A new church community is about to be planted in Townsend, an estate community on the outskirts of Bournemouth. It will be led by Revd Ed Haycock who has moved to the area after serving his curacy in Basingstoke, having felt called to minister on a housing estate. He has also recently been commissioned as the Diocesan Estates Champion.
The new church plant has been two years’ in the planning. Ed is partnering with the local church St Paul’s, Throop and the parish churches of Holdenhurst and has worked with Revd Jim Findlay, with the help of national church funding. It will be based at the YMCA building, which is in the centre of the Townsend estate, next to the local shop and on the same street as the primary school. In the last few months, the team has been growing and since October they have been holding ‘Team Nights’ on a Sunday evening.
Revd Ed said, “The most exciting thing is that God’s already here. There are so many Christians in this community. There are so many people interested in faith and asking questions. For us as a church, we’ve decided to call ourselves Townsend Church because they already exist. God’s people are already here. Our hope is to gather them, to equip and to empower them and give them something to invite their friends, their family, and their neighbours to.
“We would love people to know that the church is here for them, that we’re not just on a hill over there or somewhere else, but we are in the community for them, just as God is for them. So, we would love for people to see a visible Christian presence wanting to make a difference.”
Children and Families worker, Emily Dodgson, added, “I think the story that we’re hearing is that there are many Christians in this estate who have been praying and hoping and dreaming for a church in this community, that they can call home. A big word that’s been used is light, this place needs a light and that light being Jesus and how can we bring that.”
The team have been working and praying with nearby churches of all denominations and alongside other organisations such as the YMCA and community centre to build a picture of the community and its needs. Revd Ed continued, “This early phase has been about establishing a pattern of use for the building, establishing a brand, getting to know the Christians who are in the community, getting to understand other key stakeholders and the community centre and the school and places like that. We’ve been gathering people that we’ve met or come across and have gone into Townsend to pray and worship, to set a vision to be the body of Christ in the community.”
“We want to serve different parts of the community throughout the week, serving families on a Sunday, maybe those struggling with life or addiction or recovering from addiction on a Monday, and those that are a bit later in life, maybe a bit vulnerable and needing some extra care on a Wednesday morning. Those are three distinct communities that I’ve come across in my time here and it’s exciting to see how God is moving in each of those communities. It feels a real privilege to be able to capitalise on those relationships and the prayers that have already gone into that.”
The church has already started a toddler group on a Monday morning and is aiming to start a mum’s bible study on the back of it, as well as an after school café on a Monday afternoon to be a drop in for families and parents on the school run. There are also plans for a Wednesday community café and an Alpha course in the New Year.
Revd Ed said, “Even at our tots group the other day, we had a mum saying to us, ‘my daughter’s asking me questions about faith and I don’t know where to go about it.’ I think there really is a spiritual hunger. I wear my clergy collar a lot and it does spark conversations so it’s important to be able to say, ‘look, we’re here, we’re present’.”
Emily Dodgson has joined Townsend Church as the Children’s and Families Worker. Her home church is St Paul’s in Throop and she has recently completed 3 years at Bible College. She said, “I just felt God was preparing me with the experiences that I’d had before and led me to the Townsend estate, which is exciting. There’s such a strong vision in this project for how to engage children and families in the good news of Jesus. I think increasingly we’re hearing about children bringing their parents to faith and young people having a real heart to know more of who Jesus is and how that can impact their lives.”
It’s hoped the church will serve the needs of an estate which is measured as being in the bottom 8% of social deprivation in the country. “There’s high social housing rates here,” Revd Ed added. “But there’s also very high disability rates in this area and the school as well struggles with lots of different things. So, there is a lot of need but there’s a beautiful community here as well, and there are people that are already making such a difference.”
Emily added, “I think we came into it with certain ideas of what it would look like and we’re surprised every day about the stories that we hear of God already moving in this community. I think we’re just excited to join along with that and the ways that God has been preparing the way for us already. It’s a privilege to be able to join in with what God is already doing.”
Revd Jim Findlay said, “As we prepared for the ‘Townsend Church’ project, engaging with other partners in the area, it became apparent that this was something that the Lord was doing and we needed to catch up with Him. In a meeting at a neighbouring partner church, one lady movingly prayed about a restoration of hope because the church was going to ‘move in’ to the Townsend community, with a leader living there and growing a church from within. The Lord is already at work in this community and our job, it seems, is to identify where, join in, encourage growth and commit to stick around.
“We’re also not alone in this endeavour. This project has only gained momentum because of our partners – St Paul’s Church, initiating and supporting this project with its limited resources; the churches of Holdenhurst parish, St. John & St. Barnabas, are making a significant contribution through provision of a Children and Families worker; the YMCA have generously shared its building in the community, as well as reaching into the need to house a priest within that community; Lansdowne Church have encouraged some of their members who are already at work in the Townsend community to engage with this new project and of course the Diocese of Winchester have helped in the successful application for funding available for the project”.
In his role as Estates Champion, Revd Ed wants to grow awareness and advocate for estate churches across the diocese and on a national level too. He has already visited several estate church leaders and is organising events and gatherings to share ideas and encourage and equip those serving our estates.
And his hopes for the future at Townsend? “There are incredible moments of overwhelm when I sit down and look at the to-do list. I have been involved in other church plants in the past and so often it comes with a big resource team and a step-by-step process. We don’t have that. We’re trying to do it differently, more sustainably, more organically. I feel like I’m spinning lots of plates because I’ve got commitments to the existing parish as well, but when I sit down and take a breath, the glimpses of God’s kingdom, just make it. The day-by-day conversations about faith help you to know that God’s really up to something.”
The current Sunday afternoon Team Nights will develop into a family service in January. Please pray for Townsend Church as it continues to grow God’s kingdom in their community!
