Rural Church Plant in Cumbria

With the support of Rural Ministries, the mission team at Outreach House, Witherslack, Cumbria, are seeking to establish a new church. For the past two years, team members have worked with others to set up a meeting point in this South Lakeland Village.

After closure of the local shop and post office – which had belonged to the same family for 100 years – the community launched a massive fight-back to reinstate what it considers are vital services.

The Outreach House team spearheaded this campaign. Boosted by £30,000 raised from £10 shares sold to local people – a total of over £100,000 was pledged from fundraising, shares and public funds. An ambitious concept became an unstoppable challenge.

A new shop recently opened. John Sainsbury, one of the church planting team who has served as the shop management group chairman, was able to say: “After nearly two-and-a-half years of research, planning, talking, encouraging, learning and praying, we have a great outcome. It will go well beyond being a place to buy things. We wanted somewhere for people to meet, talk and find a kind smile.”

Working regularly in the shop and assisted by a band of volunteers, team member Maria Garner said, “One of our aims here is ‘to be in the community, and for the community’. The shop is an amazing opportunity for this. It is owned, manned and partly sourced by the local people. So, as we work together, many meaningful friendships are being formed. The warm welcome and a place to sit and chat are particularly well received. I praise God for this genuine reason to daily connect with so many from the village and we pray that ultimately some will connect with our Lord God.

The task of establishing a new church is not easy. John Sainsbury comments “If you’re starting a church from scratch in a new community, how on earth do you start? For us the need for a new village shop was a God-given opportunity,not just to put ourselves on the radar, but to really help serve the community in a very practical way. There were however many occasions when I wished I had not volunteered to help with the project but every time I visit our shop and see the superb result of all our hard work and hours of involvement I know it was worth the effort.”