A community church for Shrewsbury and the region
History
Barnabas Christian Fellowship was founded in 1983 as an independent evangelical charismatic church. About 80 people met in public halls for two years. In 1985 we leased a suite of rooms in the town centre. This served as a base for 11 years. As the church grew, it separated into two congregations for a three year period. In 1993, the two congregations reunited and began meeting together with a clear sense that a new "home" was needed.
The Barnabas Centre was formerly a Territorial Army base. Its layout provided an ideal basis for conversion into a Community Centre. Over a decade more than £500,000 was raised by our church members to enable the purchase and refurbishment of the building to take place. They have shown admirable commitment in their financial giving and their willingness to support our community activities by their voluntary labour.
In 1996 Barnabas formally became part of Newfrontiers, an international family of similar churches. Barnabas is still an independent local church and our involvement with Newfrontiers is a sign of our friendship and relationship with other Churches.
Once settled in the new centre a swathe of community activites started to flourish including a toddler group, youth activites and a food bank. We ran an addiction support group while there was a Rehab in Shrewsbury. This stopped following its closure. We have since set up a Money Advice centre for those in financial hardship.
We have sent two teams of (20-30) members to plant new Churches, in North Shrewsbury and Whitchurch. Both of these are now fully established as independent Churches.
As for the future? We are commited to building a dynamic, growing regional Church that continues to support further church plants, care for our local community and play our part in expressing the good news of Jesus to our county.
