The history of Bestwood 6

 

​The six parishes of the “Bestwood 6” have been linked in some way or another for many years with varying degrees of success.  Several years ago a review was undertaken to see how we could work together in mission.  As a result of this review we realised that:

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We are: “A community united by God’s love”, with shared values of: “Caring, compassion, collaboration and consistency” and our vision was: “To reveal Jesus to all people”.

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Following the review we chose to join together in the Partnership for Missional Church process.  Over a period of three years, this involved us in listening to our communities, those on the periphery and the centre of church and data gathering.   We introduced spiritual disciplines into the lives of our church and the introduction of these disciplines changed the way our churches operate, co-operate and view mission.  We believe that God is at work in our communities and that we need to discern where He is working and to join with Him.  This belief informs all our missional activities.

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We work across parish boundaries in mission and together the churches set up the Bestwood and Bulwell Foodbank, lead outreach in a residential complex and run Messy Church.  The Local Ecumenical Partnership that originally existed between The Church on Rise Park and Bestwood Park has been extended to a Covenanted Partnership in an Extended Area and we are all committed to working ecumenically in our communities.  We join together for worship each month and have joined together for an annual covenant service for the past two years.

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The ministers of the Bestwood 6 try to meet weekly to pray and support each other and we have a leadership team made up of lay and ordained representatives from each of the six parishes.

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The other churches in the Bestwood 6 are:

St. Marks Bestwood Village

The Church on Rise Park

Bestwood Park Church

Bestwood St. Matthew and St. Philip