Church Planting Open Evening
Church Planting in the Diocese of Down and Dromore has not stood still, as we heard at last night's Church Planting Open evening in the T3 Conference Centre. The event was an opportunity for anyone in the diocese to meet and hear directly from our church planters and to come alongside these ministries in hard–to–reach communities.
The diocese’s current church planting initiative is in its 11th year and to date, twelve new worshipping communities and outreach initiatives have been established in Belfast, Dundrum, Killough, Moneyreagh, Newtownards, The Ards Peninsula, Portadown and Newry.
Two further initiatives are in the planning stage in Warrenpoint and Ballymacarrett.
Archdeacon Jim Cheshire, who has special responsibility for encouraging evangelism within the diocese, hosted the evening. He began by reminding us that it is our task to take up Christ’s Great Commission and carry on the story that ends so abruptly in Acts 28.
Three of our church plant and outreach leaders had an opportunity to share stories of what God is doing in their setting.
Presentations
Tim Burns leads The Suitcase Project and at the moment his work is about networking and building relationships. Tim reported that they are regularly engaging with 60-70 people of a wide variety of nationalities in their Conversation Café. He and his volunteers are also offering practical support to individuals and families and people are feeling welcome and cared for. On Tuesday 5 November (7-9pm) the project will have an official launch event in their base at The Emmanuel Centre in Roslyn Street, East Belfast. All are welcome.
Natalie Trainor has been working for 11 months as the Pioneer Evangelist with Newry Centre of Mission. The centre’s vision is to serve as a compass pointing the people of the city to Jesus Christ. They are working towards this by intentionally praying, intentionally meeting people of all ages and intentionally creating space for them to encounter God. A monthly healing service has outgrown the room they rent in the Canal Court and there are plans for an Alpha course and a weekly gathering called ‘Rooted’. The centre’s urgent need, however, is for a building. Please pray.
St Donard’s Community Church, Dundrum, was planted into an existing building in September 2020. Led by the recently ordained Colin Morris, the church began with an evening meeting and moved to a morning gathering a year later. Colin reported that they now have a flourishing kids ministry and a growing ministry to teens and are in the happy position of needing a bigger car park!
Partnership
Keith Gardiner, Fundraising Officer for Church Growth, invited us as churches and individuals to partner with our church plants in any way we can - by receiving ministry reports, praying for this work, visiting and volunteering in church plants and contributing to the Church Plant Fund.
Archdeacon Jim then chaired a short panel discussion with Revd James Crockett (Braniel Community Church), Lorraine Brimmage (Family and Community Evangelist for St Paul’s Castlewellan and Kilcoo) and Paul Hawkins (Glen Community Church).
Bishop David concluded the evening with an update on the plans for Warrenpoint and Ballymacarrett.
Warrenpoint
The bishop recently appointed Nevin and Lorraine Anderson to plant a new worshipping community in Warrenpoint. Nevin and Lorraine live in Bessbrook and are members of Magheralin Parish Church, where they volunteer in a variety of ministries. Nevin has completed the New Wine Evangelist Training Course and Lorraine is a trained counsellor. The couple have recently begun the Church of Ireland Pioneer Ministry training programme and are in the process of selling their business as distributors of automotive refinishing products so that they can fully commit to God’s call to Warrenpoint in early 2025.
St Patrick’s Ballymacarrett
With the support of Holy Trinity Brompton, the diocese aims to establish a vibrant, Spirit-filled worshipping community on the lower Newtownards Road. It will serve the local community, but the vision is that it will also become a resource church and plant new churches – something in which Holy Trinity Brompton has a lot of experience in the Church of England. Please pray for the appointment of a leadership team and for the funds needed to cover staffing costs and the refurbishment of the building.
Please pray for the work of our church planters and outreach leaders. You can find out more and/or donate at these pages on our website:
