More than a building
Hello
I want to share with the whole Woodlands Church Family about the new resource building purchased at the end of September opposite the Woodlands Central building on Belgrave Road in Clifton.
Physical buildings are tools to help the invisible building grow and work (1 Peter 2:5). Since 1995 what began as Woodlands Christian Centre has become a movement and building that has been greatly used by God, and is very much a resource for our Church family and the wider Church in the City.
Fast forward over thirty years and our building is ‘maxed out’ in the way its space has been configured and is very fully used. For a number of years the Trustees have been trying to find suitable additional campus space nearby, a search that has been given added priority since the loss of Ashley Down House as a local hub.
A designated fund was set aside for this purpose many years ago and rental income (from sources like the student flats) has been used to grow this fund to the point that we were able to purchase 25/27 Belgrave Road from Bristol University at auction without asking the Church for money or using our regular giving funds for this purpose.
Watch a short one minute video to find out more…
What are we hoping to use the building for?
For Woodlands Central, much needed space will be available for our youth ministry, children’s work, and other ‘mid-sized’ gatherings. This will also liberate large spaces in the main Church building, especially the crypt and foyer to create capacity in these popular venues.
We will have space for studio development, and ample and much needed storage in the basement. We hope to create welcome hospitality space for a wide range of uses including our Newcomers events.
The building is also ideal as a study and academic facility, for both the Woodlands Church Academy headed up by Tim Dobson and a base for the WTC Bristol Hub as well as a new home for our library.
It will also provide much needed office space for the team that serves the whole of the Woodlands Church Family and in that respect acts a something of a Head Quarters for our growing movement of Church Plants.
How does this fit into our City reaching plan?
Jesus said the Church is both Salt and Light. The light is visible, like a City on a hill. We believe that Woodlands Central is called to be a resource like that, a ‘City on a Hill’, a visible beacon that means seekers can find their way to the Father as they encounter our highly visible gathered venue.
The salt however is scattered and dispersed. We want to equip those who gather to us to send many of them out to the City and region into Church plants and as Church planters. This building will both be a place to equip and serve those sent out ones and recruit more.
Most of our congregations are led by people who came through Woodlands Central and have been sent out.
What are the next steps?
You can give using the button below:
Already the Academy and Devo Youth at Central have begun to use the building, but we are exploring some building work on the ground floor as we need to improve accessibility.
We plan to connect two large rooms to make a significantly sized multipurpose space, so we are not expecting our staff team to re-locate there until 2027.
If you'd like a look around, the building will be open for people to view this Sunday 11th October after our 11am service.
Last but not least, if people from around the church family would like to give to the refurbishment and development of this building to the glory of God, we would be most grateful.
With thanks to all of you and with a sense of God’s generous provision.
Much love,
David Mitchell
Senior Leader
Woodlands Church Family
