It has been just over a year since Fraser Oates was installed as the Renewal Church Leader at St Stephen’s Church in Redditch. St Stephen has received funding from the national church as part of our renewal programme to have a church of at least 150 people in every major area of population and the team there are already seeing new people encountering God and growing in faith.
Fraser said: “In the past year, we’ve already seen real culture change. We are very clear about who we are and where we are going and offer an open and welcoming space with an informal service style. As a result, we have more than doubled in size in the past year with at least two-thirds of those new to St Stephen, and half of that group being completely new Christians. We have also seen people come back who had previously given up on church and others who were worshipping outside of Redditch now return to the town.”
St Stephen’s Church offers Charismatic Evangelical worship with a focus on encouraging participation. They are also putting children and young people at the centre of everything, creating spaces for them and involving them in worship.
“There are opportunities to pray creatively in our services as well as action songs which get everyone involved,” said Fraser. “We try to make everything as light-hearted and accessible as possible which helps to put people at ease. We don’t take ourselves seriously, but we do take God seriously and we always offer hospitality when people arrive.”
Building partnerships
Fraser and his team have established a number of partnerships with other organisations in the town. The building is used by schools in the run up to Christmas, every Tuesday the Redditch and Bromsgrove Baby Bank bring in toys and clothes that can be collected by parents who are struggling, they have a good relationship with the Christian Bookshop on site, and the charity Speakeasy provides advocacy for people with learning disabilities. The church is also working with Spurgeons to create a family hub to provide support and resources for parents and children and have also built close relationships with the gambling addiction charity, Gordon Moody.
Fraser said: “Gordon Moody has a Methodist heritage, and we were approached by them to see how they might better reflect their Christian background. We now regularly have 6-8 men at our Sunday services from the rehabilitation centre and have prayed for them at the front of church as they finish their time there. It has been humbling to see how faith has helped to change the lives of the people there and St Stephen’s congregation has been so welcoming.”
Developing disciples
The church is now working on offering intentional pathways of discipleship for people of all ages, including developing a ‘rule of life’ for all at St Stephen. A bible study was run over the summer term going through St Luke’s Gospel with the themes tied into Sunday worship and the children’s groups. Another entry point discipleship course is planned for the Autumn term aimed at those who are new to the church.
“We are also planning some evangelism and outreach training to help people be able to share their faith,” said Fraser. “The plan is to then do some practical outreach in the town centre with a blackboard for people to write on their ‘big questions’, giving out bibles and asking people if we can pray for them. It was great to have seven people baptised at Easter ranging from age 10 to over 50 and we are planning to have more baptisms later in the year as well as taking people to the Cathedral for the confirmations at Christ the King.”
Improving the Building
There are also plans in place to improve the St Stephen’s Church building, taking out the pews to create an open and multifunctional space, create breakout rooms in a mezzanine level and improve the sound system. Faculty permission has recently been granted, but with the increase in building costs, the church is now looking for additional funding to be able to complete the work, including applying for a National Lottery heritage grant.
“We really want to be able to have multiple things happening at the same time in church so that it truly becomes a community hub. It’s really encouraging that we’ve seen growth in spite of the challenges of the building and we’re very aware of the building’s heritage and history, but it is essential that it catches up with the way that we’re using the building now to enable the centuries of prayer and faith to continue into the future. At some point we will be moving out of the building to enable the work to be done, and we are in conversations with the Kingfisher shopping centre to use an empty unit there during that time, which is very exciting!”
Churchwarden Rhiannon Walpole has worshipped at St Stephen’s Church since she started as a bellringer aged five and has seen the changes that have taken place over the past year.
She said: “It is fantastic to be having different encounters with people who are coming in and learning more about Jesus. Each week there are one or two new people who are then staying with us, and part of that is just keeping the doors open. Last week we had someone come in part-way through the service simply because they’d heard the music – they weren’t sure if they were allowed to come in! We are already seeing people’s lives transformed and there has been a huge increase in ownership with what we are trying to do among the congregation. It’s brilliant to see so many people wanting to get involved and talk to others about Jesus. There is a sense of hope and feeling connected and I’m excited for our future direction and to see what Jesus is going to do for the people of our town!”
