A church building project in Salford has kept a community dream alive, Charissa King discovers

When two of the oldest churches in Little Hulton decided to formally join, in November 2014, they dreamt of a purpose-built space. A new, light-filled, welcoming church for the Salford area of Greater Manchester might make it easier to leave existing buildings behind, and the dearly-held memories associated with them, they thought. The journey towards a new building would not be easy, they knew, but in accordance with the Advent season, they prayed, and waited in hope.

Wharton United Reformed Church had always had a close relationship with Cleggs Lane Methodist Church. Wharton had a lively, active Sunday school with lots of young children, but had little other engagement with the surrounding community. Cleggs Lane was by contrast an elderly congregation, and its Victorian building was in a state of disrepair. Cleggs Lane had great community links though, including a foodbank and cafe. The church also had lots of land, and its building had a prime main road position. Prayerful deliberation led to the churches deciding to worship together at Cleggs Lane, while an area of its surrounding land was developed to create their dedicated space. Those who had formerly worshipped at Wharton left their building for another, imagining and praying for a purpose-built church in the future. Meanwhile, the newly formed Wharton and Cleggs Lane Church and Community Centre set about helping the socially-deprived area of Little Hulton even more enthusiastically…

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This is an extract from an article that was published in the December 2019/January 2020 edition of Reform

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