The Emmanuel Centre is (nearly!) here

We are excited to announce the Grand Opening of The Emmanuel Centre, our new home, on Sunday 21st May!

God has given us a vision to be a growing, charismatic, family church with a world vision, and grow to become a worshipping community of 400 and beyond… and for that we need more space!

£1 million-plus investment

The Emmanuel Centre (TEC), a £1 million-plus investment, offers a 500-seat auditorium which, like our current home The Durham Centre (TDC), will be used for church and conference business purposes.

Its opening comes 14 years after that of TDC, which has a 300-seat auditorium plus other smaller rooms.

Since we opened TDC, God has blessed us with growth in numbers, diversity and faith.

Both The Durham Centre and The Emmanuel Centre are on Belmont Industrial Estate, in adjacent units. On Sundays our main church meeting will from Sunday 21st May take place in TEC.

Meanwhile TDC, which until now has hosted our services, will be entirely devoted to activities for children and young people, of which there are over 100 regularly attending the church.

Grateful to God

Alan Bell, our lead pastor, said: “We are extremely grateful to God for how He has blessed us, growing us in numbers, diversity and faith, so that we reached the point where The Durham Centre was no longer big enough for us.

“Creating The Emmanuel Centre is a step of faith. We believe that God’s will for us is to be a worshipping community of 400 and beyond, reaching the nations and our local communities for Jesus. We are very pleased to soon be worshipping in The Emmanuel Centre. We would warmly encourage people to come to visit us, and are excited to see what God will do in the days ahead.”

Our story

Emmanuel Church was founded in 1980 and is part of the Regions Beyond family of churches. We met in various locations around Durham until moving into our first permanent home, TDC, in 2009.

David Campbell, who founded the church, will return to speak at TEC’s Grand Opening Celebration.

We have has links across the globe and are also active locally, in social action projects and supporting local communities. As well as over 100 children and young people, we have thriving community groups, known as Emmanuel Communities, and over 50 student members.

You’re invited!

We would warmly invite you to join us for TEC’s Grand Opening Celebration on Sunday 21st May from 10.30am.

Work begins on The Emmanuel Centre

‘Enlarge the place of your tent’

As a community of believers, we want to be faithful to the promises that God has spoken over us, and pursue them wholeheartedly.

One such promise we received a few years ago via a trusted friend of the church was from Isaiah 54:2:

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes”

This and other confirming prophetic words prompted us to buy the building opposite our current home at The Durham Centre (TDC) and begin to plan to convert it into a 500-seater auditorium: The Emmanuel Centre (TEC).

When completed (and Covid restrictions allow), TEC will host our main Sunday meetings, freeing TDC to be used for children’s and youth provision (again, when Covid restrictions allow).

Work on TEC begins…

Work begins inside The Emmanuel Centre. The markings on the floor indicate where the stage will be constructed

We’re excited that work to convert the building has now begun. In the first phase, the auditorium will be converted. Further works to the foyer will follow subsequently.

We look forward to meeting in TEC from spring 2021.

Funding the future

This project requires significant finances.

Church members and friends have already contributed to the purchase of TEC by one-off donations and increasing their regular giving.

During November, we are inviting everyone in our church community to consider what more God is calling them to give.

We understand that for some the Covid-19 pandemic has put a strain on finances. But if you would like to give, more information on how you can do so is available here.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure!

Questions?

We’d love to chat. Email us: info@emmanuel.org.uk and we’ll get back in touch.

For more on our vision to grow to a community of 400 and beyond, please see here.

Below, check out some images of The Emmanuel Centre before works began, and the first days of work on-site. Enjoy!

Students and 20s weekend report

Recently members of our students and 20s community went way to an adventure centre in Carlton-in-Cleveland to worship and encounter the living God and to build community. 

Jonny Higgins, one of our interns at Emmanuel Church writes...

“We had an absolute blast of a time together. We've had some amazing first years join and be a part of our community this year and the weekend was just such a wonderful and important time of having fun and building community. The freshers have so quickly become as much a part of the community as all the old faces. From board games to hours of sung worship, to hill walking, to watching a film, to watching the rugby, to rolling coconuts down a hill and racing to catch up with them, the weekend was just SUCH a fun time. 

“God moved powerfully among us and it was amazing to see many students and 20s giving (accurate) words of knowledge and prophecies from God, in many cases for the first time ever. Steve and Jo Whittington shared impact-fully from the bible and from their own testimonies, sharing mainly about the Kingdom of God. Most prominent was Steve and Jo's hearts for the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalised in the world and that passion was infectious and awoke calling in a lot of our students. 

“It was also amazing to have all 4 Mallards and John and Chris with us. What a weekend! If you're interested, the sermons are available here.