One of the conditions of the CRT grant which saw us move into Market Street was that we were involved in community, and so we changed the church’s name to reflect our heart for the local community, becoming Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church. We had always been involved with the community, running a Parent & Toddler group and youth club for many years. Moving to Market Street when the market was still open and running meant we had a new audience there, and for many years we ran a coffee morning every Saturday, inviting people in to see what we were doing and serving the market stall holders hot drinks to keep them going!
Our community outreach continues to this day. Whilst the youth club closed during the pandemic, our Parent & Toddler group now meets twice a week in term-time (on Wednesday and Friday mornings between 9 and 11 a.m.) We hold a coffee morning once a month now on the first Saturday in each month (10 a.m. until 12 p.m.) and are involved with other local churches in family fun days during school holidays and with other organisations helping at community events (such as events at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment and Phoenix Park.) We host an evening of creativity for adults on the 3rd Monday of the month (‘Mindful Moments’, 6- 8 p.m.) and are involved with the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival, held on the last Saturday of September at Astrea Academy Dearne, and with community art projects (including our car park wall of hope and the coasters’ project with local churches.) We are involved in local schools, most recently through our sponsorship of Christian theatre productions by 4FrontTheatre.
Community involvement for many years included a Sunday service at Cherry Tree Court where two church members lived, and although this ended with the pandemic, we are thrilled to have recently started singing at Parkside Care Home in Wombwell once a month.
The BMBC logo ‘Love Where You Live’ sums up our attitude to our community. We love where we live and are convinced that God has placed us in Goldthorpe for such a time as this. We want to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community’, knowing that His love for people is our motivation to serve Him in our local area.
