As we rapidly approach spring, we are all excited for a year full of opportunity and hope. I, however, would like to encourage a few moments of reflection, to look back on what the Lord has done through Church Growth Trust in 2022 to help keep church buildings for their original Gospel use and to help occupying churches make them fit for the God-given purpose.  

You will have seen some of their faces and read some of their stories. These are the churches we have worked with this year who have been remarkable and their commitment inspiring. So often it starts with trustees who take the bold step of passing on their buildings to Church Growth Trust (CGT) to allow other churches to continue the Lord’s work in their communities or because they want to benefit from the help that CGT can give them.  

We rejoice in the work the Lord enabled us and the churches we have worked with to do over the last year and have some highlights to share with you. 

• In 2022, we were gifted or appointed as sole trustee of 10 church properties  
• Seven new custodian/holding trusteeships were taken on 
• 26 churches helped with advice on building issues or potential building projects 
• Six building or refurbishment projects were either started or completed for our occupying churches 
• Two new staff members and one new trustee were appointed. 

The staff team at Church Growth Trust is truly grateful to God for all that has been achieved during 2022. He has been faithful in providing us with the resources we needed, keeping us going through busy and stressful times.  

Also, I want to thank you for working with us in many different capacities. For encouraging us, for speaking well of us and for being gracious with us if we have not met expectations. We look forward to working with you and seeing the Kingdom grow further in 2023.  

May the Lord give you fresh vision and direction for the year ahead as you seek His will.

Yours in His service 

In 2010 Terry Wilkes of Windmill Community Church visited the danger zones of Columbia to care for persecuted widows and children of murdered Christian Pastors. On his return, he was called to plant churches in West Wolverhampton. Following a successful initial planting project, the first service was held in September 2013.

Church Growth Trust (CGT) has supported Windmill Community Church since 2017 providing a comprehensive range of professional architectural services from feasibility proposals to securing both planning consent and tender prices from contractors. The first planting project in 2018/9 involved the complete restoration of the derelict Victorian church building in the heart of Finchfield.

The original St Thomas Church closed over 20 years ago and had been vacant ever since. It had fallen into disrepair and substantial structural work was needed to bring it back into use. Later in 2019/20, a phase two project saw the addition of a new extension. This church plant is now a vibrant Christian community, and the building is virtually full to capacity each week.

In July 2021 Windmill Community Church started to plan for the second church plant and entered a 100-year lease on the City Council owned former  youth centre in Henwood Road, Compton. The 1960s building was derelict requiring complete renovation. CGT helped with the entire process, including feasibility, planning consent, contractual tender drawings and documentation. This six-figure contract was a major project for a charity the size of Windmill Church. The project is nearing a successful practical completion due in Spring 2023.

The Windmill Community Church praise God for the building and are excited to see what God will do through their ministry there. As Terry says, “The Windmill Community Church trustees and leadership are extremely grateful for the excellent services CGT have provided throughout. In fact, we would not have achieved both projects without the support provided. We highly recommend CGT and have found their Christian commitment, expertise and professionalism greatly helped us during the grant funding and building process. Both our buildings are on budget and debt free”.

Church Growth Trust (CGT) moved to the present offices five years ago and has just agreed to a renewal of the lease for a further year. This will give the team time to work out what we need for the medium-term, as our team continues to grow. 

Since taking on the lease in 2018, CGT has grown from a team of five to a team of nine and has reached capacity for the space. As Giles Arnold, CGT’s Chief Executive says, “This is a great problem to have. We are taking on more staff so we can offer better services to our occupying churches and clients and helping to ensure they continue in Gospel use for the future.”   

The two most recent additions to the team are Gary Anderson, our Building Surveyor, and Sharon Short, our Communications Manager. Gary is working for three days per week helping Jonny Heaney, our Architect, with the many building projects he is managing. He is also conducting condition surveys in both newly owned and existing CGT properties. We are now providing this service as part of our standard tenancy agreement to help occupying churches manage building repairs and to keep up to date with compliance issues relating to the use of the building. It fulfils CGT’s aim to ensure our buildings are as fit as possible for their God-given purpose. 

Sharon has been helping CGT as a consultant for the last few years and is now working for two days per week to help communicate our services to others. This is particularly important when we are trying to ensure that independent evangelical church properties are safeguarded for future Gospel use. Sharon will be spending half of her time speaking with churches across the country to find out how they are doing, what help they might need and making sure we stay connected with the right people. 

As Giles says, “It is exciting to have Gary and Sharon onboard and to see the impact they are already making within our team and with churches. We are praying for wisdom to know what office accommodation we need that will allow for both the expanding team and to help us improve on the services we are able to bless churches with.” 

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.

Church Growth Trust (CGT) is passionate about helping our occupying churches keep their properties in good repair, compliant with legislation and suitable for modern church use. One way that we help churches to do this is by providing a Property Book for each property.

This is a hard-back ring binder has been designed to hold all the compliance documents relating to the church, including:

• Gas and electrical safety checks
• Asbestos management plans
• Covenants affecting the use of the property
• Safeguarding policy

Whilst churches remain responsible for these matters, CGT is now helping churches to manage their paperwork and reminding them when electrical and gas checks are due.

Some churches were, for instance, unaware that a five-yearly electrical wiring test is required. In a few cases, because it has been a while since this check was carried out, several issues have been brought to light. Although these can cost the church to put right, it is better to avoid a tragic accident by making the building safe, than to put the users of the building at risk.

When reletting one of our properties to a new church, we encourage the leaving church to hand over the Property Book. If this is up to date, it means the new church has less to worry about and can focus on their God-given purpose of reaching their local community with the Gospel.

Not only is the Property Book helping to bring order but is also enabling churches to be more effective in their Kingdom work. If you have received your Property Book and would like some advice on compiling it, please do get in touch with either John or Elaine in our Property Management Team. They will be happy to help.

Church Growth Trust (CGT) is trustee of a property Trust that owns Alexandra Hall in Wood Green, London. Since 2005 this has been let to Grace Baptist Church. Several years ago, we started a discussion with the church about creating a flat in the roof space of the Hall, as the church needed accommodation for a worker.   

There was a battle with the planning authority over the design and concerns from the neighbours, particularly with the access to the flat, as this overlooked their gardens and created a large bulk of a building at the rear of our property. At this point we realised that the space at the rear of the property was not being fully utilised, so began investigating the possibility of building a ground floor extension to the main gospel hall.  

Having obtained prices from contractors we realised that we could not afford to do all the work. As the flat was no longer needed, we agreed with the church to scale back the building project and focus purely on the ground floor extension. This was much more acceptable to both the planners and the neighbours and fitted better with CGT’s focus on church buildings rather than residential properties.   

The new plan provides the church with a smaller meeting room for bible studies, prayer meetings and community activities, perfectly complementing the large worship area. The revised scheme was agreed, planning permission granted, and prices obtained from contractors. The successful contractor has worked with CGT before, on an extension to Roe Green Hall in Kingsbury. They are Christians and have been very flexible to ensure that the costs match the resources that the property Trust and the church have.   

We are delighted that after a few years, the project has started.  Giles Arnold, CGT’s Chief Executive said, “I can see the Lord’s hand on this.  When we thought we were going round in circles, He was bringing us to the plan that He had all along!  And when we got there the church were ready, the right contractor was available and everything else has fitted into place.  Praise God for His provision.” 

In September 2021, Hope Church Network who meet in Greatham and Petersfield in Hampshire took a tenancy of the Central Hall in Liss, to serve the needs of both growing congregations. The pitched roof to the property was coming to the end of its useful life. This was evidenced by the clay tiles to the roof shaling, meaning that small particles of clay were breaking off. The leaving church was aware of the condition of the roof and generously made a restricted gift covering the agreed cost of the new roof. Church Growth Trust (CGT) held the restricted gift. Hope Church undertook in their tenancy to renew the roof using the restricted gift.

When it came to carrying out the works , CGT worked closely with Hope Church to specify what needed addressing to ensure compliance with Building Regulations. Once completed, the work was inspected and signed-off by Building Control who provided a completion certificate. CGT was also able to offer help with practical matters such as how to undertake thermal upgrades with enhanced insulation and ensure sufficient ventilation to the loft space. 

The church managed the project directly with the roofing contractor, but CGT was on hand to offer the church advice when required. For example, the building insurers had to be notified of the works and the church checked that the roofing contractor had the relevant insurance policies in place before the work started.

The road to completion proved to be a rocky one. COVID came along and the building supply chain was disrupted – no tiles were available; the original contractor had to drop out, and a new one appointed; the cost of the new roof escalated significantly. But eventually the new contractor delivered a good result, and the new roof is a significant improvement to the building.

At Christmas Christians become slightly more daring in their evangelistic outreach and in many instances this includes fire! The tradition of a carol service lit by candles or a Christingle Service often results in increased attendance of young and old alike.

The question is – are you ready?

With the introduction of candles and fire, there is a need not only for good preparation but increased vigilance. The best preparation is to carry out as soon as possible a risk assessment for any event depending on its content and taking actions in response to that assessment to eliminate or significantly reduce risks.

If you have not done this before, then it may be possible to speak to a local school and request a copy of a risk assessment they may have prepared for an event or activity involving similar items. This will give you a good idea about what to think about and provide. This should also promote good planning well in advance and adopting a team approach so that “regulars” are either actively involved or area aware of what is going on and what to do when something goes wrong. For example the risk assessment will look at what should happen at a candlelit service if a lit candle falls out of its holder and assess the possible impacts and propose possible actions.

The intention is to be ready for anything that might happen rather than being surprised and panicking. It will also help the atmosphere of the event to be calm and welcoming rather than on edge and slightly miserable. Additionally people who are new to a meeting will not know what to do so a clear explanation at the beginning will be very helpful to all concerned and prevent people acting unilaterally. For example, about when to stand and sit, where the fire exits are, where the toilets are and what to do at the end of the meeting will all help things to run smoothly.  It will also commend the gospel as we show our love and concern for all those who join us to celebrate the birth of our and their Saviour.

Church Growth Trust (CGT) continues to work with GLO, Counties and Partnership, to help churches to start growing again and continue proclaiming the Gospel in their communities.  To explain how a brand new “Growing church – church revitalisation project” e-booklet is now available at www.partnershipuk.org/church-support/church-revitalisation/.

Giles Arnold, Chief Executive at CGT and Chairman of the Revitalisation Operations Team, explains why it has been updated.  “Since we brought out the original booklet and launched the project, we have been privileged to work with a number of churches and to watch them grow and develop. Some people only think about “revitalisation” when it’s too late and they have already become too small and weak to be revitalised.  They require resuscitation or resurrection!  We have improved the booklet because we think it’s better to encourage churches to engage with the project at an earlier stage.  We want to speak to them when they have problems but can still see a way through them.  These issues are often elderly leaders, a dwindling and ageing congregation and a lack of younger members and leaders.  If left unchecked, this will lead to the church having to close.  When addressed through our Church Health Checks and mentoring inputs, that church can be taken on a whole new journey of revitalisation.”

Giles emphasises that the church has to be prepared to go through challenges and changes if they truly want their future to be bright and start growing again.

To read the full article on this click here.

We are always excited to share news about our Foundations magazines with you and delighted that the Autumn 2022 edition has now been sent out.

This edition features some interesting, useful and encouraging articles from the journey of Kairos Church in Ramsgate and how God is graciously giving them all things, the second of the series of articles on discipleship on the unchanging call to community, guidance and signposting in the area of church mortgages, an interview with Dave Foster one of our trustees, and many other helpful and interesting articles.

If you have not received your copy or would like additional copies to pass on to people you know who would benefit from reading this, please email us on enquires@churchgrowth.org.uk and we will be delighted to send these to you.