Our latest Grace Church Family Meeting was a brilliant opportunity to come together, celebrate all that God has been doing among us, hear updates from across church life, and look ahead to what might be next.
There was so much to be thankful for, plenty to get excited about, and some big things to be praying into! If you weren't able to join us, here's a summary of what we shared.
Welcoming New Members
We kicked off the evening by welcoming six new members into the Grace Church family: John, Christine, Agboola, Ogechukwu, Chloe and Dan.
It was a joy to pray for our new members and celebrate their commitment to being part of the church family.
Looking Back: So Much to Celebrate!
Before looking ahead, we took some time to reflect on what God has been doing over the last couple of years.
Grace Church has grown significantly, both in the number of people attending and in our financial giving. But the most exciting stories are about lives being changed.
Over the last two years, we've celebrated 35 baptisms, with another three people already committed to getting baptised!
We've also seen growth across almost every area of church life: Alpha, our Bible studies, men's and women's ministries, children and youth, and Life Groups.
There is so much to thank God for!
But we're not interested in simply looking backwards and reminiscing about the good old days. We believe there's more to come.
Our vision remains the same: Building the Church and Reaching the World… because Jesus.
Looking Ahead: Four Big Hopes
The elders shared four particular hopes for the future of Grace Church. These aren't fully formed plans or promises about what will happen, but they are things we're dreaming about, praying into, and trusting God for.
1. Remembering the poor
Galatians 2:10 records the apostles' encouragement to Paul to remember the poor. We want this to be increasingly true of Grace Church, finding new ways to love and serve people who the world we live in forgets.
2. Growing deeper
We want to see people becoming more like Jesus in every area of life. Our hope is for deeper discipleship, stronger relationships, and a church family increasingly shaped by the gospel.
3. Finding a permanent home
We'd love to see Grace Church established in a building of our own within the next five years. Somewhere that can serve as a home for our growing church family and a base for reaching our city.
4. Growing wider
We're daring to dream about becoming a church family of more than 500 people.
That would require sustained and significant growth over the coming years, far beyond what we could simply expect through our own efforts. But we believe God is at work, and we want to keep stepping out in faith.
Our Growing Staff Team
As the church has grown, so has our staff team. We took a moment to introduce and celebrate the people serving in different roles:
Sia Hima – Operations Manager.
Kate Harris – Finance Officer.
Rose Malin – Parish Nurse.
Rosie Donoghue – Ministry Development Lead, who started in June.
Joe Deal – Outreach Lead, who started in January.
Evie Owen – Youth Lead, who began full-time in September.
Laura Hazelton – Children's Lead, who joined the team in October.
We're incredibly grateful for this team and all the volunteers who serve alongside them.
Reaching the World: Outreach Update
It's been an exciting year for outreach at Grace Church!
Our spring Alpha saw around 30 guests exploring faith together, with several going on to be baptised over the summer.
We also enjoyed the Bemerton Heath Week of Fun, including an opportunity to worship together out on the green.
Our current Alpha is now halfway through, with 25 guests attending. With the Alpha Saturday coming up, we're particularly praying that people will encounter the Holy Spirit and experience God's love and power for themselves.
We've also recently launched a new weekly community meal at Bemerton Heath Centre. Every Tuesday, people are invited to come along, enjoy some food, build friendships and find community. It's still early days, but we're already seeing relationships growing and conversations about faith beginning.
Looking ahead, we'd love to develop more, build partnerships with organisations supporting vulnerable people, run more Alpha courses and create more opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.
Finding a Home: Our Building Search
One of the biggest topics of the evening was our search for a permanent building.
We've now established a Building Search Team, bringing together people with property expertise, a passion for the project and a commitment to prayer.
We're exploring three kinds of opportunities:
Our dream option: A building available seven days a week, with space for more than 500 people to gather.
A midweek base: A building we could use throughout the week while continuing to hire a separate venue on Sundays.
Something unexpected: An unusual or creative opportunity that might not fit our initial expectations!
We've already investigated multiple properties, none has yet proved suitable, but the process has helped us learn more about what we're looking for.
How can you help? Pray for the search, let us know if you hear about potential buildings, consider getting involved with the team, and begin thinking and praying about contributing to our building fund.
We're trusting God to provide the right place at the right time.
Finance: Thank You for Your Generosity
We also shared an update on the church's finances.
Last year, our core income was approximately £283,000, with around £40,000 raised through special offerings supporting children's work, our partnership in Ghana and parish nursing.
In total, around £350,000 was invested in the life and mission of Grace Church over the year.
That represents an extraordinary amount of generosity, and we're so thankful to everyone who gives faithfully.
Looking ahead, our regular monthly income is currently averaging around £26,500, against a budget target of £28,000 per month.
That leaves a gap of approximately £1,500 per month, or around 5%.
We encouraged everyone to prayerfully review their regular giving, particularly in light of inflation and the growing costs of ministry.
We also highlighted Gift Aid. If you're a UK taxpayer and haven't yet completed a Gift Aid declaration, doing so could make a real difference. We estimate that unclaimed Gift Aid could be worth an additional £500 per month to the church!
Our building fund is also open for anyone who would like to begin giving specifically towards a future home for Grace Church.
If you’d like to read a more detailed summary of our accounts drop an e-mail to office@gracechurchuk.org
Life Across Grace Church
We heard some wonderful updates from different ministries across the church.
Children
Our children's work continues to grow! We now have around 46 children registered each week, with 70 different children attending over the last six months.
A team of 36 DBS-checked adults helps make this possible, alongside our brilliant younger helpers. With 11 adults needed each Sunday, there's a huge amount of teamwork involved in making Sunday Club a safe, welcoming and fun place for children to grow in faith.
Youth
Our youth ministry is thriving, with 72 young people registered and typically 40–50 attending on Sunday mornings.
Alongside Sundays, young people are connecting through Youth Encounters, Life Groups, worship nights and other gatherings.
Newday 2026 was our biggest yet, with a group of around 100, and we've already got a team of more than ten preparing for next year.
We also heard exciting testimonies from the youth weekend away, including young people becoming Christians and experiencing powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit.
Women's Ministry: Belong
Belong exists to help women connect with God, his Word and one another through every season of life.
It's been a fantastic year, with around 60 women at the spring breakfast, a summer social, approximately 30 women taking part in Titus Bible studies, and 96 women gathering for a special day with Kemi Koleoso.
Men's Ministry: Being Brothers
The men's ministry has also had a packed year!
Around 42 men are currently studying the Bible together across three groups.
We've enjoyed a range of events, including a breakfast with talk by Pete Orphan, a trip to The Gathering alongside thousands of other men, AJ’s BBQ (sorry… Braai) and Mark's legendary pizza evening (59 pizzas!).
Coming up are a joint curry evening with the Baptist church and a visit from Nathan Blackaby, CEO of Christian Vision for Men.
Life Groups
Life Groups continue to be such an important part of our life together.
We've launched 3 new groups, and one group has changed location.
We're also seeing new informal gatherings beginning to take shape, which we're hoping will develop into more Life Groups in time.
In January, we'll be giving Life Groups a particular focus, helping people understand what they're about and how to join one.
There's More to Come!
What an encouragement it was to hear so many stories of what God is doing across Grace Church.
We're grateful for every baptism, every person discovering Jesus, every child and young person growing in faith, every friendship being formed, and every person giving their time, energy and money to serve the church.
And we're excited about what lies ahead.
We don't know exactly what the next five years will look like. There are challenges to navigate, opportunities to explore and some pretty big dreams to pray about.
But we know why we're doing it all.
Building the Church. Reaching the World.
…Because Jesus…
Thank you for being part of the adventure.