Barnabas Community Church, Shrewsbury

Barnabas Community Church is an independent, evangelical, Church in Shrewsbury, England, and is in many ways a product of the UK charismatic movement. It is part of the newfrontiers [ [http://www.newfrontiers.xtn.org/uk/ Newfrontiers – A Worldwide Family of Churches Together on a Mission ] ] family of churches and a member of the Evangelical Alliance [ [http://www.eauk.org/churchsearch/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.ChurchDetail&ChurchID=152286 Church Search ] ] .

History

Barnabas Christian Fellowship was founded in 1983, after the Crowmoor Baptist Church outgrew its building at the time [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/crowmoor/] . The initial group was about 80 strong. Restricted by only having limited capacity in meeting rooms above a pub, as the church grew, it separated into two congregations for a three year period. In 1993, the two congregations reunited and began meeting together at the Wakeman School [ [http://www.wakeman.shropshire.sch.uk/ Wakeman School Internet Home Page ] ] with a clear sense that a new "home" was needed.

In 1996 Barnabas formally became part of Newfrontiers, an international family of similar churches.

In 1999 Barnabas formally adopted a Cell Group model for church life [ [http://www.barnabascommunitychurch.com/cellgroups.htm CELL GROUPS - Barnabas Community Church Shrewsbury ] ] , having been inspired by teaching from Ralph Neighbour [ [http://www.touchusa.org/ TouchUSA.org ] ] and organisations such as Cell UK [ [http://www.celluk.org.uk CellUk: Home ] ] .

About the same time The Alpha Course was adopted and has been run twice a year since then [ [http://uk.alpha.org/node/10011564 Barnabas Community Church | Alpha UK ] ] .

In 2001 the name of the church was changed officially to Barnabas Community Church.

The Barnabas Centre

Between 1983 and 1985 the church met in various public hall including the Music Hall [ [http://www.musichall.co.uk/ Shrewsbury Music Hall | Home Page ] ] and the Gateway arts centre [ [http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/gateway.nsf Gateway Education and Arts Centre | Shropshire County Council ] ] . Between 1985 and 1996 the church rented a suite of rooms above the Lloyds pub in Shrewsbury town centre.

The Barnabas Centre was formerly a Territorial Army Drill Hall. Its layout provided an ideal basis for conversion into a Church Centre. Between 1995 and 2007, £550,000 was raised by church members to enable the purchase, refurbishment and extension of the building to take place.

Community activities

The Barnabas Centre is now a multi use church centre with many community agencies using the facilities, such as the Shrewsbury Senior Citizen's Forum [ [http://www.seniorsforumshropshire.org/Shrewsbury%20Forum/shrewsbury_senior_citizens%20index%20page%20.htm Shrewsbury Senior Citizens ] ] and the Community Council of Shropshire [ [http://www.shropshire-rcc.org.uk/Supporting_Local_People/Sensory_Resource_and_Development_Service/Effective_Hearing_Programmes/index.html?sid=28a7548acd529ab736f0752050dd830 Community Council of Shropshire - Effective Hearing Programmes ] ]

There are also community projects [ [http://www.barnabascommunitychurch.com/community.htm COMMUNITY LIFE - Barnabas Community Church Shrewsbury ] ] such as a Debt Advice Centre [ [http://www.communitymoneyadvice.com/ Community Money Advice ] ] , senior citizen's activities [ [http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/community.nsf/open/0A553C5A69670E3980256D250031225D Barnabas Community Church "Outlook Programme" (Shrewsbury) | Shropshire County Council ] ] and youth activities [ [http://www.impactshrewsbury.com Impact Shrewsbury ] ]

References

External links

* http://www.barnabascommunitychurch.com
* http://newfrontiers.xtn.org