This continues to thrive with more families joining the group as some of the existing children move up to attending school. John Chapman continues to lead this ministry as Acorns Family Outreach Worker; leading a team of volunteers who sacrificially give their time each week (term time only) to assist in the running of this ministry. On occasions, we have had to turn families away due to demand as the activity can only operate within safe supervision levels.
Targeted towards children specifically, John Chapman additionally coordinates quarterly Church Family Services and Messy Church which the church views as essential inclusive activities to both ensure that we remain relevant for all age groups and serve as outreach activities for families who have yet to connect with local churches. John is planning for 2026 a Holiday Club in August and already we have several volunteers committed to supporting this development. Should this be successful, we are anticipating that this will be a regular feature in our community offer year on year.
Winter Night Shelter
We partnered again with Winter Night Shelter MK for the 2024 – 25 winter season offering our building to host a group of homeless people overnight. Guests (up to a maximum of 16 persons) were provided with nutrition and slept at the church’s building, the Oak Tree Centre on Sunday evenings. We could accommodate both male and female guests using the main hall and separate meeting rooms. Most weeks saw 10 – 12 persons attend with most of the guests being of the male gender.
Monday Club
The Monday Club, targeted towards more senior aged members of the church and local community continued to provide a safe and enjoyable space and to alleviate loneliness. During this year, this group was led by Roger and Linda Goodship with Beth Dilnot volunteering to oversee refreshments. A stable number of persons attend weekly derived from both the church family and local community with usually 12 – 14 persons in attendance.
Food and Clothing Bank
We reported two years ago that we had commenced a Food and Clothing Bank ministry. This ministry has grown exponentially throughout the year. The Food and Clothing Bank continues to run on the last Friday of each calendar month, with 80 – 100 families accessing these resources each month, reaching many families experiencing significant hardship. The purpose of this ministry is to support families who are struggling financially, offering food from a selection of nonperishable foodstuffs and clothing all free of charge.
To grow this ministry, the Food and Clothing Bank leader with the support of the Leadership Team at Shenley Christian Fellowship last year progressed this as a community funded activity with its own accounts and accountability and registration with the Charity Commission. Now that finance accounts have been separated from church accounts, this service is now registered as an independent charity with its own Directors. Shenley Christian Fellowship remain committed to this importance of this ministry and will continue to host the Food and Clothing Bank at the Oak Tree Centre free of charge so that it remains central to the public living in the Shenley’s in Milton Keynes.
During this reporting period, the Food and Clothing Bank have served more than 70 families monthly to help alleviate hardship, with the Lead Director being especially successful in securing food and clothing donations from external agencies.
Youth and Children’s Ministry
Throughout this year we continue to struggle to find leaders or helpers to serve in these ministries. This has resulted in us only being able to offer directed Children’s and Youth / young people’s work twice monthly. Recruiting volunteers to serve in this ministry is not an issue unique to us but one that we are prayerfully seeking solutions to enhance the offer we currently provide.
As reported in our return report for 23 - 24, we leased a Portakabin for use primarily as a resource for teaching youth. This works well for us with good feedback from the youth, teachers and helpers. The cost of this is high so we will in the next year look at alternative solutions to that of the continued leasing of the Portakabin as we currently remain challenged for space for teaching and supporting Children’s and Youth activities.
Sunday Services
Services for worship, bible teaching, testimonies and fellowship continue to be held every Sunday morning at the Oak Tree Centre. Except for family services, we continue to stream our services live via our church Facebook page and continue to be encouraged through the streaming investment we made during 2023 – 24.
During this reporting period, we have invested in a new sound desk that enhances the audibility of the service for those attending in person as well as those online. We continue to upload the Sunday teaching to our YouTube page after each service, so materials are retained and can be accessed as needed. Throughout the year we have continued to support Café Church and Family Services with the intent to reach as many associated with the church and any guests from the community.
Teaching continues around subjects such as Baptism, offering baptism through submersion as people define this as a personal need.
Building and Governance
The Oak Tree Centre
The use of our building, the Oak Tree Centre, continues to grow. Hire and use of our building continues to be managed by a Centre Manager with the centre now running to almost full capacity. This includes the hire to two other churches that meet on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon respectively who share Statements of Faith similar in principle to that of Shenley Christian Fellowship.