CHURCH leaders’ prayers have been answered after work on a new venue for Evesham Baptist Church began on the site of a former orchard off Offenham Road.
After years of ‘planning, praying, and perseverance’, the ground was broken on the Cowl Street church’s new venue to bring to an end some 16 years of tireless fund-raising by the church community.
And come September, it’s hoped the church will leave its home of some 300 years and the sheltered housing it helped develop in the 1970s and start a new chapter in its history.
Minister Rev Edward Pillar hailed the fund-raising effort to achieve their dream which began after the gift of more than four-and-a-half-acres of land in the will of an elderly lady who left Evesham some years before her death.
“In 2006 the site of our existing building in Seward Close on Cowl Street meant we couldn’t grow where we were, surrounded by the sheltered housing we had helped to develop 30 years earlier,” he said.
“Our intent was we developed a building fit for both church and local community to grow and serve together.
“We couldn’t find another site and we had no money. So, we prayed.
“And God answered our prayers in abundance, because within a short while we learnt that we had inherited a 4.6-acre field on the edge of town,” he said.
Alongside the generous giving by church members totalling almost £1million, various authorities and trust funds including Wychavon District Council, Evesham Town Council, John Martin’s Charity, All Churches Trust, and Beatrice Laing have contributed more than £200,000.
These, together with the partnership with Bromford Housing are making the build possible opposite the Orchards Estate on Offenham Road, a key part of the planned development by the church over the last 16 years
“The Church and Community Centre is all about people and God’s care for them,” Rev Piller added.
“The church will worship there, welcoming and working with the local community. There will be a café, meeting and activity spaces for all ages, a well-equipped kitchen, a dedicated prayer space, and an auditorium which can meet the needs of music, drama, and other groups.”
Senior architect at Allan Joyce, Claire Goldthorp said: “We have been working closely with Evesham Baptist Church to create a beautiful new building which acts as a gateway to this new area of the town.
“The design fulfils their wishes to provide a welcoming place of worship with community at the core.”
