• Take a Victorian building
• Take a church wanting to serve the community around them
• Take a fund like the Church Urban Fund
  
  You have some of the ingredients that go to make possible the St Matthew's Family Centre.
  
  

How do we use the facilities to build on what we already have? What is the Lord's plan for us? We believe the Lord has given us a vision of what He wants to do, using each of us for that purpose.

We now have, in the hall area, two large rooms which are comfortably furnished, two large storage cupboards and a newly equipped kitchen. We already have a Playgroup, 7211 Children's Club and a Visitors Scheme. We have been involved in distributing warm clothing to the homeless in the city, and are seeking to become actively involved in a local Christian project to help homeless people in the area. We are looking to set up language classes and do work with the increasing number of refugees moving into the area. Also we are wanting to develop a 'Fellowship Fund' as we have to financially respond to needs we come across inside and outside the church. This is all part of our strategy for service to the community and outreach. So how do we tie these and any other projects into our general plans for the use of the hall and the building of our fellowship?

We believe that the Lord is wanting us to use the refurbished building as a place out of which the love of Christ would be taken into the community and a place into which people would come and discover that same love. We envisage the use of the building during the day for such things as a playgroup, day centre for the homeless, somewhere for the old and lonely to come for a tea and a chat etc., and in the evening for it to become a 'family home'. It would be comfortable, a pleasant place to come to, as and when people choose, where the youngsters could play table tennis, snooker and any other suitable games etc. in the hall and adults could use one of the rooms as a place to relax and chat over a cup of tea or coffee, maybe with a video to watch or whatever. In all a place to relax and share our lives together, getting to know, gaining confidence in and drawing strength from each other as we seek to reach out to our neighbours and draw them into our family. A natural part of our personal outreach could be to invite friends and neighbours into the 'family home' where we can share the Gospel with them. This is the vision for our 'Family Evenings'.