Encouraging growth with a church plant at South Elmsall

South Elmsall is a town located near to Wakefield, West Yorkshire which had links to the coal mining industry up until the early 1990s.  Elm Chapel, which was built in the 1930s, came into Church Growth Trust’s ownership in 2010, having been held by Stewardship prior to that.  The previous tenants decided to stop meeting at Elm Chapel during the Covid lockdowns and Church Growth Trust (CGT) spent many months praying and looking for new tenants to take over the property and continue the Gospel work from the building.

Matthew Henry of Potters House Wakefield contacted CGT in the autumn of 2021, as he had heard about Elm Chapel from another local Potters House pastor, and he sensed a call to plant a church in the area.  Things moved speedily from there and Matthew took over the tenancy of Elm Chapel in December 2021 and quickly began services and outreach events in January 2022.

The new church has grown rapidly and Matthew comments, “Since starting the church in January God has really been helping us and moving in the local area.  We have done a number of events, including music concerts to reach the local community.  We have seen a number of people respond to the Gospel at these events and some are now baptised or due to be baptised.  Even in these early days we are seeing a faithful core of believers who are growing in their faith.  I’m excited to see what God is going to do as we’ve seen so much already in a short space of time.”

Nigel Brown, Senior Pastor for Potters House Christian Fellowship in the UK, told Church Growth Trust, “We are thrilled at the opportunity given to us by God through Church Growth Trust.  The new church in South Elmsall has started so well and we believe it has huge potential of growth and ability to touch the surrounding areas.  Thank you Church Growth Trust for your support.”