One church with one vision: ‘be the light!’

In 2022 a new chapter will be written in a centuries-old story of mission and community. Originally St Mary's Church was located in Birmingham’s Gun Quarter and was relocated to the north of the city. The current St Mary’s church building was consecrated in 1930 to serve the new Pype Hayes housing estate on the edge of Erdington. Lighthouse Church, St Mary’s will build on this creative vision and once more seek to be light in the community.

In 2019 Trev and Cat Meardon were asked by Tim & Rachel Hughes, from Gas Street Church to explore what planting a church in the north of Birmingham could look like:

“As we began to explore what God was saying and doing, we knew that God was writing a new story in the life of this church and we were in.”

So in 2020, at the invitation of the Bishop of Birmingham, Trev & Cat plus their two children, Hope & Micah moved from Bristol and joined the staff team at Gas Street in order to gather a team to prepare for what was to come. Alongside this, they began to partner and build relationships with the existing St Mary’s congregation who had continued to faithfully serve and care for the local community.

Over the last 9 months, God has raised up an incredible team from Gas Street who are passionate about seeing God’s light reach across the north of the city. A number of these people are connected to a charity called Urban Devotion Birmingham. They have been living and praying in Erdington for the past couple of decades and are passionate about joining this church's mission and being part of the story. God is gathering those from all different backgrounds who are sensing a nudge from the Holy Spirit to get involved - many of whom have never stepped foot in Gas Street but have connected online during the pandemic. Our team has extended, even before launching, to those that God is calling to be part of this adventure here in the north of the city."

As we have gathered over the last 9 months God has spoken to many powerfully through the picture of a Lighthouse. We believe God is calling us to be a church community that is built for a purpose. We are to be a church built on a rock, formed to stand firm in the storm and to project light that saves lives and welcomes people home. We are intentional about how we gather - to worship, where we encounter God; to grow through Bible teaching, to pray for each other in the power of the Holy Spirit. We gather so we are equipped to live our lives for Jesus, to know him more and to share this love with others. We love to spend time as a family, laughing, telling stories and spurring each other on. We gather to create an environment where people from all walks of life can experience God's love.

We are on an exciting adventure as God writes a new story here in North Birmingham. We want to be part of Jesus’ mission here, as he said in Matthew 5v14 - “You’re here to be light'“, so we encourage everyone to get involved and ‘be the light!‘ We would love you to come and be part of being the light at Lighthouse Church, come along and say hello - we'd love to meet you!