Vision for future of Dudley's Top Church welcomed

The Rev James Treasure wants to encourage more people through the doors of St Thomas and St Luke in Dudley, known as Top Church.

He is also looking to ensure the church can play a more active role in the community by making it more accessible to people in the town.

The Diocese of Worcester has been awarded a grant to transform the building into a ‘resourcing church’.

It will offer a primarily contemporary style of worship, which has been proven to attract new people to faith.

Around £500,000 will be spent altering the inside of the building to make it more welcoming and flexible while the rest of the grant will be used to recruit staff for mission and community work.

On Sunday, Rev Treasure hosted the second of two events to share his vision for the future and encourage people to get involved in the project.

"It went very well. We had far more people that we anticipated. It was really positive and we had lots of good feedback. It shows there is a real interest out there and people are intrigued by what we are doing and the level of investment, the plans for making it a vibrant place of Christain worship and saving it for the next 200 years.

"We had tea, coffee and homemade cakes, I shared the vision, we ate together and there was a Taizé chant. People have now gone away to have a think about whether they want to get involved," he said.

"The next stage is to meet weekly and discuss the type of church we want to be and how to make this building accessible and useful for the public," added Rev Treasure.

There also plans to recruit a youth and children's minister as well as a community minister as part of a team of staff and clergy who will work together to develop the 'resourcing church'.

Speaking about Sunday's event on Twitter, Archdeacon of Dudley Nikki Groarke said it was 'very exciting' to see Top Church filled with people of all ages 'buzzing with anticipation' to hear Rev Treasure's vision.

The plans for the church include making it a more welcoming place. At the moment, people walking though the doors find themselves immediately in the worship area but the plan is to install a sound proof glass wall between the seats and the entrance to create a welcome area where people can get refreshments or take children out without disturbing other people.

There will also be a play area for children and a space where informal meetings can be held.

But the biggest change will be replacing the majority of the pews with chairs which means the layout can be changed depending on the service or event being held at the church.

Meanwhile, the building's second entrance for wheelchair users and parents with prams and pushchairs will also be improved to make it more inviting and new toilets will be installed.

Sound-proof meeting areas will also be created at the back of the church which can be used by church staff and community groups.

As a ‘resourcing church’, Top Church will support the community as well as the other Anglican churches in the town, helping them to build up their congregations and to develop particular areas of their own mission and ministry.

Rev Treasure said other plans for the future include bidding for funding for repairs to the church tower and the restoration of the Painted East Window which is in need of some TLC.

The £5million funding has come from the Church of England's Archbishops' Council and some of the cash will be used to transform All Saints’ Church in Worcester.

The official launch of the Top Church resourcing church is expected to take place in September 2019.