Making connections in the Braniel Community
Braniel is a mission area that has been created within the parish of Orangefield. Braniel Community Church is lead by Susan McFarland and meets in St Brigid’s Hall on the Lower Braniel Road.
“We’ve been up and running for 5 months now and as we try to establish a new Sunday congregation we’ve been encouraged by those that have come along from the local area, many of whom have no connection with church and are searching.
During this time we have also been working hard to try and engage with the local community. We’ve been in the schools each week with Scripture Union, working with other churches in the area, meeting with community groups and running various fun day events. Throughout the week we have started a Cafe drop–in, two fitness classes, a youth club and we have plans to start a craft group in the morning.
The youth club (below) has been a huge success. When we first started we had only 2 young people showing up and now we having 23 teenagers coming regularly.
The joy about this new church plant is that we can trial and test things, see what works and what doesn’t work. The Cafe drop–in we feel has run its course for this season. This might be something we look at again in the future, but for now we feel it isn’t really engaging with the community. However, it has been so worth running over these months, as we began to connect with a lady in the community who would drop in for coffee. Because of this she started to come to Cafe Church and recently she made a commitment to God. This is what it’s about!”