2.
To try to enable
everyone to grow more like Jesus in discipleship thought and deed
- through sharing in worship, fellowship, ministry and service
Discovering and
developing our Spirit led gifts and talents in order to build each other up
3.
To show our love of
Jesus, and that the love of God is for all, through our presence and our
service to the community of Clowne
We are located in the old shopping centre of Clowne, with much of the
village housing being some distance away. There are three major estates -
the post war council- built estate off Creswell Road, and more recent large
estates on Church Lane and Mansfield Road.
Other recent building to the north of the area means that the church is
still centrally located for the village population. The village has a
population of almost 7000 and is served by four major Christian denominations -
Anglican, Catholic, Salvation Army and ourselves. There is also a Christadelphian presence in the village.
Our numbers at worship, with a few notable exceptions, are small. We
have 23 members and 7 children on the Sunday Club register. There are
also thriving Youth Clubs for the under 11s and the 11+ age groups with a
further 35 members on their registers. Most of the children are not those of
Church members, so we see these links as an important point of contact.
The buildings are kept in reasonable order considering their age (137
years). The exterior is made to look attractive and inviting. Anti-vandal
measures are not intrusive. The church is fully equipped to meet the 2004
Disability legislation, with sound and loop system for the hard-of-hearing,
large-print hymn books available for the partially sighted, toilet facilities
for disabled and ramped access to all areas of the ground floor of the building
(the first floor area is no longer used by the church because of access
restrictions, although Creswell Colliery Brass Band use the upstairs as a
rehearsal room).
The age of our congregation means that we have obvious, limited
resources to "evangelise" in the area, nevertheless we hope that our
presence is felt within the community and our love and deeds are felt by
many. We are members of the Clowne Union of Churches -
representatives from the four Christian churches meet together to demonstrate
our commitment to Christ to the village community at Easter and Remembrance Day
in particular. We also try to avoid the trap of being inward looking with
generous support to many charities including Samaritans Purse, Aid for Romania,
and our own Methodist-based organisations.
Our Worship tends to be mainly traditional although we are generally
willing to try anything new – hymn words are projected onto a screen. We
are quite willing to see change but feel that it may be foolish to alienate our
existing congregation with dramatic sudden change. We seek to have a time of
worship that is "universal" with hymns old and new, readings from
many versions and paraphrasings of the bible, prayers
read and extempore, so that all needs are met.
We will continue to keep contact with the local community especially in
the area of young people, where our youth club is the main secular meeting for
the village
Despite our small numbers we aim for a wide vision. We seek, with God's
help, to work together, to be faithful and loyal to Him. We aim to be a
spiritual light in our area.