BARNARD Castle’s Influence Church has celebrated the third anniversary of its association with Barney’s art centre.
Previously based in a community space in Galgate and conducting services at the Methodist Church, the Pentecostal organisation moved most of its activities to The Witham in early 2022.
Barnard Castle location pastor Maddie Foster said: “That was a really great move in terms of being right in the centre of the community on the high street. The Methodist Church is lovely but I think we are a more modern expressive church with traditional Christian beliefs.”
She added that the previous arrangement had been difficult because the children would have activities at the community space and then have to walk down to the Methodist Church to join the adults for services on a Sunday.
Now the adults use the music hall, while the children are ministered in the upstairs Witham Room.
Of the music hall’s facilities, Ms Foster said: “We use all the lights, we use the stage, we have live music, we have drums and guitars and singers. It is a very modern, contemporary style of worship.
“The children join us for service and then go upstairs where they have their own programme at their level. They have all sorts of fun up there while we are in the main hall. It is so much better having it all under one roof.”
The Witham’s executive director Amy Hughes added: “From an outsider’s perspective, because my daughter comes and we aren’t religious at all, it is just a fun environment for children.”
The church’s baby and toddler group, Mini Heroes, also moved from the Galgate community space to the arts centre.
About 18 babies and toddlers attend each Wednesday morning.
The pastor said: “We would like to grow that. Our role as a group is to supply fun and activities for the children, but it is actually for the parents, grandparents and carers to connect with them and make them feel welcome. We want to create an environment where people are looked after.
Ms Hughes added: “With Mini Heroes there is no religious agenda.
“So, Sunday is about preaching, but the Wednesday morning is just a toddler group.”
Another service provided by the church is its Storehouse food bank. Ms Foster said: “The food bank is still running out of the Methodist Church, and this year it is ten years that we have run the food bank in Barney.”
Last year Storehouse provided 14,196 meals and 31 school uniforms for children, while 16 Christmas hampers were sent out to needy families.
The arts centre and the church collaborated to provide a Christmas stay and play event late last year. The funded event which included a breakfast from the café attracted about 40 people.
Ms Foster said: “The stay and play attracted people from all backgrounds, but especially we wanted to reach people who were maybe struggling a bit at Christmas.”
Ms Hughes added: “The Witham is a charity and we are not political or religious, but our strategies are aligned.
“We both want to feed into the community, alleviate social loneliness, rural isolation and we are both serving the same people in a different way.”
A new addition to Influence Church’s activities at The Witham is an “Alpha” course which is running each Monday, for ten weeks.
Ms Foster said: “There is a real openness to spiritual things in general and people are looking for answers.
“Alpha is a Christian-based course, but it is an opportunity for people to come and ask questions about faith and life.
“People have questions about big life things – what is the purpose of life, why is there suffering in the world? We want to create that safe place for people to come and chat with us, non-judgemental.”
People can sign up by emailing alpha@influencechurch.co.uk.
