Yorkshire North and East, Beverley, Rooted in Hope

A new worshipping community is being developed with a focus on young families within the Mission Area, evolving from a strong base of parents, carers, and families involved in thriving toddler and youth groups across four local churches. The shape and structure of this new Christian community are intentionally being kept flexible, allowing the community and a future pioneer lay pastor to co-create its direction.

Traditional Sunday worship, while valued by current attendees, is generally inaccessible to families with young children and newcomers to faith. There's also a shortage of volunteers to lead children’s ministry. The initiative seeks to provide deeper discipleship for those involved in the existing three toddler groups, eight uniformed groups, and other activities like the Church in Tickton’s Youth Kafe and school outreach supported by the Beverley Schools Christian Trust.

This vision grew from a 2023 What is God Calling Us To? Day, followed by collaborative discussions with lay workers and the minister, and has been nurtured through prayer sessions, planning meetings, and community engagement. Key contributors include local lay workers, preachers, and families who have provided feedback through surveys and informal conversations. Toll Gavel’s longstanding commitment to children’s work and recent holiday clubs also feed into this development.

A significant milestone came with the 2024 community survey, sent to 30,000 homes, which showed strong support for outreach and hospitality by Toll Gavel United Church. During the minister’s sabbatical, the vision was spiritually nurtured, with hymns inspiring working titles for the community: Seeds of God’s Spirit and later Rooted in Hope.

With support from the Methodist Circuit, District, and possibly the URC, a part-time pioneer lay pastor will be appointed. Their role will include reaching out to families, forming relationships, and leading gatherings, which may initially occur monthly and grow in frequency. They’ll also facilitate the formation of small groups for prayer and Bible exploration, cultivate lay leadership within families, and foster an invitational culture.

Resources like Messy Discipleship and the Methodist Church’s guide on forming new communities will support this process. A small pioneering team (6–8 members) will offer accountability and encouragement. Structures for supervision and evaluation, including ‘fruitfulness markers’, will help shape the development of this family-focused, Spirit-led inclusive Christian community.