St Andrew’s Parish Church with Trinity Methodist Church, Shifnal

The Revd Prebendary Chris Thorpe writes…

It all started with a Methodist Ordination Service when the Conference came to Telford and asked to borrow St Andrew’s Church building. We decided to work to host the service as one team. Members of both churches were chatting afterwards, remarking on how similar the ordination and communion had been! Asking – why are we two separate churches?

The cost of living crisis had already brought us together in creating a Winter Warm Welcome space, and members from each church shared in reaching out to those in need. Then one day, retired Methodist minister, Derrick Lander shared an image that had come to him – the notice board outside St Andrew’s saying “St Andrew’s Parish Church with Trinity Methodist Church, Shifnal!” It was so simple, but so arresting! Why not?

We decided to worship together once a month in St Andrew’s. As Anglicans we had already taken up Archbishop Stephen Cotterell’s challenge to become “Humbler, Simpler, and Bolder!” We still stand within the Anglican “catholic” tradition, but following Covid we had recognised that people were wanting something more simple in their worship. Welcoming the members from Trinity Methodist to worship with us had reinforced this approach.

We began to map out what a shared future might look like, with worship focussed in St Andrew’s building, and a plan to launch a new centre for mission and ministry in the local community in the Trinity church building. Alongside this we began to integrate our church teams, for leading worship, welcoming, reading, intercessions, and administering communion, as well as making coffee and leading young church. We invited Methodist lay ministers to lead and to preach on a regular basis, greatly enriching our services. We planned and held a Wesley Day Service together and invited the circuit to attend.

To help to coordinate our shared working we invited two members from each church council to represent each church on both committees. We have also begun shared management of the many church projects.

After a year of working closely together we signed a partnership agreement between Shifnal Methodist Church and St Andrew’s Parish Church Shifnal on Easter Day 2024, inviting every member of each church to sign, and finally ratifying it with the Bishop of Shrewsbury and the Chair of Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District signing the agreement on Pentecost Sunday!

Together we were able to apply for funding from the District and Circuit to fund a Centre Coordinator to take the new Trinity Centre forward. Together we have started a new contemporary worship service, “HeartSpace”,  that now takes place in the Trinity Centre once a month, attracting many who are new to church.

We both recognise that we are just at the beginning of a long journey of integration, there will be many details to work out. Our current partnership agreement is based on one of the new “lightweight” structures suggested by Churches Together. Property and finance are still held separately, we remain two churches in law. But in time, as we grow together, we hope to complete the formation of a full local ecumenical partnership.

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