Why we are building

The original building for The Christian Community at 73 Cainscross Road, Stroud cost the humble sum of £20,000 in 1968. Over the past 45 years the congregation has worked hard to maintain it as a worthy and adequate space for the community and its sacramental life, and has made various improvements, including the addition of the wonderful sheltered garden on the south side.

Over the years the community has grown steadily and these worthy spaces are now no longer adequate to house all the people and activities that want to be here. This was already felt several years ago when the idea first arose that we build new facilities. Since then the situation has become increasingly acute, with packed Sunday church services and congestion in the other community spaces.

We host a growing number of regular congregational as well as independent activities and events in our limited spaces and garden. These include a parent and child group, many varied study groups, therapy and art workshops, wake room facility, counselling, children’s festivals, gym classes for a local group, and a puppet theatre. In addition, we host national conferences and synods of The Christian Community, and run an annual Spring Fair where local social and environmental initiatives are invited to promote their own fundraising at no charge. We provide the base for the organisation and storage for our annual national children’s and youth camps. We also regularly make our Community Room available as a polling station. And the list goes on …..

With all this in the background, we have mustered the courage and conviction both locally and nationally in The Christian Community to go ahead with plans to build a new church and community facilities at 73 Cainscross Road. The proposed design will enable us all the more to provide worthy spaces both for the sacramental life and for the life of our broader Stroud community.