2 Dec 2020, 21:11Pastor Trevor Thomas
Reading West Life Development – Reaching Out in Faith
Reaching out to our community during lockdown and the UK Tier system has been problematic to say the least. However, Reading West church decided to look at our situation positively and utilise the technology we had to reach out into our community in ways that we have not tried before.
Zoom was new to us all in March but by June we started to see opportunities for a church without walls. What if we could build relationships with community groups and they would share our church programmes within their respective communities?
By God's grace we were fortunate enough to have a church member, Cecily Mwaniki, who was already working in the community connecting groups together for mental health services. Cecily invited me to join the group and within a few short weeks Reading West was able to launch its first Life Development programme into the community.
Pastor Victor Hulbert presented a programme titled 'A Matter of Conscience' discussing the terrible time his grandfather faced as a pacifist in the time of war. On that first Tuesday evening we had just over 30 participants of which about 10 were non-Adventists.
All listened intently to Pastor Victor's presentation and asked questions and gave their own reflections on the subject. One community participant, Mary, told us that her parents were leaders in the Salvation Army during wartime and struggled with the same problems.
We realised that the programmes we had been running within the walls of the church building for years were of great interest to the wider community.
More programmes followed, 'How to boost your Immunity', a health programme by Sonia Locker, and 'Covid-19 & Social Stigma' presented by two psychiatric department heads in Oxford and Reading.
August, September and October followed with more health and social care programmes. Mufalo Akayombokwa, our Area 5 Health Coordinator ran a 'Know Your Numbers' programme highlighting numbers such as weight, BMI, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
This programme was picked up by Thames Valley TV who wanted to interview Mufalo and promote the programme into the Thames Valley Area. The programme was very successful and Mufalo is now running the Newstart Health programme once a month into January 2021.
October also saw another step forward in our outreach into the community. We had started a Small Group Evangelism leadership group at Reading West and discussed different types of outreach. We realised that health and social care programmes were subjects that were of interest to all and easily accessible. However, the next stage would be to answer questions regarding faith for the community. With this in mind we launched our Tough Questions programmes.
Pastor Dan Serb, President of the Irish Mission, was our first speaker on the subject 'Is There a God?' This meeting was attended by Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, Christians, and atheists. Pastor Dan spoke confidently, tactfully, and respectfully to everyone showing that there is a God.
What does the future hold for Reading West Life Development? It is hard work to make the arrangements for these programmes. It takes a great deal of time and effort to attend numerous community programmes to make friends and build relationships but it's worth it.
Reading West has built relationships in the community and now the community want to know more about us. As we make our presentations we pray at the beginning and end, we speak openly about our faith. Far from being offended people from other faith backgrounds appreciate that in a secular society we can speak openly about our relationship with God.
On our horizon we have Pastor David Neal leading a discussion on 'If God Exists, Why is There Suffering?' on 8 December, and community champion Anthony Darway speaking about his work in war-torn Sierra Leone to empower women and young people to become self-sufficient on 15 December.
As I write this article, I answered my phone to an interviewer from BBC Radio who had received the promotion for Pastor Neal's programme; he wanted to contact and interview Pastor Neal.
It is our prayer that we will continue to build healthy relationships with other well-meaning groups in the community and that through these relationships we will in the fullness of time see decisions being made for the family of God.
Reaching out to our community during lockdown and the UK Tier system has been problematic to say the least. However, Reading West church decided to look at our situation positively and utilise the technology we had to reach out into our community in ways that we have not tried before.
Zoom was new to us all in March but by June we started to see opportunities for a church without walls. What if we could build relationships with community groups and they would share our church programmes within their respective communities?
By God's grace we were fortunate enough to have a church member, Cecily Mwaniki, who was already working in the community connecting groups together for mental health services. Cecily invited me to join the group and within a few short weeks Reading West was able to launch its first Life Development programme into the community.
Pastor Victor Hulbert presented a programme titled 'A Matter of Conscience' discussing the terrible time his grandfather faced as a pacifist in the time of war. On that first Tuesday evening we had just over 30 participants of which about 10 were non-Adventists.
All listened intently to Pastor Victor's presentation and asked questions and gave their own reflections on the subject. One community participant, Mary, told us that her parents were leaders in the Salvation Army during wartime and struggled with the same problems.
We realised that the programmes we had been running within the walls of the church building for years were of great interest to the wider community.
More programmes followed, 'How to boost your Immunity', a health programme by Sonia Locker, and 'Covid-19 & Social Stigma' presented by two psychiatric department heads in Oxford and Reading.
August, September and October followed with more health and social care programmes. Mufalo Akayombokwa, our Area 5 Health Coordinator ran a 'Know Your Numbers' programme highlighting numbers such as weight, BMI, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
This programme was picked up by Thames Valley TV who wanted to interview Mufalo and promote the programme into the Thames Valley Area. The programme was very successful and Mufalo is now running the Newstart Health programme once a month into January 2021.
October also saw another step forward in our outreach into the community. We had started a Small Group Evangelism leadership group at Reading West and discussed different types of outreach. We realised that health and social care programmes were subjects that were of interest to all and easily accessible. However, the next stage would be to answer questions regarding faith for the community. With this in mind we launched our Tough Questions programmes.
Pastor Dan Serb, President of the Irish Mission, was our first speaker on the subject 'Is There a God?' This meeting was attended by Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, Christians, and atheists. Pastor Dan spoke confidently, tactfully, and respectfully to everyone showing that there is a God.
What does the future hold for Reading West Life Development? It is hard work to make the arrangements for these programmes. It takes a great deal of time and effort to attend numerous community programmes to make friends and build relationships but it's worth it.
Reading West has built relationships in the community and now the community want to know more about us. As we make our presentations we pray at the beginning and end, we speak openly about our faith. Far from being offended people from other faith backgrounds appreciate that in a secular society we can speak openly about our relationship with God.
On our horizon we have Pastor David Neal leading a discussion on 'If God Exists, Why is There Suffering?' on 8 December, and community champion Anthony Darway speaking about his work in war-torn Sierra Leone to empower women and young people to become self-sufficient on 15 December.
As I write this article, I answered my phone to an interviewer from BBC Radio who had received the promotion for Pastor Neal's programme; he wanted to contact and interview Pastor Neal.
It is our prayer that we will continue to build healthy relationships with other well-meaning groups in the community and that through these relationships we will in the fullness of time see decisions being made for the family of God.
