25 June 2025
Glass-fusing workshops. Sound baths and drumming circles for relaxation. A "Beatles and Bugs" creative workshop for families. Poetry retreats called "Open to Wonder." These are not activities you would typically associate with a Methodist chapel – yet they are now the heartbeat of what was once Newmillerdam Methodist Church in the Yorkshire West Methodist District.
“I enjoyed it, thank you for organising it. Great to spend some time being creative – and I particularly loved the idea that it doesn’t matter how it turns out it will be beautiful just because it’s glass,” says one of the twenty-four eager participants to one of the glass-fusing workshops learning to work with molten materials.
The Lakeside Creative Arts Centre's programme reads like a festival brochure rather than a church newsletter. Polymer clay earring workshops sit alongside quiet morning poetry sessions. Therapeutic drumming groups meet in spaces once reserved for hymn singing.
What makes this transformation truly extraordinary is how these creative activities have emerged organically from community need rather than forced programming. Every workshop inquiry – from toddler sessions to yoga classes – has arrived through word of mouth, with no advertising campaign required. The centre has struck upon something genuinely needed: a space where well-being, creativity and spiritual exploration naturally intersect.
The centre also offers great activities for the children.
“The effort and planning put into the sessions were impressive and I'm incredibly grateful we discovered it! The organisation, cleanliness and variety of materials made it a pleasure. It was the best half-term activity! All the volunteers were helpful and welcoming. We created wonderful memories,”
Says a parent.The £400,000 redevelopment completed in January 2025 created professional-grade facilities that rival secular arts venues. State-of-the-art gallery spaces with sophisticated lighting systems, wet areas for resident artists, and accessible community spaces demonstrate a commitment to excellence that takes creative work seriously. This is not amateur church craft: it is professional artistic practice with spiritual dimensions.
The appointment of Shelley Wilson, a stained-glass artist, as Creative Arts Coordinator exemplifies this professional approach. Her expertise bridges traditional religious craft heritage with contemporary creative practice, embodying the Centre's vision of faith-informed artistry.
Under her guidance, the Centre is building networks with local artists and developing regular workshop programmes that maintain high creative standards.
This reinvention coexists with traditional Methodist worship: a faithful congregation continues to meet weekly, now surrounded by easels and exhibition pieces rather than empty pews. This coexistence of worship and workshop, sacred and secular, creates a unique atmosphere where boundaries between faith and art dissolve naturally.
The Centre's therapeutic focus – evidenced by their £5,000 NHS grant for mental health work – positions it at the forefront of conversations about community wellbeing. Many activities explicitly contribute to wholeness and healing, from relaxation classes to creative expression workshops. In post-pandemic Britain, such therapeutic creative spaces feel not just innovative but essential.
What's most striking about Lakeside's approach is how it challenges conventional wisdom about church sustainability. Rather than preserving traditional models, they have created something new whilst remaining Methodist.
“We've recognised that buildings designed for contemplation and community gathering can serve these purposes in ways the original Victorian builders never imagined,” explains Revd Dr Julian M. Pursehouse, Methodist Minister in the Aire and Calder Circuit.
By embracing activities that initially seem completely unrelated to traditional worship, Newmillerdam Methodist Church has not just saved itself – it created something transformative.
The Lakeside Creative Arts Centre proves that sometimes the most faithful response to changing times is the courage to change everything whilst holding fast to core values.
