Last autumn, the Loughborough Resourcing Church Partnership - made up of Emmanuel, The Good Shepherd and St Barnabas - gathered for a weekend of teaching, worship and prayer.
As they spent time together and considered God’s invitation for us all to be rooted in our local communities, three families felt a shared sense of calling to move from Emmanuel, the principal resourcing church, to become part of the weekly worshipping community at The Good Shepherd.
This has proved to be a real answer to prayer for the congregation of The Good Shepherd, who were struggling to maintain their work with families.
The Good Shepherd had already begun to invest in all-age worship through a bi-weekly afternoon service, ‘The Fold: Families at 4’, but the commitment of these three families to the whole life of the church has been significant.
Hear their stories in this video:
“It has been so encouraging to see The Good Shepherd home to families and children once again,” explains Revd Kat Marjoribanks, curate of the church. “As new families have come along, either to the morning service, or The Fold, there has been a ready community of other families and children for them to join.”
A highlight of the year for The Good Shepherd was their Family Fun Day last month, which was organised and run by both members of the morning congregation and those who attend The Fold.
During the day, they welcomed around 130 people to the church field for games, activities, ice-cream, tea, and cake, plus a giant inflatable slide.
For Revd Kat, the fun day was a sign of exciting things to come, she says: “It was a great opportunity to connect with the local community, and to offer all who came an invitation to The Fold, and to our Alpha course in September.”