Lancaster Methodist Church 

Fresh Expressions

The Cornerstone was officially opened by Professor Carol Thomas of
Lancaster University on Friday 13th July 2007.
We will be celebrating our first full year of activities on 18th July 2008 - come and join us!

The Fresh Expressions movement is a national initiative being followed by many individual Anglican and Methodist Churches seeking to find new ways to 'be church'. More information is available on the Fresh Expressions website. (see below for other resources)

We are in the process of thinking through what more we should be doing to make the church more relevant to our community in Lancaster, and to serve the needs of that community.

We now share our city centre premises with a group of voluntary organisations, using it as a base for our Fresh Expressions activity. The premises are now known as The Cornerstone and are situated on the corner of Dalton Square, with the entrance in Sulyard Street. The partner organisations are:

One Voice - working with people with physical disabilities
Thumbprint - helping people with learning disabilities into employment
Lonsdale Carers - supporting people caring for others
and the Church, enabling people to express their spirituality in ways which are meaningful to them.

One of our first initiatives was to open the chapel at The Cornerstone at lunchtimes (12.00 - 2.00) in Holy Week 2007, making it available for quiet reflection for people working or shopping in the city. Now we are extending that idea to create a Quiet Space which we intend to be open to all at any time when the premises are open. We are holding events like the Christmas Tree Festival there. Some of our people are starting to base their work at The Cornerstone. In all of this we are starting to build a community of people concerned with promoting and enabling wholeness of life for all people.

Please send any comments to Peter Brophy, the Working Group convenor.

Other resources on Fresh Expressions:

Beyond the Wood and Stone

Emerging Culture

    Last modified: 24 March, 2008

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