As we mark 15 years of Church Growth Trust, our Chief Executive, Giles Arnold—who established CGT in 2010 to continue the property trusteeship work begun at Stewardship—takes a moment to look back. In this reflection, he shares how the ministry has grown, the challenges and joys along the way, and the many ways the Lord has faithfully provided.
I remember the day my wife and I were married over 36 years ago. It was a joyful day and we were young with our whole lives ahead of us. But when we made that commitment to love each other and stay together we had no idea what the future held. We did not know that we would be moving around the country, that we would be part of different churches, even that I would be called to lead the ministry of Church Growth Trust. We did not know that we were going to have a beautiful daughter and a handsome son that would delight our hearts. I did not know that my wife would grow in her beauty and her character through those years. There was so much that we did not know and yet we trusted that the Lord would provide for us, as He has done so faithfully.
How Church Growth Trust began
It may not be a perfect comparison, but when we came out Stewardship and set up Church Growth Trust in 2010, we had no idea what the Lord had in store for us. Over the last 15 years, we have trusted in His faithfulness, and He has provided for us in every way. The work has grown beyond anything we imagined: from just two part-time staff working in my front room, to nine staff mainly based in our Rutland office, with some spread from North Wales to Devon; from 40 church properties to over 150, either beneficially owned or under our sole trusteeship (and many more where we act as custodian or holding trustee); and from occasional visits to each property to regular, structured support. So much has changed over the years.
Developing our support for churches
We have always tried to be proactive in caring for the properties the Lord has entrusted to us and in supporting the churches that use them. In the early years, our reach was limited by time (there were only so many hours I could give) and finances. Now, we are able to do more. We help churches plan for the future with five-yearly surveys to prioritise repairs and maintenance. We also support them in meeting legal requirements for how their buildings are managed and used—what we call compliance—and help them stay on top of these responsibilities. In addition, we encourage churches to think about building projects that could improve their facilities, and we help them explore ways to fund these projects.
Navigating challenges along the way
There have been strain and stresses over the years and times where we have had to prayerfully work through difficult circumstances. This is the same for our marriage. But these are times when we have learnt lessons and grown in maturity, as the Lord does not waste these times. There are times when we have had legal difficulties with a property that is being gifted to us, where there have been challenges in finding a new church for an empty property and dealing with the perennial problem with having too many things that we would love to do but not enough time or funds to do them.
I cannot thank the Lord enough for the Board of trustees and their wisdom in directing the organisation and for the amazing staff team that is such a joy to work with and are always prepared to go the extra mile and genuinely care about each other. I also thank Him, that after 22 years (seven with Stewardship and 15 with Church Growth Trust) of being involved in this ministry, He has still given me a passion for it and I thank Him for our marriage that we are still together and love each other even more than we did 36 years ago.
