Arbury Road Baptist Church is located in the northern part of Cambridge in one of the less affluent areas of the city. The church has been around for over 90 years and for the last eight years has been led by Rev Matt Rowe, and since 2021 has been joined by Community Pioneer Kimberley Rayson.
Most of the congregation live in the locality and over recent times an increasing number of people from different nationalities have been joining the church to worship. Alongside this there has been a growing number of children and young people within the church which has been a blessing to the church family and the church are trying to nurture and empower these young people within the life of the church.
Having faced some significant challenges in its history, it is wonderful that the church is slowly growing once again. This brings with it some great opportunities but also a number of challenges, especially where resources are often scarce.
Matt says “The pandemic led to some big thinking and decisions on what we do, why we do it and what kind of church we want to be. We have set out a ‘community dream’ of how we want to serve and reach out to the community in North Cambridge and it has been exciting to see how God has been at work in all the church is doing”.
Following the covid pandemic the church have continued to stream services online recognising the power of the digital age that we are now in. Alongside Sunday services there is a busy weekly programme that includes a focus on mental health and wellbeing.
Wonderfully Made is re-new wellbeing style weekly drop-in craft space where it’s OK not to be OK. Faithful Friends meet at the Arbury Community Centre cafe, to eat and drink together, read the Bible, talk about faith and pray. And SPACE2BU is an after-school drop-in space for young people addressing mental health and emotional well-being.
For a number of years the church has had a missional heart for the community and makes an active effort not just to invite people into the church, but to take the church to those in their community, joining in with what God is doing around them. As part of this Arbury Road has good relationships and often works with other local churches including the local Anglican Church and Community Church.
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