Holy Trinity Weston has embarked on an innovative outreach and 'inreach' programme.,,,
With a portable skatepark, youth and family well-being projects and Messy Church, Holy Trinity Weston is committed to reaching its community. But beyond all the fun and support, the goal is to make disciples, says pastor Steve Kempton.
As seven neighbouring churches in Weston-super-Mare closed their doors over the space of three years, Steve Kempton and the team at Holy Trinity Weston made a decision. “We decided we had to be braver and more provocative with outreach in order to show our community we weren’t going anywhere,” says Steve.
So, with their sights set on building closer connections with people outside and inside the church, Steve and his team have ploughed their efforts into an innovative raft of outreach and ‘inreach’ activities.
One major programme is successfully building links with more than 30 schools and other organisations. Revealed Projects is a wellness project headed up by staff member Adele Sutton. “Adele goes into schools, youth groups and other places and talks about self-esteem and healthy relationships,” says Steve.
“I call it an icebreaking ministry because she has built a strong reputation with head teachers and local schools which our youth workers can follow up on.
“You can go into schools and do a couple of assemblies, provide uniforms or computers – we’ve done that – but to have someone employed by the church who is building bridges with thousands of young people and being an integral part of these schools is amazing.”
Likewise, Holy Trinity Weston’s portable Transend Skatepark, run by church member Andy Skyrme, is connecting with thousands of young people.
Another project which the church has partnered with, Green Door Families, is helping support local families in need.
“It’s a new project run by a lady in our church called Di Phillips who has a social worker background.
“It’s amazing because social services recommend people to call the charity and we work in partnership to provide for simple needs, like when people need someone to talk to, for example.”
CONNECTIONS
Meanwhile Holy Trinity Weston’s Messy Church is also making strong connections in the community, attracting around 35 non-church families per session. The popularity of Messy Church is causing the team to reconsider an important aspect of church life and outreach.
“We’re getting up to 70 people coming along and are running it in such a way that we can have a meal together too. Families who mostly have no church background come back because it’s a safe environment and they can have creative fun as a family.
“We’ve been asking ourselves why we would want to try to get them to come on a Sunday when they’re already coming on Saturday.
“We need to consider whether this is a church plant; a potential new way of doing church for this group and how we can now take them on their own journeys in a small group context.”
Just as Holy Trinity Weston has been pouring its efforts into community outreach, it is also investing heavily in ‘inreach’ to re-engage its church family after Covid, says Steve.
Through its Reach programme, activities from walks, meals and pastoral visits to barbecues, writing letters to older people and weekends away are bringing existing members back together and helping new people engage with the church.
The pandemic, says Steve, has caused a lot of people to rethink their beliefs on church and faith, so he is also focusing on teaching around basic doctrines and contemporary issues to help build strong foundations.
“We need to reaffirm some things, like what we believe about the Bible being the Word of God, and we’ve chosen to examine issues like racism, relationships and climate change in a creative way – things that are relevant to people in this season.”
From Direction Magazine issue 240
