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NOW REDIRECTED TO https://emmanuelredditch.church

We seek to express the good news we find in Jesus

in worship
in action
in word and life style
in concerns for peace and justice
in the well-being of the whole of creation

We are delighted to share our premises with many community organisations.

The church supports 'Churches Together in Redditch' and there has been a Covenant between some of the churches in the Town Centre for a number of years:
St. Stephen's Church (Anglican)
St. George's Church (Anglican)
Mount Carmel Church (Roman Catholic)
Salvation Army
Each Friday morning the Town Centre ministers meet together in the Ecumenical Centre for breakfast and prayers. The churches occasionally share together in joint services

Short History of Trinity and then Emmanuel Church

Emmanuel Church is a URC/Methodist Ecumenical Partnership, originally formed in 1976 when Redditch New Town was being developed. The Congregational Church was demolished to make way for the Kingfisher Shopping Centre and as Bates Hill Methodist Church was old and in need of extensive repairs, the two congregations decided to form a united church known as Trinity Church. The combined congregations began worshipping at their shared premises known as the Ecumenical Centre in 1976.

Initially the church had two ministers, one URC and one Methodist, the Methodist also having pastoral responsibility for Alcester Street Methodist Church. In 1991 Trinity Church considered that to continue having two ministers emphasised the division of the two founding churches rather than the unity to which they aspired and it was decided therefore to have only one minister and a second person (Deacon or Lay Worker). Subsequently, close links in the life and work of Trinity and Alcester Street Church were developed which culminated in a formal local Ecumenical Partnership agreement in December 1999. Because of an aging and reduced membership together with increasing need for costly maintenance, the Alcester Street building was eventually closed and sold, as it did not prove possible for the premises to be developed for mission and work in the community. The two congregations then merged fully to become Emmanuel Church.

Ministry and Leadership

The minister with pastoral responsibility for Emmanuel Church is appointed in turn by each of the LEP denominations. The present minister is from the Methodist tradition and his predecessors have alternated between URC and Methodist ministers. In 2008 funding became available to support a Family Worker, employed by the church, to work alongside the minister in a complementary ministry. The Church has a core of active, loyal and capable lay leaders. The church is part of the Bromsgrove and Redditch Methodist Circuit and also a member of the West Midlands URC Synod.
The ring road makes the town centre an island and this means that as the church is located within this island, its congregation is largely dispersed with many members travelling several miles into church.

Ecumenical Centre

Emmanuel Church occupies a unique position on the second floor of a modern building on the edge of the Kingfisher Shopping Centre. The Sanctuary is at the heart of the building; it is of modern design, light in its decor with moveable chairs and furniture offering opportunity for flexible use in worship and other activities. Other facilities include a carpeted area adjoining the sanctuary called the Narthex, a large hall capable of partition into a large and small hall, various meeting rooms, kitchen and coffee bar, minister's vestry, and the Centre Administrator's office. Other office space is currently occupied by Nightstop, Carers Careline and Victim Support. On the upper floor is office space for the Circuit Administrator, Emmanuel’s Minister and Lay Workers.

Emmanuel is a joint partnership Church by the United Reformed and Methodist Churches