A new church community is growing in Southampton with exciting plans for the new year.
Saint Mary’s Church, one of the diocesan resource churches based at Chapel Road, has begun worshipping in a second location in the city. It held its first service at the former St Barnabas Church in Lodge Road in October and since then it’s gained a regular congregation with a mixture of people from Saint Mary’s and those from the local community.
Emily Stewart has been leading the congregation and said, “We had lots of people come and visit for the first couple of weeks to show support and cheer us on. Now we’ve been seeing a good consistent number of around 50 or so people coming each week. When we had our launch service for Chapel Road back in 2018 a prayer was said that someone would be saved and someone would be healed within the first month, and both of those happened at the first service. We prayed the same for Lodge Road and a young woman gave her life to Jesus at the end of the service. This is a place where people can engage with him, engage with his spirit and see their lives changed.”
Saint Mary’s was made a resource church after receiving a Strategic Development Funding grant in 2018. There have already been two church plants from Saint Mary’s at St Wins in Totton and Lord’s Hill Church. Lodge Road is identified more as a “sibling church” rather than an individual plant, with the two buildings being one community.
Tom James is an ordinand and worship pastor across both sites. He said, “We’re a few months in now but we’re already seeing people from the local community getting involved and kind of planting a community for the community. It’s good to see people wanting to be part of it and bringing life to a part of the city that maybe sometimes gets forgotten. We’re hearing so many stories already about how God is speaking to people, bringing them into church for the first time and finding a sense of belonging. It’s also had an impact on our other location as well. We were so full at Chapel Road that we were struggling to meet everybody, catch newcomers and make sure everybody felt welcome. So, having this second location has meant that there’s a bit more space now in Chapel Road, we can notice people and there are opportunities for people to step up there and get involved, so that’s been amazing”.
It’s taken many years of work by the church and the diocese to get to this point. St Barnabus Church had seen its congregation dwindling and much work has taken place to secure the future of the building.
Emily said, “It does feel like it’s been lots of moving pieces to just get to the launch service and that’s only the start of it. There are many decades ahead of us of thinking about what God is doing here and how we need to respond. That’s what I’m excited about.”
Since Saint Mary’s began its work of revitalisation of the church in January, a team of people have been responsible for renovations and putting together the furniture. The roof of the building leaks, so temporary adjustments have been made, with a platform and shelter for the sound system.
Michael Kenyon is a trained architect and helped in converting the building. He said, “It’s lovely to see this church full of life. There are so many people in this part of the city who are struggling so there is a real need for the church here. It’s exciting to have the church amid the housing as it feels part of the area. It’s about meeting people where they are at and introducing them to Jesus.”
Naomi and Ramsey Selim bought a house close to Lodge Road in February and couldn’t wait for church to re-open. They said, “It’s a community in the heart of the community. For us being new to the area, that makes a difference. It feels like we’re putting roots down and church is part of that. It’s nice to be here at the beginning and have the opportunity to get involved. We are starting to get to know each other and recognising new people too. We’re now on the welcome team and have enjoyed inviting people round for Sunday lunch after church. We didn’t know them and they did know each other but the connections are growing. We see more people staying after the service now and chatting which is exciting.”
There is a children’s group on Sundays with activities, crafts and games. A play café has just started on a Wednesday to engage with parents and caregivers in the area. It’s a space to meet as well as providing access to health and social care professionals who can give advice.
Libby Giles is volunteer with the children’s team. She said, “At the start it was just my child in the Sunday group and now it’s grown. We hope in time to get multiple age groups but it’s nice now to see the older children mixing with the younger ones. We want to have more children, more friendships in the community and for this to be a safe space for them to come and to experience Jesus as well.”
Saint Mary’s runs the ‘Saints Collective’ for students and young adults aged 18 to 29 where they eat, worship and pray together. Some of these gatherings will also take place at Lodge Road.
Laura Price is a third year nursing student at University of Southampton. She said, “This is a student area and it’s great to have this church in the community. Students on campus don’t always have a faith community. I live in a student house with non-Christians. Everyone in the Collective loves Jesus and so it’s good to be able to get together and remember you’re not alone.”
There are further plans with the opening of the Meeting Place in January, a community space with a pay-what-you-can café and clothing hub.
Emily added, “There’s a couple of other projects that are in the pipe work, which are exciting and I think, speak to the needs of the area. Lodge Road is a real mixed area. It’s got students, families and lots of people from different countries living here as well. There are people with addiction issues and other needs, so we want to be a church that responds to that. There were a lot of words and pictures and prayers spoken about the church before we launched, about it being a lighthouse and sharing the light of Jesus. I think we just want to have an impact in the area for all the different social needs. If we can be a space where we’re opening the doors to whatever those needs are, then I would be very happy.”
There are plans for the future of the building with a new roof, toilets and kitchen. Everyone in the community is excited about “the adventure of seeing both the building and our city loved back to life in Jesus’ name.”
