Welcoming Matt into eldership

We’re so privileged to have a great team of elders in leadership of our church.

On Sunday 23rd June, we welcomed Matt into eldership.

Matt, his wife Jenny and their children are part of our Chester-le-Street congregation, having previously been part of our Durham congregation.

The other elders, plus our friend Ray Lowe, prayed for Matt, before we shared a church family picnic together after the service.

We look forward to how God will use Matt in this new role.

To find out a bit more about Matt, watch this video

Vision 400: pursuing God

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

Among the promises we treasure are:

‘Go to the nations and I will give you Durham’
This was spoken over us many years ago now, and we have seen God move in incredible ways; both in sending people from Durham to the nations, and in bringing people from across the world to join us here. At the same time, we are seeing God increase our impact and reach in our local communities in the North East.

‘You will be a Kingdom resource centre’
A few years back our friend and regular visitor Marc Dupont delivered this word, and we have seen it become a reality through The Durham Centre, our children’s and youth work, and other ministry areas. We have been able to bless other believers and communities, through our experiences; and in doing so be blessed in return.  

Ten years of God’s faithfulness

It’s now ten years since we moved into The Durham Centre, the first permanent home we could call our own. This was in response to clear direction, and miraculous provision, from God; and since then we’ve seen God grow us as a church in Durham, and planted out into Chester-le-Street.

We’re so thankful to God for everything He has done.

But we don’t want to stop there…

God has spoken clearly to us about further growth and, as part of this, we have purchased the industrial unit opposite The Durham Centre. We plan to convert this unit into The Emmanuel Centre, a new church and conference venue, with an auditorium seating up to 500, a small kitchen and toilet facilities.

Creating The Emmanuel Centre

As with The Durham Centre, during the week this would have a commercial purpose as a conference and business venue.

On Sundays, it would host our Durham congregation allowing The Durham Centre to be used for children and youth provision, which is growing rapidly – beyond the space currently available.

The next step in this project is to turn the grassed area next to The Emmanuel Centre into additional car parking space. We want to do this first because it will allow The Durham Centre to take extra bookings, in turn creating extra resource for The Emmanuel Centre project.

Funding the future

This project requires significant finances.

Church members and friends have already contributed to the purchase of The Emmanuel Centre by one-off donations, and increasing their regular giving. We are now looking for a further £1 million.

We are currently receiving monies from our recent Gift Day, and these will be dedicated to the project. On the Gift Day, Alan spoke about how we can see this £1 million as “One Hundred Steps” of £10,000 each. What step of faith is God calling you to take in this area?

It’s really important to remember that we’re not embarked upon this project because we want a bigger building. Rather, because God has spoken to us about growth, and we want to pursue His promises.

Currently, we gather around 250 people at The Durham Centre on Sundays. In faith, we are praying for God to increase this, initially to 400, and then beyond!

How can I give?

If you’d like to support this project, that’s great. For more information on how you can give, please visit our Giving page.

Questions?

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

God Loves 2019 is here!

We know that God loves the world - He loves the world so much that He sent his son, Jesus, to die for us, so that we could live with him forever.

As followers of Jesus, it’s our privilege to reflect what we can of God’s love for the world around us.

One way we do this is through God Loves, our annual mission week of community service and fun events.

God Loves 2019 is under way and despite some awful weather, a group spent Wednesday afternoon praying, chatting to people about our Chester-le-Street Fun Day and helping out at REfUSE cafe.

Hear Jonny’s take on day 1…

On Thursday, we’re helping out at Durham Action on Single Housing, in Gilesgate.

And Friday… well, that depends on how the weather is looking!

Don’t forget: Saturday is our Chester-le-Street Fun Day. Hope to see you there!