Worle Baptist Church
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The church at Worle were asking the question - where next? Bigger church or plant? The answer was to plant in Parklands.
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With Home Mission support, they have been developing Parklands Community church and are about to interview someone with a view to calling a Community Pastor
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Pete Lynch, Worle’s Minister explained that the church is close to the ever-expanding Weston-Super-Mare. There was a long history of church planting in the area and Worle was one of those plants. Pete became pastor 16 years ago when the church needed some new impetus. He was gratefully supported by Home Mission and this enabled them to move forward. Within a few years they opened a new church building and the church is now thoroughly engaged in the community.
The expansion of the area continued at a pace. It felt right to say these new areas needed new churches. Parklands is one of the new areas which will have 3000 homes when complete and is close to Worle.
The church at Worle were asking the question - where next? Bigger church or plant? The answer was to plant in Parklands.
With Home Mission support, they have been developing Parklands Community church and are about to interview someone with a view to calling a Community Pastor. Several families bought houses in Parklands to support the plant. Families moving into the community have been visited and welcomed, and they have coordinated a stakeholders group which includes the developers, the local authority, parish council, local schools and other key organisations to consider the well-being of the new community. An old chapel building was retained on the site and is a newly renovated community centre. It is here that the church now gathers with an 'outward facing' informal meeting and worship opportunity.
They have had to be patient as the development has taken longer than expected and there have been some wobbles along the way. The core group now meet in the week to nurture each other so that the Sunday gathering can always be outward focused.
Prayer is appreciated for all associated with Worle as God has now called Pete and his wife into overseas mission with BMS.
Photos: Pete Lynch
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