Shadwell

The first Urban Expression team began work in Shadwell in September 1997. Led by Jim and Juliet Kilpin, the team of eight moved into a collection of estates and communities in this part of Tower Hamlets, where they sensed God had called them.

The early months, and indeed years, were spent building relationships and getting to know the community – East End families, Sylhetti-speaking Bengali neighbours and people from many ethnic backgrounds. Many people were suspicious of us 'newcomers' for a long time, and regularly asked when we would be moving out (as they thought most of the do-gooders did who chose to target inner-city areas), and it was only after three years that people realised that we were here for the long term and stopped asking the question.

Members of the team looked for ways to become involved in the community and to meet some of its practical needs. Activities over the years have included washing windows for elderly residents, clearing waste ground that had become an eyesore, setting up a motorbike project, helping in a local youth club, running summer sports programmes and getting involved in the restoration of an adventure playground (which has in the last year re-opened with 2 full-time staff and employs several local people). In recent months we have also taken 50 local people on a church holiday to Butlins and invited newcomers to join a Bible study based on the film The Full Monty!

One of the clear convictions of the team was that we should not try to impose a pre-determined model of church on the community – assuming we knew what kind of church was appropriate in Shadwell, setting up meetings and expecting people to attend them, declaring our arrival with a great fanfare. Instead, we have patiently and gently built relationships and allowed church to emerge. One expression of this conviction was the decision not to name the church that emerged, but wait for local believers to name it. This happened in 1999, and Cable Street Community Church emerged.

This approach might have meant slower progress than some people would expect of a church plant, but has resulted in the gradual emergence of a more indigenous form of church. The church meets in households on Sundays and together on a Wednesday evening. In September 2003 a student youth worker was appointed for two years to develop the growing work with children and youth, and the church is beginning to grow strongly in numbers and maturity.

As the church develops it faces the challenge of learning how to organise things in a manner that is suitable for the number of people, but also in a way that retains the values that have been the foundations of the church. We continue to ask questions of what is appropriate and resist the temptation to do things in a certain way just because that is what all churches seem to do!

Map of Shadwell :

Stepney

The second Urban Expression team began work in Stepney in September 1998. Led by Phil & Sarah Warburton, the team of seven found accommodation in the area and began to develop relationships with each other and a vision for the community. Much time in the early months was spent researching the area and slowly getting to know neighbours. East Enders and Sylhetti-speaking Bengalis are the predominant groups in the area, but there are also many people from other backgrounds. Time was spent also building links with other churches.

The team has had a strong emphasis on prayer over the past five years, conscious that their work in Stepney depended on God’s help and direction. The church is known as Open Door.

Sunday services involve meeting for a simple meal, communion and prayer. The church has grown at a slow pace over the past five years but is now are struggling to fit around the table for the shared meal (extra people not extra lbs!) Formal teaching takes place in 6 week courses that run mid-week. In addition, once a month there is a celebration with an emphasis on worship and interactive preaching. There are other opportunities to be together through the week, including a pub quiz on Tuesday nights.

Christmas saw the church’s first carol service. This was a café style event with about thirty people attending. Sarah and Phil also hosted a Halal Christmas where about 15 Muslim neighbours joined us for a meal. Some were guests for the first time.

Another possible initiative for this year is a project called ‘Helping out,’ that will seek to provide practical help to households. Open Door is in the process of researching similar projects and talking to local partners and agencies about what such a project may look like. The hope is to have something up and running before the summer.

Overall, Open Door is excited about what the God of surprises may do in 2004.

Map of Stepney :

Newham

A third Urban Expression team started work in the London borough of Newham in 1998, with a particular concern to build relationships with people from the various South Asian communities. They are a group of followers of Jesus, made up of people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds experiencing and expressing the love of God in Christ desiring to be biblically obedient and culturally appropriate among the South Asians of East London.

This team is working in a sensitive area and it would not be wise for us to say too much about who they are or what they are doing on this website. For this reason the newsletters on this site do not contain sections on the work of this team.

However, if you are interested in learning more about this team and its work, please contact us, as they are happy to share with people about the work God is doing here in seeing men, women and children become faithful followers of Jesus and responsible members in his church.

Map of Newham (click on the map for an interactive version at Mapquest.com)

From church plant to church

In November 2005 the decision was taken to recognise that the church here had been planted and should be encouraged to develop without any sense of dependence on Urban Expression. The remaining team members have become Urban Expression Associates.

The story remains on the website as a record of what has happened.

Wapping

The fourth Urban Expression team began work in Wapping in September 2000. Led by Karen Stallard, the emergence of this team was rather different than the earlier ones. Rather than bringing with her a team of people from elsewhere, Karen joined a small group of Christians already living in the area, who had been praying for a new church to develop there.

Wapping is a very mixed area. Along the Thames are new developments of luxury flats and converted warehouses, surrounding renovated docks. Elsewhere there are many older blocks of flats, homes to East Enders, Bengali families and people from many other backgrounds. One of the challenges for the team has been how to engage with such a diverse community. An ongoing goal for the church is to try to build bridges between those with different cultures, beliefs and practices, providing safe places for good relationships to be encouraged between different people.

Wapping Community Church has gradually emerged, meeting initially in the house that the church has managed to purchase as a manse. At the end of 2003 increasing numbers have meant the church has needed to find a larger place to meet and they have been delighted to be allowed to use premises owned by the local Catholic church.

The vision of the church is to be like a cedar tree, planted in amongst other trees to provide shelter and rest. The church has a particular interest in the area of mental health and is seeking to facilitate discussion and help support initiatives which provide spiritual care for people suffering from mental distress. The Wapping Community Church motto is ‘living and sharing the good news of Jesus’ and the work of the church involves exploring creative ways in which individuals can be encouraged to do just that.

Map of Wapping (click on the map for an interactive version at Mapquest.com)

Plaistow

Doreen Westley leads the Urban Expression work in Plaistow. Here is her introduction to where they live and work and their hopes for the church they are planting:

'Plaistow is located about five miles from the “Square mile” of the City of London, and is in the centre of the East London borough of Newham. Plaistow consists of many houses and shops and a small number of larger business premises. Formally a part of Essex, it is a typical big city suburb, noisy, grubby and a little neglected.

'In recent times it has become one of the most multicultural areas in London, with people from all over the world settling here. All of the world’s religions are represented here with the Christian faith playing a large part in Plaistow life.

'It is in this context that we started Harvest Rock Church. Our desire is to see a church that truly represents the diverse mix of Plaistow. We want to become an international church that will know what it means to walk in the love of God and give it away. At present the Church is made up of English, African, West Indian and Asian people of all ages.

'Our international make up is often reflected in our worship. With various styles of music being used, prayer being expressed in native languages and international food being shared, our meetings are something we all look forward to.

'Freedom of expression is something that we have come to value. We want adults and children to feel safe and secure enough to be able to express themselves in humility and confidence to God.'

Map of Plaistow (click on the map for an interactive version at Mapquest.com)

Kidbrooke

Ocean

In March 2003 The Salvation Army, commissioned Nick and Kerry Coke to begin a new church in East London. On arriving at their new home on the Ocean Estate, Stepney, they fell in love with their community.

A sprawling estate with a dubious history, the Ocean is in a state of flux – largescale re-developments of homes and huge financial investment are making a visible change to the physical landscape. Amidst the upheaval are elderly eastenders mourning the loss of familiarity, a strong Bangladeshi community trying to preserve its religion, culture and values from Western erosion, a growing Somali population vying for position in an already overcrowded area and wealthy middle-class city workers buying up homes nearer to work. On every corner are traces of God at work as he enables people to overcome their difficult circumstances.

Over the past four years the church has seen steady ‘growth’ in all dimensions of life: a small community meets for meals, prayer, Biblical reflection and worship twice a weeka weekly men’s football evening, a messy play morning for pre-school children and parents, and regular inter-faith events cross the cultural, ethnic and religious divide to defy the segregation that prevails in almost every aspect of Ocean life; a wide network of individuals link informally as neighbours and friends with the church and enjoy the regular get-togethers and parties that have come in some way to define the church and express the kingdom of God on the Ocean Estate.

The team linked up with Urban Expression informally when they discovered them on their doorstep and were amazed at how closely they shared the same values. In April 2004 the Ocean team became a formal part of the network.

Website:
http://www.hopeasha.org.uk

Blog:
http://ashes2asha.blogspot.com

Deployment Research

Results of research undertaken by UE in January 2007 into churches and communities in North and East Glasgow. Fairly comprehensive, though doubtless there are loads of smaller "under-the-radar" churches happening across the area.

Deployment Research:

• Maryhill, Kelvin and Canal
• Springburn and North East
• Inner-circle

 

Get Involved

Here's the info you'll need to get involved with UE Glasgow...

If you are interested in being involved, the first step would be to contact us by email (edepaulf@googlemail.com) and we'll organise a time to meet up and get to know one another. Later on, once we have had a chance to get know you, we'll organise an interview.  Meantime, check out the introductory pak you can see below.

Please only download the application form once we've had a chance to meet with you, and encouraged you to get involved. We don't take applications "cold" over the web.

 

Glasgow Links

ACORN - Geodemographic Analysis Tool 

Glasgow Churches Together

Scottish Network Churches

Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Scottish Census Results On-Line

Public Health Information for Scotland

Appendices to the Community Planning Agreement 2006-2008

Election Maps

Google Maps

Glasgow Gangs

The General Register Office

Infobase

Glasgow Presbytery

Faith Communities and Local Government in Glasgow

Glasgow Economic Facts

Glasgow City Council

Future Glasgow

Faithworks

Shaftesbury Society

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Transformation Team

The Glasgow Story

Scottish Baptist Union

 

Host Communities

We hope in the next few months to put up information here about different communities in Glasgow which are deprived and under-churched and which might be chosen as locations for deploying teams.

Recommended Reading

A few books and essays on Urban Mission and Church Planting from a Scottish perspective:

See also the recommended reading page elsewhere on the site.

 

McWilliam, Alan - “LET GLASGOW FLOURISH”: CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING A CONTEXTUALLY APPROPRIATE CHURCH PLANTING STRATEGY FOR GLASGOW - 2005 - downloadable

Harvey, John Bridging the Gap: Has the Church Failed the Poor? Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1987

• An account of John's work with the Gorbals Group Ministry in the 60's and 70's in Glasgow. The Gorbals group were inspired by the work of the East Harlem Protestant Parish and moved into the slums of the Gorbals to build a new expression of church amongst the poor.

Neilson, Peter Church on the Move : New church, New generation, New Scotland : an emerging profile Glasgow: Covenanters Press, 2005

• An account of the Emerging Church in Scotland over the last 5-6 years. Peter is on the Steering Group of Urban Expression Glasgow

Gornik, Mark To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City Grand Rapids (Mich): Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002

• written out of Mark's experience in the USA, this book charts the inspiring story of the work of New Song Community Church in establishing a congregation and doing community development work in Sandtown, a deprived community in Baltimore. Excellent theological basis for urban church planting and communtiy development.

Wilson, Matt Eden: Called to the Streets, USA 2005

• the story of Eden projects in Manchester - very interesting reading from the point of view of member care, daily life in urban ministry, and inspiration for what God can do through radical incarnational ministry

Bishop, Gary Darkest England: And the Way Back In, Matador 2007

• the story of Gary's time as leader in Eden Openshaw, a partnership with the Salvation Army

Team Leader's Page: Esther and Paul

Glasgow Team Leaders: Esther and Paul

 

The Urban Expression Glasgow Steering group appointed us as the first team leaders for Glasgow in June 2006, just before our wedding. We were also asked to take on the role of recruitment for Glasgow. We've spent the last wee while getting to know the city, building partnerships, and learning how to be married!

 

Prayer Letters and Paul's Blog

You can trace some of our adventures through our regular prayer letters (back issues below) and through Paul's Blog

Church Plant Strategy Document

You can get a flavour of our thinking about how our church plant might feel and develop by checking out the strategy document we wrote recently.

 

Bios

Esther and Paul Ede were married in Edinburgh in July 2006, after meeting in Glasgow while attending the Invest church-plant training course at Whiteinch Church of Scotland. Both had attended the first Urban Expression Glasgow meeting in Ruchazie in May 2005, but missed each other completely! Happily, they bumped into each other again.

• Paul

Paul (30) has studied Theology at the International Christian College in Glasgow.
He lived for 4 years in Dumbiedykes, Edinburgh with a team reaching out to the community. He has worked in conferencing, tour-guiding and tour co-ordination, on North Sea-safety standby vessels, and as a church administrator. He became a Christian aged 18 at Community Church Edinburgh and has spent time on mission in Italy with the Navigators and at the Manchester 2000 city-wide outreach organised by the Message Trust. He is inspired by break-dancing, community organising, anyone who breaks free of an alcohol addiction, U2, and Esther.

• Esther

Esther (27) works as a doctor. She moved from Newcastle to Glasgow two years ago, and has been working in various posts across the
south of the city. Over the last year while involved with Invest she has been leading youth cells with
kids from the local area. She has a passion for addressing issues of injustice and has been involved with
Speak, a prayer and campaigning network, for a number of years. She enjoys her music (everything
from drum & bass to country & western), reading about anything she doesn’t know about (which is a
lot!), and exploring Scotland with Paul.

Training for Urban Expression Glasgow

There are several options for training currently available.

Invest

Invest is a leadership training and mentoring programme for those who sense that God might be leading them into creating new expressions of Church. Whiteinch Church of Scotland is called and committed to the Church of Scotland but we recognise that God is raising up many people from throughout the whole Church with a passion for creating new expressions of Church. Therefore Invest is open to those from any Christian tradition. Invest aims to be a pathway towards participation in Church Planting leadership. What these churches will be we do not know – they may be independent fellowships or associated congregations of Whiteinch Church of Scotland or something completely different.

Check out the Invest website here

ICC

One of the groups currently involved in the Steering Group of Urban Expression is the International Christian College (www.icc.ac.uk), who offer a number of courses in cross-cultural and urban ministry, as well as a broad range of theoretical and pastoral subjects.

Crucible Course

Pls. relevant section of this website 

 

Urban Church Planting Video - Stuart Murray Williams

Stuart Murray Williams, founder member and chair of the Anabaptist Network and director of Urban Expression, dreams of new urban churches with Anabaptist values and explores models of creative church planting and evangelism. These ideas have begun to be worked out through the ministry of Urban Expression. [url=http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/node/369]Urban Church Planting Video[/url]

Who are We?

Contact Us

Do you have a passion for church planting and urban ministry in Scotland’s largest city? Would your church be interested in working in partnership with UE to develop new churches in the poorest areas of Glasgow?

Please contact Paul in the first instance:

Paul Ede | 1/2 63 Curle Street | Whiteinch | Glasgow | G14 0SA | Home: 0141 954 4932 | Mobile: 07970 735 036 or email

Please also download the document below entitled BU Mission Resource Team which details the Scottish Baptist Unions commitment to work in partnership with Urban Expression.

Newton Heath

Newton Heath is in North East Manchester – not quite north and not quite east – so often gets forgotten when it comes to regeneration. It is a borderline Urban Priority Area – borderline because there is a nice end, where people aspire to move.

 

 

There is NO statutory youth provision in terms of outreach workers although there are a couple of youth centres in other parts of NH where young people from Troydale dare not venture!

The Troydale Estate consists of around 400 homes and is sandwiched between the Rochdale Canal and the A62, the Oldham Rd, and is just under 3 miles from the city centre. There is one pub, a Tenants and Residents Association and a small newsagent/general store.

 

 

Introduction to the team;
Hannah and Dave Batchelor. Hannah is responsible for leading the team. Dave works as a Family Mediator in Oldham and has a wealth of experience in work with youth and in the area of housing and homelessness.

Dave and Hannah bought the house they had previously rented in the middle of the estate at the end of last year. Their heart is to see an effective youth work established on the estate and see their role as overseers of this work. They are seeking people with detached youth work experience to join them in this. Hannah spends most of her time looking after their Grace, aged 2, and therefore attends various toddler groups as well as being a trained breastfeeding peer supporter. She has a vision to develop a worship space for toddlers. They are expecting their second child in May 2008.

Derek and Maureen Purnell have lived on the estate for 26 years. They are Hannah’s parents and still live in the house where she grew up. They hope to buy their house in the near future. Derek and his colleague Paul Keeble head up Urban Presence (see www.urbanpresence.org.uk). Urban Presence is a Christian organisation and U.K. registered charity seeking to resource Christians, churches and organisations living and working in inner-city Manchester, England, and to make the wider Church aware of and take responsibility for the 'mission-field on it's doorstep'. Derek is studying for his PhD in Ministry focusing on the work that we are doing on the Troydale Estate. Maureen has had previously worked in Citizen’s Advice and has a vision to support local people with issues such as debt and healthy living. They are parents to two other children and by May next year will be grandparents to 5 children!

Kate Fotheringham has lived in Newton Heath for the last 10 years. Qualified and experienced as a nurse she now works as a NVQ Assessor in the area of Social Care. Kate has had a ministry in the past to street people.

The vision – what does it look like?

Psalm 68:5-6, ‘God sets the lonely in families’, Zechariah 8:4-6, ‘men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets… the city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there’

Over time these two passages have become our mission statement and really reflect the needs of people on the Troydale estate. We hope to bring Shalom to the estate and see transformation in body, mind and spirit.

Our ‘strategy’ so far has various strands, firstly to develop mutual relationships with neighbours, getting involved in the life of the community. We have been developing relationships with neighbours. We’ve been blessed by people’s generosity and have been able to share in their joys and sorrows. Secondly, the hope is that following a community survey completed last year (analysis still in progress) we will be able to establish focus groups discussing issues that people face on the estate. In time we hope that these groups may develop into Discovery Bible Groups. Alongside this, Dave and Hannah plan to develop a work with the young people on the estate where there is literally nothing for them to do and no statutory provision. We hope that one day we might see a Discovery Bible Group for the young people. We are looking to recruit a couple of youth workers to join us in this. We are developing relationships with local churches and two local church plants and see ways that we can work together to achieve our goals of seeing lives changed for good (one Church, many congregations). Other dreams we have is to develop work in debt advice, some kind of organised support system like Homestart. We are also seeking to support a local church in developing men’s group and women’s discipleship groups. It is the sad but all too common factor in inner city churches, a lack of ability to encourage and maintain the spiritual growth of new and existing members. These are our dreams, how God leads things is a different matter, but we trust that we’ll know His leading into the right things at the right time.

We still view ourselves as a church plant team rather than a church plant. And the intention has been to see church grow from discovery groups in people’s homes. God has his own ideas; we have a church ‘member’! As a team we meet as ‘church’, we don’t attend another church as regular members. So when a local man Brian (who Derek met at the gym) found God through the Big Book (AA) we decided to invite him to meet with us. When Brian is with us we work through basic Christianity topics with him and he often comes with questions related to things that are going on in his life. It’s so exciting to see him grow and learn. We ‘share’ him with another church which has a larger community of people who can provide for him in ways that our small group cannot. Brian was baptised in November 2007 and is seeking greater responsibility in church life as well as God’s call for his own ministry. He has a passion to see others bound by addiction freed, just as he has been. Brian has recently brought along a friend who meets with us each week, she is also a recovering alcoholic.

We now have a name for the church, after a revelation via Derek in Sainsbury's cafe and some discussion and prayer we believe God has given us the name 'Living Stones', this expresses our heart to see unique people who don't always fit in 'regular' church finding a place where they can fit and be built in to the people of God.

A glimpse of the vision:

Hannah and Dave celebrated their daughter’s birthday along with our friends and family. They invited three local young girls who regularly come to visit Grace. It was such a delight to see them happily playing with our friends’ children and we caught a glimpse of that vision of children playing safely and the lonely in families.

 

Brian was recently baptised and is now asking about what responsibilities he can take on. He has regularly shares his testimony, particularly with young people that an Eden team in Salford is working with and volunteers at their youth centre on a weekly basis.

 

Neighbour’s of Hannah and Dave have helped with babysitting and working on the car, it’s important that we put ourselves in the debt of those we seek to share Jesus with (John 4).

Victoria Park

STOP PRESS ... STOP PRESS ... STOP PRESS ...

Brand new church plant

Victoria Park is an exciting, socio-economically diverse inner city area, lying some two miles south of Manchester city centre.

Identified as an area in decline some fifty years ago, many of the larger houses have been converted for institutional use (e.g. Stopover, accommodation for young women). Victoria Park now accommodates part of Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan University along with many purpose built university halls of residence. The Manchester Royal Infirmary, St Mary’s Hospital (for mothers and children), a Job Centre Plus, a public library, an adults’ day centre, a Probation Service pre-placement training centre, a youth centre, two (one RC and one C of E) primary schools, two pre-schools, and a cosmetic surgery clinic are all well within 10 minutes’ walking distance of the hub of the church plant.

In recent years, the area has evolved into a rich tapestry of predominantly unskilled and semi-skilled, but also professional and managerial people - as well as hosting a large student population – from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

God is already meeting a number of spiritual, emotional, and practical needs in Victoria Park through the established churches. But there remains a need to plant a fresh expression of church that is focused exclusively on reaching those who cannot relate to conventional church – an emerging church that is not ‘church-building-based’ – to complement and build on what God is doing through the established churches in the area.

Urban Expression is already planting churches just outside Victoria Park: in Newton Heath and Levenshulme; the new Victoria Park plant will complete a triangle of fresh, Urban Expression-associated, emerging churches within a 20 minute drive of each other.

What’s the new church going to look like? ‘It’s too soon to say’, writes Gary Serra di Migni, Team Leader. ‘I’m naturally a planner, but I’m conscious that if I conceive of a picture of the new church before getting to know the community, I’ll have failed. So I’m doing my best to resist the urge. I can say that I envision the new church to be without age, disability, economic, educational, ethnic, or gender barriers. It will be a socio-economically diverse core of people, together with a transient student contingent. In partnership with other local churches, and the universities’ and employers’ Christian unions, we’ll enable people to build strong relationships with each other, to be followers of Jesus Christ, to worship God, to serve each other, and to engage in mission, as defined by Jesus Christ, in ways that are relevant to individuals in the local community.’

If you want to be part of an urban church planting team right from the start, and you’re okay with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk, contact Gary on garysdm@hotmail.co.uk, or ‘phone or txt 07780 927743.