By the 70s Oadby had been transformed from a tight knit village community into a suburb of people whose roots lay elsewhere and the chapel membership had become the largest in the circuit. The premises had been altered and enlarged and the membership had changed considerably. People took time to settle down and grow in the faith.

The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1981 with a special exhibition of church history and a publication to match. Church membership stood at 272 members with 400 families on the community roll.

The years that followed saw a drive towards bringing the church building up to date and making it more accessible to the community. Various outreach projects including a drop-in centre for the unemployed, a coffee bar and lunches for the elderly were undertaken.

It was decided that renovations, which had been discussed for some time, should now take place and fund raising began. The church closed for several months and 'camped out' at Gartree School until the transformed buildings were reopened in August 1990.

The final years of the century were spent settling into our beautiful new surroundings, finding new ways of worship and growing together as a church family. Housegroups, church weekends, weekday meetings of every kind, not to mention the wonderful drama presentations and pantomimes have all contributed to a feeling of community.

Our minister Rev Mark Cheetham has introduced several new initiatives including a Families Group and Young Adults Group and we hope that these will help to rejuvenate our congregation.

Plans are afoot to update and extend our Coffee Bar area and we propose to start discussions on how these new facilities might improve our outreach to the community of Oadby.

<< Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |