Whaley Bridge Churches Together celebrates quarter of century of unity

Whaley Bridge Churches Together was set up in 1998 between the Parish of Whaley Bridge, Good News Church, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Whaley Bridge Uniting Church and Fernilee Methodist Church.

The purpose of the group is to unite Christian churches in the town and work, share and worship together.

Pastor Rob Cross from the the Good News Church said: “To reach 25 years is quite a milestone and a tribute to the people who had the vision to bring the churches together a quarter of a century ago and work together to help the community.”

Over the years much has been done together, the group is involved in the Whaley carnival each year entering a float and offering activities, carol singing around the area, the town Christmas tree lighting, children's holiday club, taking part in school assemblies, luncheon club for senior citizens and lent discussion groups.

There have also been special events, such as welcoming the Young Christian Climate network, Praise in the park services, running the Alpha course, jubilee celebration procession, pancake quiz and many more.

Pastor Rob said: “No one church can do everything but everyone can do something.“So out of the churches one has a bigger hall so we use that for bigger meetings, another may have better storage space so we can pool our resources and ensure we are consistently doing all we can to be present in the community by putting on such a varied program of events.

“From the luncheons for the elderly to the free holiday club we try and put on events which reach a wide spectrum of people in Whaley and there won’t be many people who haven’t heard of us.

“And from our point of view as people of faith it is nice to meet up and discuss spiritual matters with people who believe but have different outlooks.”

To mark the milestone anniversary the churches together met up for a celebratory meal and special service.