The Church
We are an active Church and believe that we have a very positive engagement with our local community. We currently have a congregation of circa 40-50 adults and 10-15 children, and have a wide mixture of ages, races, and social backgrounds. Over the past 2 years, we have been really encouraged by a range of new folk regularly joining us, and a renewed sense of the Church family coming together again under God’s Word. We continue to offer a live broadcast of our Sunday service via YouTube. Please feel free to look us up on our website (www.coleychurch.org.uk); Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ColeyChurch) or YouTube site (www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDo1PiZgF6R71LhJF4wFHA).
Coley Park is a defined suburb to the west of Reading town centre, with a population of circa 5,000 and a mixture of owned property, social housing & tower blocks. Reading town centre is about a mile away. There is a primary school, community centre, a parade of shops and an independent hospital within the estate, and our Church is built right in the middle of the community. Last Autumn, in conjunction with a local Christian-run Food Bank, we opened a pantry which serves our local community both with affordable food and is a wonderful out-reach project.
The successful applicant will be the sole Pastor at the Church, but very much working with, and supported by the two other Elders and an active congregation seeking to work out our Church vision and priorities. We are part of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC).
The Church’s vision
- Christ-centred
Being led by our Lord and Saviour through his Word, the Bible (Matthew 28:18–20, Acts 2:42).
- Coley-focused
The church is for all of Reading with our focus being on reaching out to Coley Park and we desire that many of the church are from Coley Park.
- Contemporary
Being flexible so as to connect with as many people as possible with the good news of Jesus, including that we want our worship services to combine the best of the old and the new in a contemporary style (1 Corinthians 9:20–22).
- Cosmopolitan
Having, accepting and involving a mixture of races, backgrounds and ages (Galatians 3:26–28).
- Committed
Being committed members in a vibrant church family – participating on Sundays and in small groups, serving across the church life and in reaching out and building up the church in love (Acts 2:41–47, Colossians 4:2–6, Ephesians 4:11–16).
What are our “ministry priorities”?
- The Church is committed to sound and exciting bible teaching for established Christians and the non-churched alike i.e. teaching the Bible with zeal from Sunday mornings, through the small groups and encouraging us all individually.
- Building up the congregation to be able to “give a reason for the hope we have” and to “fight the good fight” i.e. practically and personally demonstrating God’s love for our Church and the wider Coley Park community.
- A Church who looks after its people and loves our neighbours – increasing our love, joy and excitement of being a family together and so hopefully attracting others to become Christians and join our Church.
Required Skills
- An energetic, self-motivated, mature Christian with a real heart for God’s people and the lost, who can communicate effectively at all levels. Able to preach / teach the bible to established Christians, new Christians and non-Christian alike.
- A personable man with empathy, who has the ability to establish meaningful relationships and rapport with a wide diversity of folk – a “team player” to work alongside others to keep and get things going. We recognise that this requires appropriate persistence and support from all of us.
- Someone who can develop a clear vision for how the Church could be, very much working out that vision in conjunction with the Leadership and fellowship, seeking to do this as part of an established and committed team.
If this might be for you, then after prayerful consideration, please do contact us to discuss the opportunity and ask for an application form to apply.
Contact us