St Columba’s Kilcooley brings Streetreach to the neighbourhood
Cut the grass, clear the garden and paint the fence! It might sound like a summer Saturday afternoon, but if you add in a Community Mural, a Seniors Afternoon Tea, a Holiday Bible Club, a Youth Club Drop–in and a Family Fun Day then you have a list of the activities that took place in Kilcooley, Bangor, at the beginning of April.
This was all part of Streetreach Kilcooley, an initiative of St Columba’s Church of Ireland and facilitated by churches from many different traditions from all over Bangor. It was an opportunity for young (and some not so young) people to serve the people of Kilcooley and show God’s love for them.
That service took the form of offering to do ‘odd jobs’ and during the first three days 70 young people cleared gardens, cut grass and painted fences for local people. At the same time, 24 children came to the Holiday Bible Club in the church to hear about Jesus, play games and enjoy crafts. The final day of Streetreach saw over a hundred people from Kilcooley estate come to St Columba’s to enjoy face painting, an inflatable obstacle course, a bouncy castle, tea room, pop corn machine, Dinky Doughnuts and BBQ!
The Revd Andrew Campbell, curate at Bangor Abbey and St Columba’s, oversaw the project and said, “This is a wonderful opportunity to show the people of Kilcooley that St Columba’s as a church is here for them and that we have a real heart for the people of the area.” The rector of the parish, Revd Canon Ronnie Nesbitt, commented: “The energy of the team and their commitment to the scheme was impressive and there were lots of happy faces which was great to see! I hope this is a foretaste of things to come.”
St Columba’s hopes to follow up the success of Streetreach with a Holiday Bible Club during the Summer.
With thanks to Revd Andrew Campbell