A third church is planted – and a tree!
Glen Community Church has become the third church plant in the diocese since our ‘plant forHim’ initiative was launched last year. And after their worship gathering today, the first congregation also planted a tree!
The Glen follows church plants in Moneyreagh (October 2013) and The Braniel (December 2013) and is led by Stephen Doherty.
Stephen has spent 10 years as Youth and Family Director in St Mark’s and is a familiar figure in The Glen Estate which is in the parish. The first worship gathering was in Londonderry Primary School who have kindly offered the use of their premises each Sunday morning.
Stephen was joined by several residents from the estate and a small team of volunteers from St Mark’s. After tea, coffee and cakes, he led a simple service of ‘welcome, word and witness’ and introduced the church’s mission statement – ‘Love Jesus, Love People, Love Life’.
It took a bit of effort to dog the hole (literally ‘2 men and a wee lad’) but the sapling that now stands at the entrance to the estate is, Stephen explained, ‘symbolic of the fact that we’re here to stay and we’re here to grow’. Amen to that!
View the gallery here.
You’ll get a chance to hear more about the new Glen Community Church on Monday evening at the Bishop’s Bible Week.