FIT FOR PURPOSE

FIT

FOR

Hope Street, Wrexham after St Luke’s, Blackburn before

St Marks, Coventry before St Marks, Coventry after CRT works in partnership with the diocese to find a centrally located, ‘iconic’ building which can be renovated or adapted to fit the needs of 21st-century mission. These buildings become hubs to their community, spaces for fellowship, social transformation, youth work and more. We caught up with teams from some of the recent transformations to find out what’s happening now…

St Luke’s, Blackburn people

Hope Street, Wrexham before St Mark’s ceased operating as a church in 1972 and was in use as a doctors’ surgery until work started on the refurbishment of the building in 2017. The building and adjoining hall were divided into multiple small consulting rooms which had fallen into a state of significant disrepair. The programme of refurbishment concentrated on making the building safe and weathertight, with the bulk of the effort and finances focussed on the internal remodelling. After 45 years without church gatherings, St Mark’s was relaunched as a church in November 2017. Five years on the church is thriving and plans to extend and reorder the attached hall are under way.

3 YEARS ON Hope Street, Wrexham

The former Burtons menswear store, in the centre of Wrexham, was purchased by the Diocese of St Asaph with the purpose of converting it into a contemporary church. In 2019 work started on the planning phase of the project with the construction phase starting early in 2020. Unfortunately, this coincided with the arrival of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns. Delays were unavoidable meaning the church finally launched towards the end of 2021.

Two years’ later, No.1 Hope Street is a thriving church at the heart of the city. The coffee shop acts as a great draw for young and old alike, and the worship space, which previously saw service as a Bingo Hall and a roller disco, is now busy and full of life. Tabernacl (the Welsh spelling of Tabernacle) coffee opens Tuesday to Saturday, providing an open door to Wrexham, and welcoming guests to midweek groups and events including Alpha, a parent and toddler group, a college-age hangout, youth events, prayer events and a community craft group. We’ve hosted a Wales music festival and we’re about to host music performances from the local College.

BUILDING LAUNCHING THIS YEAR St Luke’s, Blackburn

Work commenced in November 2021. We soon discovered that the church hall, built in the 1970’s, was built on contaminated land. The budget for the project was thus consumed within the first few weeks! As the project proceeded, the impact of Covid on the construction industry became apparent and we saw huge delays to the availability of materials. Despite all this, the project is due for completion in time for Christmas. The results are spectacular, and the hall is going to be a wonderful venue for youth ministry. Our temporary offices are based in the town centre which has meant the massive sixth form college and university centre – 10,000 students strong – has been on our doorstep. We've had amazing connections with students on the streets, run a café-based student Alpha course and we are now able to help launch a Christian Union on campus! We've connected with schools – running regular lunch clubs, taking lessons, and hosting collective worship, connecting with over 600 young people every month. We've helped unite churches across Blackburn – running events that have seen over 500 young people hear the good news of Jesus!

PURPOSE