Outreach
The pastor will have as his priority the provision of an expository bible ministry together with the pastoral care of the fellowship with a view to the building up of the fellowship at this place of worship. Particular importance should be given to the Lords Day morning and evening services as well as the mid-week bible study/prayer meeting; at present this meeting is well attended and all the services have been a source of great encouragement and blessing for which we are thankful to God.
The church building is in a very busy town centre, on three sides our neighbours are extremely noisy nightclubs and on the fourth side, a large supermarket which is open all week, including Sunday! So we have plenty of opportunities. We are also within easy travelling distance of both Keele University Campus, Staffordshire University complex and the local teaching hospital which gives good chances of contacting students new to the area.
However, our outreach starts with the children. Children from neighbouring areas are bussed into the church on Sunday mornings. Every third or fourth Sunday, we hold a family service when the parents of the children are specifically invited to attend. The ‘bus brings them in too and the service is slanted towards the children and their parents. At the end of the service, the parents are invited to have refreshments with us before going home – again, the bus will take them.
We also hold a Thursday Club for children from 7 to 11 years old – we would love to have a bigger age range, but the availability of staff and the size of the church hall make this difficult at present, as in view of the surroundings, we have to keep a keen eye on the children. They seem to really enjoy the club, which is devoted to playing games, learning various crafts and always finishes with a time of learning some aspect of Bible teaching and an epilogue.
We have a small shop attached to the church, which sells cards, a few books - mainly second hand - and Bibles. . At present, again due to shortage of staff, this is open only three times a week, but we find it is a good point of contact both with believers from our own and other churches and also with unbelievers.
