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Our History
Church Planting had been on the heart of Bromham Baptist Church (BBC) for a number of years and in early 2005 it came to the forefront as part of the current minister’s vision. From that time on we sought God for the way forward, both in terms of location and leadership.
After much prayer, and many pictures and words, we felt led to Marston Moretaine, a village with a population of approx. 4000, 8 miles south of Bromham.
Our vision was to establish an emerging expression of church, aimed at unbelievers and the 'de-churched', which would develop into a full expression of Christian community for those who don't connect with 'traditional' styles of church.
October - December of 2007 was a time of 'pushing doors' to see if God was going to open or close them. All of the local clergy were visited and our vision shared with them. This was also a time when others felt the call to serve God in Marston Moretaine and the core team start to come together. During that period we also visited a number of 'new expressions' of church within a 50 mile radius.
A Special Church Member's Meeting in January 2008 confirmed the call to plant a church in Marston Moretaine to be led by our Staff Elder, Steve Gaunt, and his wife Jo-Ann.
We started with a core team of 18 people - 14 of whom were sent out by BBC, two sent out by Cotton End Baptist Church and another two local Christians. Five of the team were already living in the village with another four looking to move. The team started meeting as two Discipleship Groups for three of the Wednesdays in a month and then all together for a Prayer & Planning meeting on the fourth Wednesday.
Our aim was to love, serve and build relationships in the community before beginning any kind of gathering. And so oduring 2008 we: helped at the village Youth Club; took over the running of two Mum & Baby groups; provided refreshments at a relaunched Mum’s & Toddler’s group; helped to hear children read at the local school; and rstarted running two ‘Chatterbox’ cafes in local schools for mums, dads and carers to have refreshments and a chat after dropping their children off in the morning. We also ran a Holiday Club at the local school during August.
Our first Sunday morning gathering was on 5 October 2008 called Sunday Brunch which met in the the local Lower School. Its aim was to help those who came, along to make connections – with each other around the breakfast table and with God through different elements such as ‘food4thought’, a ‘Quiet Space’ and other activities.
We have taken the name Vale Community Church to reflect our desire to see God's Spirit flow through the whole of the Vale of Marston and to be at the centre of the community where people can come together to discover God's love for them.
It has been exciting to see how God has gone ahead of us and opened door after door! |
Some of the team at our Commissioning Service |
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