National Partners

Janie and James Cronin – Nelson Street

Focus of ministry:  Our vision is simple: To love God. We want loving God to be at the heart of our church. To love people. We want to be a place where people not only have the opportunity to learn about God, but to encounter, and fall in love with him too. To make a difference. And we want this love to be contagious, so that it pours out of our doors to bless our neighbours – bringing hope and transformation to all who encounter it. After all, true love looks like something.

Our desire is to be a:

Spirit-Living. We want every member of our congregation to be open to, lead by and empowered with the Holy Spirit.

Gospel-Sharing. We want every member of our congregation, adults and children, to be trained and equipped to share their faith with those they encounter.

Risk-Taking. We want to encourage our congregation to step out in faith. In our culture we are encouraged to stay in our comfort zone, but it is hard to find a passage in the New Testament that does not involve the disciples stepping out in faith.

People-Loving. We want to make sure that everyone who steps into our building knows that they are welcome, wanted and loved. And, we want to create a culture where people intentionally encourage and affirm one another.

Creative Church. When funding gets cut, the arts are usually the first to feel the pinch. For creatives, this can be one of the most painful deprivations. Our God is the ultimate creator. We want our church to reflect this. We want to encourage artists, celebrate creativity, and support business entrepreneurs.

What and where has God called you to?

God has called us to Rochdale, a town of 218,000, located 10 miles North East of Manchester, and surrounded by the majestic South Pennines. This former engine house of the Industrial Revolution, was once one of Britain’s wealthiest towns. The borough of Rochdale is now ranked 15th most deprived in England. Its town centre contains 3 neighbourhoods in the most deprived 1% in England. 2 out of 3 shops are boarded up, 1 in 5 inhabitants is unemployed, and life expectancy for both males and females is lower than the national average. It also has the highest level of asylum seekers anywhere in England. In 2020, the Diocese of Manchester purchased a large, disused building, for us to convert into a church. It is ideally located, in the middle of town, in a newly designated heritage zone earmarked for regeneration.

What is the need and opportunity?

The town centre is now bereft of young people, and very few people between the ages of 18 and 40 are currently attending an Anglican Church in the whole of Rochdale.

The particular mission for our Resource Church is:

• to reach the missing generation,
• make disciples,
• develop leaders
• plant churches.

• give to the work of Nelson Street Church – click here!
• join our prayer chain – a regular-ish email goes out to this team with updates about what is going on, answers to prayer, and prayer requests.  If this is of interest, please email janie@nelsonstreetchurch.org
• come and visit us!

For more information about Nelson Street, please visit their website or Facebook page.