When leaders in Chilwell Parish began imagining what a new worshipping community for the area might look like, they recognised a significant part of their neighbourhood was missing from church life.
The parish encompasses two contrasting areas. One is a middle-class, affluent suburban neighbourhood, served largely by Christ Church Chilwell. Further west, towards the outskirts of Nottingham, sits the sister church of St Barnabas Church in Inham Nook, an estate built from the late 1950s onwards.
‘It’s a corner of Nottingham that nobody goes to unless you kind of live here, or you’ve got another reason to be here,’ explains Revd Ryan Mellor, Mission Associate and leader of The Orchard community that the parish began at St Barnabas Church. ‘There’s such a tight community here, and so much generosity and sharing. But along with that goes a lot of challenges, from finances to mental health. There are fractured lives, and issues that have persisted over generations.
‘There are folks who’ve grown up here, who are fiercely proud of it and love it, and then there’s a portion who get placed here, meaning it’s a place where people get put and want to leave. They feel dislocated, isolated. So there’s a real mix of lives and experiences.’
Relationships with the local area had begun developing through a community hub and food bank based at St Barnabas. Yet Ryan and the team felt there was no natural space in which many people could explore faith and belong.
‘We had a heart and a vision for a church that didn’t just impose a model on somewhere else,’ Ryan explains.
The team felt guided by Luke 9, in which Jesus sends out his disciples as guests into other people’s lives. Months were spent praying and listening to what God was calling them to in Inham Nook, rather than reproducing a familiar form of church from Chilwell Parish.
‘We wanted to help establish a community that removed barriers,’ Ryan says. ‘Barriers to people being together, being in community, coming to faith.’
The result was The Orchard, an accessible community gathering at St Barnabas on Sunday afternoons twice a month. Some families started attending who had an existing relationship with the community hub and food bank, whilst others began coming to church for the first time. Several came to faith and two families were baptised.
It felt to The Orchard team that God was on the move, but they were aware that an invisible division remained between their leadership team and those joining from the community. The team had always hoped to raise local leaders who would serve the community in turn, not import leaders to serve them. The challenge was recognising them and equipping them.
‘If our team sat down and asked ourselves who we had as prospective leaders, we’d have said, “Nope, we see nobody,”’ says Ryan. ‘But there’s something about trusting that God will bring people to you, and he’ll give you enough to be the church he’s asked you to be. We may not have spiritual giants or leaders in the mould that we might expect – but who’s here? Who wants to belong? Because that’s quite likely to be who God’s got his eye on.’
While searching for church planting resources, Ryan had encountered the CCX Become course, which helps those living in estates and low-income communities to recognise their gifts, grow in confidence and develop as Christian leaders. Ryan felt that it was an ideal fit for The Orchard community, with accessible content that would nurture a strong passion for the community and its needs. The team began liaising with other Nottingham churches to see how they might run the course together. Around 25 to 30 people took part, rotating between churches and learning about each community.
Three participants came from The Orchard, with only one a baptised Christian when the course began. Become materials were adapted so those without a testimony could share their life story and participate fully. Ryan looked to invite members of The Orchard whose commitment to their neighbourhood already revealed something of their calling.
‘I started renaming that in them, coming alongside them to say, “You don’t believe in God, but I see the image of God in you,”’ Ryan explains. ‘I was clear that we weren’t asking them to lead the church, but just to explore what you’re here for and how we can help you in that.’
For all three Become participants, that invitation has borne fruit. One is looking to repeat the course and has encouraged her husband to take part. Another was baptised and now helps lead the community hub at St Barnabas Church, managing the administration of its food bank and café – a role she believes she wouldn’t have taken on without the encouragement of Become.
Ryan reflects warmly on the journey of the third participant, recalling how she had told the wider group: ‘I don’t believe in God, this is all about me. And what I’m doing.’ Her honesty was received with huge encouragement from those journeying alongside her. A few weeks before the course ended, she asked Ryan: ‘Are you running an Alpha course anytime soon?’
‘While she’s happy to say she doesn’t believe in God, she’s probably invited more people to church than anyone,’ says Ryan. ‘It’s hilarious. But she sees that the church is doing a good thing in her community, and so she wants to support it and be part of it, and to grow herself.’
For Ryan, Become isn’t just a resource for encouraging participants into leadership. ‘It’s a fantastic way to introduce people to the gospel and a Christian worldview, in a way that just naturally connects with where they already are.’
The impact has extended beyond individual participants. Ryan has valued the unity growing between the participating churches of Nottingham, and hopes those who completed Become might help lead another course for a new cohort.
‘God raises unlikely people, doesn’t he?’ he says. ‘We’re seeing folks come out with increased confidence, with increased faith, or a desire to explore further.’
For The Orchard, the next task is to keep making room for those people to participate, lead and take ownership.
‘It is happening – and there’s that persistence in the work of raising leaders, but also the patience with God’s timescales,’ says Ryan. ‘We’re hungry to see folks step up, at the right time.’
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