05 March 2013 Dunstable, United Kingdom [Simon Martin, tedNEWS] Seven years ago a small group of members from the Luton North church decided to plant a community church in the nearby town of Dunstable. Its mission was (and still is) to plant an innovative, Jesus focused, spiritually alive, Bible based, grace oriented, culturally relevant Seventh-day Adventist church that will impact, transform and serve the immediate community for the Kingdom of God.
The plant has focused most of its ministry on the Downside estate, situated on the outskirts of Dunstable. It so was named to draw attention to the fact that the 1,100-home estate sits on the edge of an important nature resource: the Blow’s Downs. Over the years however the estate has suffered from periods of neglect and deprivation. At one point 8% of all recorded crime in Bedfordshire took place on this estate.
The Dunstable group has ministered to the local community over the years by providing the following services: free health checks and health seminars by qualified medical staff, after school clubs, a community football club, mother and toddler groups, fitness clubs, senior citizens clubs, and youth clubs. Every year the group provides a day outing for the local residents. Its latest ministry to the estate has been in the form of a ‘Heart café’, a 
response to the lifestyle crisis of disconnection and isolation which is taking place in many of our communities today. Heart cafe tries to address this trend by creating safe and appealing environments where people can talk and connect in meaningful ways. At Heart cafe people enjoy good food, conversations and the presentation of the Gospel through live music and talks. Overall, the plant has adopted an incarnational ministry approach by meeting people where they are, providing a listening ear and practical support.
Every Saturday at 1pm after the morning worship service, the church provides lunch for the community, followed by ‘Creative church’. This is an informal church service where families can come together to do arts and crafts, sing, play and learn. There is always a theme for the week, which focuses on a well-known Bible story that teaches important biblical values.
As a result of the good reputation of the Dunstable church plant within the community, some of the core group members have been invited to sit on numerous committees and resident associations to oversee and manage the estate. Members of the church plant were also included on the management team that set up Street Pastors for Dunstable. The plant now has five trained Street Pastors who patrol the town during the night at weekends. Two more group members are in the process of being trained.
Most recently, the Dunstable town council has allowed the church plant to take over the local community centre. The group now manages the centre and has some kind of activity running there every day of the week. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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