The Gospel Hall at the small Staffordshire village of Hamstall, Ridware was from the 1950s, a thriving Brethren assembly with some of the leading members coming from local farming families. They declined in numbers and grew more elderly, finally closing in 2016. Church Growth Trust were given the property and tried hard to find another evangelical church to take it on. With only 100 people in the wider parish this proved impossible to interest any church, so we had to sell the Gospel Hall in 2020.
CGT’s trustees decided to gift some of the proceeds to local evangelical churches to support evangelistic work. This included a grant to Renew Church in Uttoxeter for them to create a café area at the Foodbank. This was completed recently and the church pastor Paul Jones says, “I’m excited to let you know that we opened our café on the 7 November, and it has been running for four weeks now. We currently open between 11am and 2pm on Mondays and invite people to come in have a cuppa, cake and a chat. Most people coming now stay for up to two hours.
“It’s been so encouraging to see a diverse group of people attend every week, and the team have had opportunities to chat with those who are struggling now, including opportunities to pray, inviting God to work on their situation.
“It’s been positively received by our community and we are looking forward to all that God is going to do through that space. Thank you so much for your support in funding this space. It has taken some time to get off the ground, but we have trained a fabulous team to launch it, and I know that God’s work through them in the café is going to produce a harvest for His Kingdom.”
CGT were also able to give a grant to Rugeley Community Church to support their Active-ate project. The project encourages healthy lifestyles and builds connections enabling the church to share the Gospel.
Some of the grant was also given to Life Church Lichfield to support a new youth leader, Connor. He has made a significant impact, bringing the existing youth together encouraging many new teenagers to join the group..
Connor also works with Youth for Christ each week and has been successful in establishing links with other youth leaders and local youth projects. As Steve Speight, the Pastor of Life Church, says, “Connor recently had a one-year assessment with our church trustees, where he came out with flying colours. So, I can say without any doubt the investment you made is steadily growing and bearing fruit”.
At CGT we praise God that the proceeds from the sale of the Gospel Hall at Hamstall Ridware are still being used for Kingdom purposes.
