don’t understand so they feel unable to support them. We piloted a homework club for secondary school children for two years and soon found that we needed a whole family approach.
Horizons Church, Sutton A look at three churches helped by Church Growth Trust
Community lies at the heart of what our churches and Christian communities stand for. Meeting together and enjoying fellowship with each other is part of church life, but reaching out into the community and modelling Christ’s love and compassion is what drives the work of Church Growth Trust (CGT). Welcoming the advent of spring, Ruth Leigh decided to find out what three very different churches are doing in their neighbourhoods. Judith and David Smith are the pastors at Horizon Church in Sutton. The former Assembly Walk Chapel was taken over by Horizon in May 2013, once the Brethren congregation felt it was time to hand the building on to another church through CGT. Judith gives some background: “We’re in the London Borough of Sutton, on an estate in the highest 20% of deprivation in the UK. We’ve got mixed housing, a few shops and small businesses, but no pub anymore and no major businesses.” 4
The neighbourhood struggles under a huge weight of issues. “We have widespread poverty, health issues, deprivation, addiction, workless families, loneliness and isolation and one of the lowest educational attainment percentages in the borough. That said, the people are lovely and what you see is what you get. Once they get to know you and you earn their trust and respect, relationships are built.” Horizon’s congregation are a very practical group of people. They do not preach. They do not proselytise. They believe that they are there to love the people on the estate with no strings attached. With this central vision in place, the church is there to meet needs and get alongside people. This does ultimately result in many coming to faith. “We run lots of community groups and anyone who comes to those is as much a part of the church family as the Sunday congregation,”
explains Judith. “We offer seniors’ lunches, the Family Hub, a men’s group, toddlers and coffee mornings. If you’re in the church or a community group and you have a new baby, we deliver two weeks’ worth of evening meals to you and your family.” One of the most pressing issues in the community is low educational attainment. There are a number of practical ways of breaking the cycle for this generation as Judith explains: “Many children and
The People’s Health Trust funded the project secondary homework club and now we start younger. Parents come with their children from the early years right up to secondary school. It helps with confidence building, attainment and self-confidence for the whole family. It cuts down on detentions and supports young people in staying on at school.” For a relatively small church Horizon are certainly punching above their weight. With the church building and a portakabin full to bursting, their next challenge is to raise funds for a second portakabin. With their generous and open-hearted vision for their community, there is no doubt they are going places.
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programme. Whenever people walk into the building they say things like “this has a really nice feel” and “this place is really peaceful”. We feel that we are God’s guests. We prayed into it for six months before signing the lease and that’s what God showed us He wanted us to do.”
COMMUNITY HUBS:
All Saints Church, Marple 225 miles to the North West, All Saints Church, a growing evangelical Anglican church in Marple, also acts as a community hub, but in a very different type of neighbourhood. Church Warden Neville Phillips takes up the story. “Marple is a small commuter town mainly serving Manchester. We at All Saints Church, Marple were contacted by Church Growth Trust in 2015 to see if we would like to take over the former Marple Independent Evangelical Church building on a two year lease. We re-opened the building in May 2016 and renamed ourselves Connect.” All Saints Marple is up on the hill whereas Connect is located centrally. “As a church, we’d been praying for several years about having a presence in the centre of Marple, so Church Growth Trust’s offer was very timely.” Chris McComiskey is a member of the staff team at All Saints and has had a strong vision for Connect from the 6
start. Unlike Horizon, Connect is not in an urban priority area, but as Chris explains, there is just as much of a need for church in the community. “Although Marple is a place with high levels of community involvement, there are still people who do not have many social contacts or good networks around them. We’ve taken a completely different approach to building relationships in the community. We try to make Connect a place where we want to come ourselves. It’s a bit like a communal lounge. We might do some of what you would do at home – having fun, chatting, sharing, laughing, praying, sometimes supporting, sometimes receiving support, a place to see what’s going on and spending some
relaxed time together. Some people prefer to just relax, others like to be busy together – such as art, doing homework, looking at a CV, baking a cake or doing any jobs needed around the building. “We don’t advertise, as it’s about relationship and word of mouth. Numbers have grown quickly and once people do come, they usually bring others or come up to the Connect centre. Our two key values are that everything is open to everyone and it’s free.” Connect is a place filled with the presence of God where we can just “be” without an agenda or
While Connect staff spend a lot of time waiting on God and resting in his presence, they do also have a social action agenda, as Chris explains. “We have a foodbank, a prayer healing ministry, after school and homework club and a playgroup. We also continue to welcome groups who used the building before we came.” Connect opened its doors in May 2016. When Chris counted how many people came through them to the new sessions in November 2016, she made it 134 in one week. Offering a loving, peaceful and welcoming space in the bustle of a busy community, Connect is certainly acting as a spiritual hub.
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COMMUNITY HUBS:
Citygate Church, Brighton On the south coast, Brighton’s Citygate Church operates over three sites, each with its own set of needs and opportunities. Gwyn Davies, one of the church leaders, gives an overview of their work in the housing estates of Hollingdean and Hollingbury.
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“Hollingdean used to be a workingclass area, but much of Brighton has become gentrified and now it’s a mix of younger middle class incomers and older inhabitants. There’s a blend of student and family housing. Many of the elderly can’t access services and resources in town, so they can feel cut off. Church Growth Trust’s building (gospel hall and flat above which was rebuilt in 2008), @The-Dip, is a great little space at the heart of the community and many residents feel connected to it. We rent it out to community groups such as Weight Watchers, NCT, adult education and a local Downs Syndrome group. We also offer a café for Hollingdean’s bi-annual festival. We run a Taize service once a week, 24-7 prayer annually and hold youth group and our monthly prayer meetings there.”
spiritual heritage. They used to run a Sunday school attended by over 400 children. Four years ago, the ageing congregation was dwindling. We looked at buying the building, but it didn’t work out. However it was sold to a nursery and we now rent the space from them at the weekend when it’s not in use. We run Messy Church monthly which is attracting lots of local families who don’t normally go to church. Hollingbury was quite deprived, but like Hollingdean, it’s now a mixed demographic. Brighton has become so expensive that families can’t afford to live in the town centre so they all move outwards. That’s where we come in, offering a warm welcome and engaging activities. It’s not what we originally envisaged, but it really works with the community.”
Citygate’s second location is in Hollingbury, an area where many church members live. “The site was occupied by a Methodist church which had an incredible
Andy Au is also an Elder, based at Citygate’s third location, Brighthelm. Unlike Hollingdean and Hollingbury, Brighthelm is in the busy town centre. “We are at the Brighthelm
Community Centre on the main drag from the station to the sea,” Andy explains. “A recent study showed that there is a footfall of 8 million a year down our street! We’re located between the busy North and South Laines shopping area. 50 yards away there’s a house for people who are on the margins of society. They’re mostly recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. We also have Brighthelm Gardens just round the corner where people come to drink, smoke weed, sleep and so on. There are huge needs in this community.” The Brighthelm Centre is owned by the local URC church. The elderly congregation were looking for another local church to take on the mantle of their community outreach which was where Citygate came in. Brighhelm’s urban location means that other community projects attract visitors to the town. “Brighton is a very intellectual place,” says Andy. “Barriers go straight up if you mention Jesus. We run a creative project called Oasis which incorporates Movement “When we arrived four years ago, we asked ourselves ‘how do we reach out to this community?’ I set up the Chaplaincy which is there to help the Centre’s staff to signpost people to support if they’ve got issues. We run a monthly drop-in lunch café where we offer a home cooked three course meal for 75p. We get a lot of rough sleepers coming in, but the café is for anyone who wants it. Customers can sit in the warm, be fed, chatted to and welcomed. We’re trying to lift people’s spirits.”
Worship and ribbon worship with drumming and percussion. We’ve found that a nonverbal dynamic of prayer and worship really draws people in. Drumming and movement bypasses the intellectual and verbal block when we speak to them about Christ or the church.” This type of community outreach may be unconventional but it certainly succeeds in attracting both residents and visitors to the town. “We get hen parties dropping in on their way to a bar, or weekenders coming through on their way to the beach then spending a couple of hours with us. We feel that we’re sowing seeds. There isn’t that sense of whipping yourself up to “do” evangelism. We are who we are with our God-given creativity and people sense that.” Whether working with families, those on the margins of society or weekend hedonists, the Citygate congregation are taking the gifts He has put in their lives, demonstrating the love of God and making Him relevant for their community. Church Growth Trust are delighted to be able to continue to partner with these three churches and to watch as they model love and compassion to those around them.
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Boundary LineLin Boundary
The commercial building on the north side of Cholmeley Evangelical Church was demolished and replaced by a block of flats.
PARTY WALLS
CASE STUDY
Boundary Line
Trevor’s recommendation to churches with buildingrelated issues is to “seek advice immediately and approach the issue professionally, regardless of the relationship with the other party. Communicate/ confirm all verbal agreements in writing and be very precise in agreeing the terms and conditions. Be aware that there may be a lack of communication between the adjoining owners and their builder/contractor.”
Cholmeley Evangelical Church is a fellowship reflecting a mixed socio-economic cross-section of the wider community in Highgate. They are focused on reaching out to the young single professional unchurched population. They also want to develop their church building as a multi-use resource for the wider Christian community especially those organisations involved in mission.
Trevor Currie of Cholmeley Evangelical Church said, “The involvement of Church Growth Trust (CGT) meant we didn’t have to burden the church with the problem or incur unnecessary expense.”
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Cholmeley Evangelical Church (Second Century) Trust Fund have an equity share in the property, with CGT being the freeholders. The church informed CGT of the party wall issue and CGT were able to advise on the legal position and carry out inspections at various times which helped highlight issues and offer advice on how to seek a remedy.
Less than 6m
A Party Wall or Structure is a wall standing astride a boundary
PA s lla wworkastarted si on the property When
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adjoining them they realised they needed to ensure that nothing was done by the neighbouring owner’s contractors that would cause any immediate or longer term damage to the church premises, including hidden, longer term water ingress.
45°
Excava
What is the Party Wall Act?
Legislation that deals with boundaries between separately owned properties.
When would it apply to me?
If you or your neighbour wanted to carry out building works to a party wall or carry out excavations within six metres of the neighbouring structure.
What is deemed a party wall?
A wall standing astride a boundary of land belonging to two or more different owners and which: • Is part of one building or • Separates two or more buildings A wall which stands wholly on one owner’s land, but is used by two or more owners to separate their buildings. Typically this would include an arrangement where one owner constructed the wall in the first instance and the adjoining owner has butted their building up to it without constructing their own wall.
What do I need to do about it?
If you are the owner of an existing party wall and want to carry out the works you will need to ‘serve notice’ on the owner of the neighbouring property at least two months before the works are due to start. If the adjoining owner agrees, in writing, within 14 days of the serving of the notice, there is no need for action by the building owner and no need to employ a party wall surveyor.
What happens if the adjoining owner does not agree?
If a negative response is received or no response is received a party wall surveyor must be appointed.
For further details see CGT’s briefing paper on churchgrowth.org.uk
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Church restores building to reach out to local community A popular church in Warwickshire has renovated a community building in the heart of a deprived area - thanks to help from Church Growth Trust. Myton Church in Warwick meets in a school, which restricts the activities they can run during the week. They spotted a building owned by Warwick District Council, and with help from CGT renovated the space to open Westbury Community Centre.
TOP TIPS • If you share services to your building with other organisations, meet together regularly and keep communications open. • Don’t rush the process – make sure you only do what you need to do. • Get professional help when you need it – the legal requirements for public use properties are so different to domestic properties.
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• Tailor your applications to the grant-maker, don’t use a generic application for everyone.
Church Growth Trust understand the idiosyncrasies of churches. That it wasn’t really about the building but about our mission for the centre and what we wanted to achieve for the community.
It’s now a busy hub with a community café, youth groups, foodbank, English classes and debt counselling services all on offer. Foundations spoke to church administrator Pearl Pawson about the experience.
How did the process of renovating start?
What is Westbury Community Centre used for?
After dreaming big about the project we started to break it down into manageable lists. We were very fortunate to have a project manager who worked for a big hotel chain in our church and he took on the project for us, working with architects and quantity surveyors. Unfortunately, his job moved him to Germany before we were finished and we weren’t sure how we were going to do it. Then someone mentioned Church Growth Trust.
There’s around 1000 homes in the immediate area with residents with diverse needs. We want to make sure we’re providing what the whole community wants and we were very fortunate that a Community Partnership Team Manager from the Warwick District Council had recently done a survey in the area and received strong feedback that services for younger children, like toddler groups, were lacking. There was nothing for children until they reached 10 and could start attending the youth clubs. So we are starting a toddler group in April.
How did Church Growth Trust help you? I wish we had known about them from the start, they could have saved us so much time and money. They came in late in the process, looked at everything we had already done and helped us manage the rest of the process. Gill Pedler was a God-send.
Renovation process Because we were getting our funding from grants, there were all sorts of restrictions and time limits. There was a lot of juggling to get everything done and we hired a specialist to handle the grant side of the project. There were a lot of convoluted spreadsheets!
We run two youth groups and our neighbours, the Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs, run youth clubs too. We also work with foodbank, debt counselling through CAP (Christians Against Poverty) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. Gill Pedler, Architect from Church Growth Trust, added: “Generally things went very smoothly with this project. I made regular site visits to make sure the works were in line with the contract. The contractor was very helpful and went out of their way to give the client a good quality building within budget and on time. The client was thrilled with the end result! “Our advice to churches planning a building project of any scale would be to agree the works in as much details as possible at an early stage, then when you obtain prices from contractors, ask them how long they can hold that price for and when they might be able to carry out the works. This will help you to programme the works in to suit your funding.”
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Rebuild or renovate?
Oakleigh Community Church (OCC) has a vision to become the main community hub for their North London village of Whetstone. With the help of Church Growth Trust, the church plans to extend its current building to accommodate a welcoming community café and build a larger hall for members. OCC is a community congregation of the large local C of E church - St Barnabas - and it has outgrown its main hall, which is now too small to accommodate everyone meeting together on Sundays. Revd Mike Pavlou, minister at OCC, states, “We realised about 4-5 years ago we were outgrowing the building and needed a bigger 14
of knocking the building down, for a complete rebuild,” says Mike. OCC appointed a planning consultant who helped them select architects and develop their brief in more detail. Mike continues: “We realised we needed help from the beginning, because this is all new to us. Church Growth Trust are helping us financially, with architects and professional advice in dealing with the complexities that these projects can present. It gives us a real sense of assurance that we have their experience and expertise behind us.” auditorium as well as additional auxiliary halls and office space.” The church has around 160 meeting on Sundays and use the building for community programmes and private hire throughout the week, especially for youth work.
Church Growth Trust’s architect Gill Pedler provided a sketch scheme as part of the appointment process, based on a simple initial brief. “We
had ideas for a community café at the front of the building providing a more open and welcoming entrance and a larger hall to the rear,” Gill says. When all the possibilities have been explored, CGT will help Oakleigh to determine costs and see what they might or might not be able to do. “It is our hope that we will have the facilities to move the church and its outreach and community use to the next level,” said Mike. Mike has this advice for churches seeking to expand or repurpose their buildings: “Seek the best advice you can get and go for as much space as you can. Don’t just build for today but build with faith for future growth as well.”
The congregation is mainly working class and very multi-cultural. The building, owned by Church Growth Trust, was originally two separate brick buildings and has been added to several times over the years to serve OCC’s outreach opportunities. “We added some temporary buildings to the rear and side of the building about 10 years ago and refurbished some of the interior six years ago. We are currently looking at extending again or the possibility
It is our hope that we will have the facilities to move the church and its outreach and community use to the next level, Revd Mike Pavlou
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Looking to the future Church Growth Trust produced a DVD in 2015 called “Warehouse or Wine Bar” with the sub-title “what will your church building be used for in ten years’ time”.
Many trustees of church properties across the country have watched it and are asking for Church Growth Trust to help them ensure that their buildings are not lost for the Kingdom. Giles Arnold, Church Growth Trust’s General Manager, says “I mentioned the DVD at the recent regional Living the Passion conference and, judging by the positive response I received afterwards, I think this really strikes a chord with many assemblies and trustees who are struggling to see what the future holds”.
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Many assemblies are getting older and smaller in numbers. They are faithfully preaching the word and doing whatever outreach their limited resources allow and some are only continuing because they cannot consider the alternative... of having to close the work and sell the property. But there often is another alternative, where the Gospel work can continue and flourish once again. There are many growing and vibrant evangelical churches who are looking for buildings and Church Growth Trust (CGT) has been blessed on many occasions, when an assembly has decided they cannot continue as they are, to find another church to either work with the assembly or take on the building themselves, continuing its use as a centre of worship and outreach to the local community. One recent example is a chapel in North London, where one of the two remaining elders was planning to move and the assembly’s future was in the balance. CGT found a number of local evangelical churches who are now working together to provide leadership and to encourage members living in the locality to join with the assembly, in order to revitalise the church. Change is inevitable, but the churches are taking time to get to know each other and agree on a way forward. CGT will hold the property in a long
term stewardship role, allowing the church to use it at a nominal rent. Another example is a gospel hall in Surrey, where the remaining elder has relocated and the few left in the fellowship are struggling to continue on their own. Church Growth Trust has contacted a number of local evangelical churches and national networks of churches to see whether any are interested in continuing the work from the building. The process of finding a suitable church has taken a number of months, but has been a journey where CGT has fully involved the assembly. God has shown His perfect timing in preparing everyone for what He has in store. CGT and the assembly had assumed that a new church would be found to merge with the assembly, as with the North London chapel, but it has become clear that this will not be possible and therefore the assembly has agreed to close and the new church will take on full use of the property. CGT will always work with the existing assembly to consider options for the future and would not want to force an assembly to close. The decision has to be theirs. “We try to be sensitive to the desires of the fellowship who have invested their lives in the work and often feel a sense of failure or a great sadness at the prospect of closing a Gospel work” states Giles Arnold, 17
Multi-cultural churches: understanding culture
“but we also are able to give them a sense of hope as they look to the future, with “their” building being used once again to its full capacity and a Gospel witness growing and reaching the local community”. CGT will, where possible and if the assembly wish, try to accommodate the existing fellowship into a “new” church taking on the building, but sometimes this is difficult, as the new church will do things very differently from the “old” assembly; for example in terms of worship style, outreach events and the number of times they hold “breaking of bread” meetings.
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“What impresses me so often about assemblies looking to the future is that they may not like the way the new church does things (as it is not the way they have always done it), but they are able to see the bigger picture of the Gospel work flourishing once again and people coming to faith and they are prepared to let go and pass on the baton to the next generation in such a gracious and God-honouring way. I know the Lord will honour them for this open-hearted response to what He is doing. It is very rewarding being part of this work”. Giles Arnold
If you would like a copy of the Warehouse or Wine Bar DVD or would like to discuss the future of your assembly and church building, please contact Giles Arnold on 01536 647164 or email giles.arnold@churchgrowth.org.uk.
Our first article in this series highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of the multi-cultural nature of life in UK today.
Mark Davies Mark and his wife Shirley served as missionaries in Zambia for 20 years engaging in Bible teaching and church/community development projects. From 2003 Mark worked at Tilsley College, Scotland, recently leaving his role as Principal to continue serving with GLO Europe as the Training Director and Coordinator of a national training network. Mark and Shirley are now based in London at Highgate International Church.
It finished with some “homework” to be done - Have you carried out any recent research on the demographics in your local community? What changes are taking place? Who are the new groupings of people you can now reach for Christ? Who are the new workers (fellow believers) that the Lord has brought to you? We then looked at the particular role that languages play within the dynamics of connecting with and working among incoming groups, while they grapple with learning English and adapting to British cultures. In this article we explore the concept of culture itself.
Culture is that thing which, while we are not born with it, we so naturally live and breathe, such that the majority of us are utterly oblivious to what is “our” culture - until we leave our environment and enter into another cultural world. And then it hits us, often in our stomach as our digestive system struggles with new cuisine or as we fumble with hands, noses and cheeks to give an appropriate greeting. These, and the frustration at having to wait an extra 38 minutes before the promised tour guide pitches up, are some of the practical evidences that our expectations differ from culture to culture.
When to be or not to be … or who to be at all?
Birth culture, so called as it is the socialisation into which we were
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encultured from birth, includes the deepest values we live by, the way we think or rationalise our actions, as well as the practical habits of daily life.
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE BEHAVIOUR VALUES BELIEFS
The “Understanding Culture” diagram opposite, illustrates the interconnectedness of how we present ourselves to one another. As if that range of possible difference is not enough, most cultures have their own language to describe it all, and, in itself alone, language is a formidable barrier to social cohesion in a given location, be it in your local market, school or church.
WORLD VIEW l
Wh at is rea
What is true
Wh st at is good or be
What is done
we share a common human nature and inherit some personality traits from parents, but are nurtured into forms of cultural or group identity.
Identity is a core issue for human well-being and useful functionality – knowing who you are and why you are and what you are has a huge impact on what you can do and achieve. Identity is not just about the individual (How do you see yourself?) but about the community (How do others see you?).
From a Biblical perspective it is not something sourced just within myself or from my community but something God speaks to us (again needing to be personally heard and collectively accepted).
Sp eci fic eci ive Un
d
te eri
HUMAN NATURE
Inh
rsa l
Sp
d
rne
CULTURE
Lea
to g
rou
p
PERSONALITY
ed
n ear
fic
&l
to i
ted
eri
Inh
nd ivid ua l
As the “Elements of personal and group make up” diagram illustrates,
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ELEMENTS OF PERSONAL AND GROUP MAKE UP
There is also the question of the priority order of one’s core identity and subsidiary identities which may be linked to sub-cultures that I see myself as part of. I am “comfortable” (at times) with a range of subsidiary identities (I am Welsh, British, male, a father, a son, a Christian minister, white). These have a certain developmental dynamic to them and are to some extent context related. However I must learn to hold to a core identity as being a child of God, someone who is significant in God’s eyes.
Choosing that order of identity priority will be a significant help to engaging in a multi-cultural church context, because one key area that affects our sense of identity is the “culture(s)” that we feel at home in. While Paul in Galatians 3:26-29 teaches clearly the over-riding priority of who we are in Christ, yet he retains a clear sense of the dimensions of his own human make up – cultural and sub-grouping identities (male, Jew, Benjaminite, Pharisee, Roman citizen – Acts 22:3,27-28, 23:6; Philippians 3:5). A healthy self-consciousness, with an acknowledgement of my own boundaries as to who I am, help me realise that to effectively communicate and connect with others I need to make compromises and changes in how I think and act. Hence Paul teaches by personal example in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 that he must make the significant effort to change and run the risk of his own group misunderstandings so that those of other cultural groupings may receive Christ clearly. In working out the great commission, Matthew 28:19-20, of making disciples of all nations, we
are to be the “go-ers”, the bridge makers and gulf crossers. The responsibility has to be on us to change and become in some ways like the “other” (be it an ethnic minority or cultural sub-grouping such as Bikers, Goths, Ravers or Yummy Mummies), not expect them to change and become like us culturally speaking, in order to receive Christ. The incarnation of God into our world sets the supreme example. Philippians 2:3-8, He emptied Himself, He laid down, He let go of all the outwardly evidences of His divine glory (though not being any less divine as that was His very nature) so that there be no barriers in His desire to connect, communicate and serve us, His now fellow-humanity. Having spent 20+ years living and working in another culture, I know it is not possible to fully enculturate into another culture other than your birth culture, but you can go a long way towards adapting and fitting in, to humbling yourself, to learning how to be in another’s shoes, such that the barriers to communicating Christ are reduced to those that relate to sinful rebelliousness against God and not the barriers of cultural difference.
More homework ... ! What steps are you taking, as probably the majority culture in your area, to understand and meet the various minority cultures and sub-groupings of people in your local community? What are some of the key barriers in socialising? What steps can you take as a group or as individuals to overcome those barriers? What aspects of our majority culture can we sacrifice and change, so that other cultural groupings feel more comfortable in our company and in the way we can worship God together?
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Church Growth Trust
Gill Pedler Architect
Meet the team
Gill is married with two children. She is a chartered Architect and member of the RIBA and has worked in this field for over twenty years. She is proficient in Archicad 3D drafting software and has a passion for helping churches realise the full potential of their buildings. She is church secretary at Market Harborough Baptist Church and is also involved in creative worship and puppet ministry there.
Giles Arnold General Manager Giles is married to Sue with two adult children, both at university. He is a Chartered Surveyor. He manages Church Growth Trust and its church buildings, finding new churches to occupy when the existing congregations close. He also specialises in advice on church and charity buildings, such as guidance on major projects, advice on leases and help with unravelling Trust Deeds. He has led a local independent evangelical fellowship and is on the leadership team of his current church, co-ordinating life groups, preaching and training others.
Andy Harris Operations Manager Andy is married with five children. His role with CGT is to ensure that the business runs smoothly and also planning for future growth. He is an active member of Hope Church in Corby and currently heads up the media team. His career has been mainly spent in local government where he held several management roles involving transportation. He is currently a foundation school governor of a small village primary school that has recently become an academy. 22
Mandy Harris Administrator Mandy has worked as Administrator for CGT since 2010. She has two children and lives in Rutland. Mandy is a member of a community choir, who specialise in African music and perform for charity and at local events.
New office
After its creation in August 2010, Church Growth Trust (CGT), operated out of the dining room of the new General Manager Giles Arnold. Since 2011 CGT has used office space with Hope Church’s Hope Centre in Corby. Now with a staff of five CGT are relocating to a new office in a converted barn at Seaton, a small village in the Rutland countryside.
It is exciting times in the life of Church Growth Trust and a great privilege to be engaged in the work that the Lord has set before us. Andy Harris
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