Federation Life


Sandy Lane Community Church - a profile

A new way of engaging with the local community

Jill Woods explains what Sandy Lane Community Church, Dobcross is all about:

Iron Giants, chocolate millionaires and posadas may not mean much to most of us, but at Dobcross these words are part of the vocabulary. There's been a Congregational church at Dobcross since the 1870s, when as many as 300 people attended worship. By the late 1990s attendance was down to single figures, and when Pastor Ken Kirkland retired in 2002 a successor could not be found. The church had to close, but the building remained in use by a variety of community groups including a nursery, an after-school club and Dobcross Junior Band.

In autumn 2003 Frank Wroe, of Ebenezer Church, Uppermill asked some of his members if they were interested in re-starting the Dobcross church. After much prayer the reply was 'go on then - yes'. The church was renamed Sandy Lane Community Church and it opened its doors on September 12, 2004 with 70 people attending a pizza and praise service.

The three years since then have been something of a roller-coaster. We've learned important, sometimes difficult lessons from ups and downs, but have always found God to be faithful. The last 12 months have been especially busy. We've had a new kitchen of immense benefit to the church and to Little Acorns Nursery. We've seen attendance grow for the 'elev8' youth service led by a local ecumenical youth project, although this may have something to do with the copious quantities of chocolate and sweets on offer! And we've had our fourth annual barbecue and bouncy castle day.

Dobcross Congregational Church Oldham Jill and some of the folk from Sandy Lane

But a few initiatives stick out for us. Firstly, our monthly film nights, which is where The Iron Giant comes in. This was just one of many films we've shown - others included Stormbreaker, Nanny McPhee and The Chronicles of Narnia. We always produce a flyer which ties in the Christian faith to a theme in the film. It's been great to see attendance grow for these events, with many people coming early for a bring-and-share tea - and staying to help with the washing up.

Then in December, there was 'Drop and Shop'. In conjunction with the Anglican church in the village, we laid on a range of craft activities for children, which allowed their parents to do some weekend Christmas shopping - at least that's what they said they were doing. Dobcross Junior Band came along on one of the Saturdays for the Carol Service - the combination of carols and brass bands is truly one of God's best inventions.

Finally, there was the Posada. This saw Mary and Joseph - wooden nativity figures of them - spend the night at homes and businesses around the village - including the pub and Post Office - before arriving back at Sandy Lane on Christmas Eve. Everyone involved was very enthusiastic and it's something we'll definitely be repeating.

Mosaic at Sandy Lane The Mosaic produced by local artist and children

One of my first tasks was arranging for a local artist to work with the Year 5 class from the local school, our church children and the people from elev8 to design and produce a colourful and striking mosaic. A photographer from the local was just one of the 80+ people who came to see it being dedicated at this year's Bouncy BBQ.

September saw the opening of Tiddlywinks, a new Parent and Toddler group, and we eventually plan to run parenting for those attending. We're also looking at how we can be involved in the Hope 08 campaign. If the work we do there goes well, we're hoping to run an Alpha course beginning in September 2008.

What all these ventures have in common is people. People motivated by their love for Jesus to reach out to their neighbours - the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Church isn't a building, it's a group of people - not just Sunday morning people - on a journey with God. So whilst attendance on Sundays remains small, there are dozens of other people who are involved in some way or other with Sandy Lane. Our slogan is 'Passion for God, Passion for People, Passion for Life'. Do we always live up to this? Probably not, but we believe we're moving in the right direction by sticking as close as we can to God on our journey.

Dobcross Congregational Church Oldham Members of the congregation at the dedication of the church's mosaic (Photo courtesy of the Oldham Evening Chronicle)