In 2020, the congregation of Christ Church Freemantle was dwindling. Based in one of Southampton’s most deprived areas, the church had been without a vicar for five years, and the Sunday School had shrunk to two children. Visit today, and you’ll meet a transformed community; a diverse, vibrant congregation now calling the church home, with a Sunday School of 25 children and 13 confirmations amongst new members in the last year.
‘It’s really exciting to see how God is moving in our church,’ says Karen Linington, Christ Church’s vicar since 2023. ‘The Grow Course helped us make a few small changes that have been transformational.
‘One of the most significant was helping us identify our values of welcome and discipleship. Previously people might come and be left on the sidelines, no one would talk to them and they’d leave the church after a couple of weeks. Now everyone knows they have a role to play in our welcome, to help everyone feel included – especially the children, who get involved in everything; prayer, teas and coffees, they have a subgroup within the PCC, so they’re involved in helping shape our values and mission. When new people come along, we involve them quickly, to make them feel part of the family.’
Many of the congregation’s 13 confirmation candidates were new to faith and to the UK, with Christ Church welcoming members from several African nations, Iran, Pakistan, India and Poland. This included Paris, who came from Iran with her husband to study at the University of Winchester. After the birth of their daughter, Paris struggled with post-natal depression.
‘I couldn’t talk about it with my health visitor – I was worried in case she took my baby away. I knew no one else in Southampton except my husband who worked all the time, I was very alone,’ explains Paris.
On a particularly difficult day she walked past the open doors of Christ Church, where she was invited in for tea and conversation. The encounter led to Paris joining a Monday evening Bible study group at Karen’s house, where Paris began to find community. She was given a Bible in Farsi, which led to an encounter with Jesus and ultimately baptism for both Paris and her baby.
‘The whole week, I’m waiting for Sundays and Mondays,’ says Paris. ‘Sunday for coming to the service and Monday for coming to Karen’s home for Bible study. The people of this church are my family and my friends. Whenever I have a problem, I just tell them and they’re always here for me.’
The Bible study groups, of which there are now three, are just one of several new ministries that have started at Christ Church since Karen and a group of members attended the CCX Grow Course in Winchester.
‘There hadn’t been any Bible study groups in the history of the church,’ explains Karen. ‘We had started two a week, but then during the Grow Course we came across the Leadership Square.’
The Leadership Square is a framework for developing leaders through a process of ‘I do, you watch; I do, you help; You do, I help; You do, I watch’.
‘We discussed the idea in our team of other people leading the Bible studies. The Leadership Square was really helpful, because it allowed the wider team to identify what I’m doing with them and why. In turn they’ve been able to identify that they’re at a stage where they can teach and disciple others.’
The tools encountered on the Grow Course like the Leadership Square and identifying vision and values have given the Christ Church team a new confidence to start new ministries. When the church’s director of music stepped down, it was acknowledged that a change was needed for the choral Even Song service. Karen asked the team members who had attended the Grow Course what they wanted to do – most of whom had never led a service or preached before.
‘They asked me what my plans were and I said, “I don’t have any”. I asked them to start leading the services, which became spoken prayer. It followed that model of me showing them and them doing it. Some of them begin to preach. I don’t do anything in those services, they look after everything – that’s a confidence that’s come from the Grow Course, this shared idea that all our members are the church. They’ve changed that evening service to have poetry and short prayers, because they want it to be accessible to anyone who comes in.’
Alongside the lay-led service is an upcoming international service, at which new international members of Christ Church will preach and give readings in their own languages.
‘We’re going to translate our contributors into English. Usually we translate everything from English into other languages, but we wanted to do it the other way round for this service, to have our international members at the front leading. They are the church. My hope is that they may then lead one of our evening services, exploring what they can do with leading a service of prayer. The PCC are thrilled, they’re really happy.’
Having been unsure if Christ Church Freemantle would benefit from attending the Grow Course, Karen is thrilled that they gave it a go.
‘I didn’t know if we’d be able to engage with a course like this. I was so wrong. It’s presented brilliantly, and it’s so usable for people that just have never come across these concepts before. The way the material is set out in the Grow Course Guide is excellent – we’re still using it. I’d highly recommend it.’
To find out more about how the Grow Course can help your church grow in health, depth and impact, get in touch with CCX today.
CCX is grateful to the team of the Diocese of Winchester for giving permission to use elements of a story first published on its website
