Renfield St Stephen's, Glasgow

Letting God's grace lead you and being open to changing your ministry as the area around the church changes and different groups emerge, are some of the lessons that this church, and its leaders, are learning and share here....

In the early 1970’s a number of churches in Glasgow City Centre were amalgamated and the current church building for Renfield St Stephen’s was purchased along with an adjacent tenement building. The vision was for the church to become a community hub which would be run by volunteers and in the early days incorporated such features as a gym! It was used by many different groups, largely for social work type activities.

Over the years though the needs of the area have changed and the centre itself has had to change its focus to adapt to the changing needs of the area. In the late 80’s it was decided that the centre could best be used if it had a reputation for being a well-run venue for meetings and so the focus became to hire out rooms and establish a city centre venue for church and non-church groups alike which could provide affordable meeting space with on-site catering, thanks to the Oasis café.

The outreach work of the church largely focused then on relational outreach – getting people through the doors and then building a relationship with them from that point on.

When Rev Peter Gardner was called to the parish some eight years ago one of the first things he did was go on a parish prayer walk – to establish within his own mind what some of the needs of the local community were. Renfield St Stephen’s is a very gathered parish, many of the congregation used to live in the area but were moved out when the city centre and the motorway developed – so the area is not particularly residential although it does have a number of students. Peter was aware though that there already were a number of churches in Glasgow who catered for and reached out to students so he felt the call to provide for another type of need – the needs of those in the business community.

Right in the heart of the business community in Glasgow the idea grew that the needs of this community (often overlooked or viewed with suspicion by the Christian community) could perhaps be met by relational outreach work. In conjunction with Adelaide Baptist Church, Renfield St Stephen’s sponsored the setting up of “Business in Glasgow” ( BusinessinGlasgow.net ) a non profit organisation which seeks to examine connections between work and spirituality and offer a forum for business people to get together and discuss issues relating to the workplace within a Christian atmosphere or backdrop.

Initially the group ran seminars held in the church centre, a neutral venue for those who maybe viewed “church” with suspicion and topics covered included depression, bereavement, stress in the workplace, business ethics etc. always with an opportunity to mention the gospel. Initially the project was funded for three years and had an employee but that funding has now ended and with businesses becoming more cautious about what they encourage their employees to take part in, the nature of the events that Business in Glasgow run has had to change. The seminars are now interspersed with lunch events and general networking opportunities. A forthcoming project involves a week long prayer event within the church centre involving a business themed prayer room which will be opened daily from 8am – 10pm.

It is a difficult community to break into in some respects because of the aforementioned suspicion there can be about the motives of the business community and the Christian community (the suspicion goes both ways!) and this work has highlighted that Christians working within the business community sometimes “hide their light under a bushel” and find it a challenge to make their faith known in their working world.

The work, and funding for the work, is a challenge at times as it does not fit easily into other known and proven methods of outreach but Peter and the other organisers of BiG feel that the business community has many needs which the church can address – there is often plenty of material wealth evident but a feeling of “lostness” nonetheless. Equally as our view of what Church looks like changes, this organisation seeks to look at what church looks like for the business community.

Within the rest of the Church complex a variety of groups meet and some even rent office space. A local group which helps the homeless in the city centre, Loaves and Fishes, meet in the Oasis café and offer the opportunity once a week to men and women from the street to have a meal in an attractive café setting. The café enjoys a good reputation amongst Christians in the city centre but is also widely used by the local business community as a place to go for great food at a cheaper than average price!

Peter also has a particular interest in developing relationships with the art community – Renfield St Stephen’s uses artwork creatively in their worship and are always seeking to develop that particular form of ministry – although Glasgow’s very active art scene has yet to respond to overtures made in their direction so far.

Within the parish there is a re-development of some housing stock which used to house mainly elderly residents but as part of the re-development will become more mixed and Renfield St Stephen’s are currently looking at effective ways they could interact with this community.

Peter is realistic about remaining open to challenges and opportunities that may come the way of the congregation – since the days when he first took his prayer walk around the parish he has accepted that you have to “let God’s grace lead you…” and that they are called to mission through the building and the parish and as both change and develop, so must the direction of the work – although the focus remains making Christ and His love known to all.

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Helen Brown, June 2010

For more information on the church, visit www.rsschurch.net