'Give thanks to God for his faithfulness and sustaining love' 

'While we are a fairly small church (less than 40 members), we have been able, through God’s wonderful provision, to put on a range of activities to support and love our community, which is located right in the heart of Strood.'

An update from Strood Gospel Mission Church, Kent, in a recent news mailing from South Eastern Baptist Association (SEBA). By Stephen Gee 

Since our last update in June 2022, we continue thank God for his truly wonderful and bountiful blessings, as we have seen His hand at work in our local community.

Our “Grassroots” project continues to grow from strength to strength. It is a clothing (and other small household items, non-electrical) project, where donated items from the public are made available for anyone. 

People can come into the church and take what they need, for free. If they choose to make a voluntary cash donation, these are collected and 100 per cent of the cash donations are given to local good causes, as the church funds the operating costs.  

Since the project commenced a few years ago, we have donated more than £2,200 in voluntary cash donations to charities such as Medway Foodbank, Wisdom Hospice, Demelza and Wonderfully Made (a charity that provides school uniforms for those in need), as well as providing much needed clothing and household items to those that need them.  

Our Meal Club is also proving popular, with more than 80 meals served just last week. The Club is a safe place where anyone from the community can come into the church each week for a chat and a free home-cooked hot meal. 

We have additional support from volunteers from Royal Mail, as well as receiving food provided by Gillingham Street Angels, who source that food mainly from donations given by supermarkets across the Medway Towns. 

The Meal Club serves a lot of different people, from those that are homeless (who can also pick up clothes and sleeping bags etc. from Grassroots whilst they have their meals), to families with young children and older couples who just enjoy the company, and the warm welcome (and heating in the winter months!).

We also run a number of other weekly activities including a Parents & Toddlers group, a coffee morning, and a quilting group, with many members of these groups coming from outside of the church. 

In addition, we work closely with the Bread of Life, in providing a Knit & Natter weekly community get together at the café.

This year we have been able to offer the use of the church building as a polling station, which not only provides helpful income, but means a significant proportion of the population of north Strood have visited the church twice this year to vote, and to read and see what we are about while they are queuing to vote. 

We continue to build strong and long-lasting relationships with members of our community, most of whom have not set foot in any church before.

While we are a fairly small church (less than 40 members), we have been able, through God’s wonderful provision, to put on a range of activities to support and love our community, which is located right in the heart of Strood. 

We are seeing increased numbers attending our church for our service on a Sunday morning, and our three “Growth Groups” during the week. We are hopeful that many of these new attendees will want to commit to the church and join us in membership.  

Please give thanks to God for his faithfulness and sustaining love, and please pray that many in our local community will come to know the transforming power of Christ in their lives. 
 

Stephen Gee is the treasurer and a charity trustee of Strood Gospel Mission Church

This story originally appeared in the South Eastern Baptist Association monthly news update, and is republished with permission