27/05/2026
We love this community and our desire is to be a church for the community where people come as strangers and leave as friends. We are thankful to have a building in which we can eat together, laugh together, sing together, worship Jesus together, play together, watch films together, watch our little ones grow together. And we are blessed to have people we employ as well as a vast group of volunteers to make all we do possible. We believe that God calls us to build community, we believe the saying: 'it takes a village to raise a child' and we believe in the power of healing because of the presence of others. The reality, of course, is that creating and maintaining a warm and welcoming space, even with the generosity of all the volunteers who offer their time and love, comes with very real costs. We have faithful people who give week in week out, but once a year we call to our people to help with something extra so that we can continue to do what we do best. You will be aware that we had a leak last winter, we have replaced boilers and zoned the heating in our bid to be taking care of the environment as well as making the place much warmer. We have done work on our fire alarm system, to keep all safe and we have had storm damage to name but a few. These were extra costs on top of what we normally pay to keep everything running. These are not especially exciting things to talk about. Boilers and alarms rarely stir the soul. Yet they matter because they make possible everything else that happens here. These practical things enable us to offer the warmth, worship, friendship, support, hope and the safety we believe we are called to offer to all.
If you are able to make a one-off gift, (and only if you are able to), however large or small, it will directly support the ongoing life and ministry of St John's and help ensure that this place continues to serve the community with warmth and generosity in the years ahead.
Thank you for reading this so far.
Thank you also for making this community as special as it is.