It’s exciting times for a new church which will be launched in Darlington early next month.
The Haven has been commissioned by St Mary’s Cockerton, and will be based in the town’s West Park, where many new houses have been built in recent years.
The new church plant will meet at West Park Academy, where its first gathering will take place on Sunday 9 March, at 3.30pm, and weekly thereafter.
The Revd Jess Monopoli (pictured above, left), who is curate at St Mary’s, will lead the new church and is extending a warm welcome to people in the area.
“We’re very excited about The Haven,” said Jess. “The community at West Park have expressed a longing for community space for a significant amount of time, we hope to be able to offer this. One of our key values is inclusivity and The Haven will be a home for anybody who wants to join us.”
Jess, who is supported by a leadership team, has received a timely boost ahead of the launch. Following an online appeal for help with the cost of Bibles – Jess has been taken aback by the generosity of people from near and far.
“At the moment we have 92 Bibles with a total of 103 promised,” she explained. “Two big donations came from an individual and a church who do not know us at all, one from Birmingham and another from near Oxford. They felt moved by the Holy Spirit to act and we are so grateful to them and to others who have kindly donated.”
West Park is located in the North West of the sizeable parish - and the new plant will enable the church to serve new areas including Faverdale and High Grange.
Jess is grateful to West Park Academy and also to other community organisations for their support with the project, as well as the Revd Damon Bage, vicar at St Mary’s.
She added: “We have over 20,000 people in the parish, but just about 40 people come to St. Mary’s on a Sunday. We wanted to do something about that, something different and exciting and I felt God was saying that something was going to happen here.
“We started having conversations last summer and have being doing lots of community outreach since October.
“We’ve also established ourselves on social media and have been out on the streets getting to know people. We were giving out chocolate stars for epiphany. It was great to see people recognise us out in the community ahead of the launch.”
The Haven will be steeped in the Anglo-Catholic tradition and will have many traditional components, but the team are passionate about bringing a contemporary twist to worship.
To compliment this, there will be sensory elements to engage with. For example, during intercessions, there will be playdough, to keep little hands engaged, while there will be a sensory space for individuals to take a step back from the service and be present in a way that serves them.
For more information visit The Haven page on Facebook.