Woodlands Church, Bristol
When a church in Bristol decided to address the needs of single parent families, the response was overwhelming.
Although nestled in a well-heeled neighbourhood, the church also borders areas of urban deprivation – such as the Southmead estate, where the congregation had sought out a community centre for their Sunday services after outgrowing their original building. Uneasy about this juxtaposition of affluence and poverty, church leaders examined census data. The results were shocking: 53 per cent of Southmead’s children were growing up with one parent.
At the same time, Marion, a member of the congregation – and part-time paediatric registrar – attended a case conference with a single parent in a town outside Bristol.
‘Those present, representing various departments, were looking at how over the last two years things had really changed for this single parent,’ explains Tim Dobson, pastor of The Community
Church in Bristol, part of Woodlands Church.
‘In the end, they decided it was the local church that had made the difference. That really struck Marion, if this could happen in that town, maybe it could happen in our community too.’
Eight months later, Marion and other volunteers launched the church’s first ‘single parent fair’. Around 120 mums and 240 children attended. And 4 brave dads!
‘We were totally amazed,’ says Tim ‘There was a real sense of
the Kingdom of Heaven which is generous and free. We offered to look after the children for a morning, so we had crafts, face-painting, sports, and street dancing training. Then we wanted to pamper the mums, so we got in hairdressers and masseurs,’ says Tim.
‘There was plenty of fresh coffee and homemade cakes. Local agencies gave advice on issues like getting back to work, stopping smoking, benefits, and relationship counselling. We also had photographers taking studio-quality portraits. Everything was free of charge.’
Meanwhile, church members had given some high quality second-hand clothes for the women and children to take home.
‘It was wonderful to see these mums leaving with beaming faces, new hairstyles and the children with painted faces and balloons.
Reaffirming the importance of relationship building, the fair acted as a springboard for more regular events. Now each month, a monthly event called ‘Reach’ is held at the centre where mums and children enjoy crafts, cakes and bouncy castles. Every two months there’s a day trip out to the zoo or beach for families who struggle to make ends meet. A toddler’s group was started and is now packed to capacity and an after-school homework club has just been launched for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
‘We also run something called “the Noise” with other local churches. We invite community representatives to a special lunch once a year and get them to refer projects that they feel would make a difference to the neighbourhood,’ says Tim.
‘Then we get hundreds of Christian volunteers together on May bank holiday weekend and do all the projects. For example, clearing litter from the streets and rubbish from streams, gardening for housebound elderly, or painting murals on school playgrounds. I think that has built a bit of positive history in the community and showed that we are outward looking and doing things that are generous, with no string attached. Good news does travel fast within communities.’
The transformation is ultimately felt at individual level. Tim recently baptised a 16-year-old daughter of a single mum.
‘She’d been playing truant from school, but she became a Christian and started helping with Sunday school and now she’s getting a qualification in childcare. She told us: “Without church, without Jesus, my life was going nowhere. And now I have hope and a purpose.”’
For churches wanting to embark on community mission, Tim has two main tips:
1. ‘Research the needs of your community. Don’t just assume that you’ll do an elderly persons’ lunch club.'
2. 'Having a Kingdom theology is important, to realise the value of care for the poor, alongside and as well as evangelism.’