St Barnabas Church,
Thatcham.

After many discussions with Revd Tom Moffatt of Thatcham Team Ministry and the steering group for the new church, it was felt we needed a name that had a form of recognised authority so that anybody enquiring would know it was not a sect or unusual group. We chose not to use a name specifically relating to its location so that it can be open to the whole community. Similarly we did not want to use the names relating to the school to avoid confusion. So when looking at a long list of saints we discovered that St Barnabas day is celebrated on June 11th - the first Sunday of the new church.

St Barnabas is known as an encourager. He was sent by the church in Jerusalem to lead a church in Antioch (Acts 11:19-30), the place where the disciples were first called Christians. This helps us to know that our purpose for the new church is to encourage people in the community and to draw them closer to the Kingdom.

So now we have a name, let me explain the vision. St Barnabas Church is part of the Thatcham Team Ministry and has a specific role in a threefold manner. Firstly to be a Church (worshipping community), secondly we intend to have a very close working relationship with Thatcham Park School where the church will meet, and thirdly both the church and the School will work together in the local community. We hope and pray that this partnership together with an already existing community of people secures a good foundation of which we can build on. This 'building community' is at the core of our vision statement which is 'we are a Church continuously being renewed by the Holy Spirit, serving to build community, founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God' and is reflected in the logo as seen above.

Initially St Barnabas Church will be meeting on Sunday mornings at 10.00 in the school hall. This will help us establish the beginnings of a worshipping community. However, because mission is important to us we are going to be looking at alternative times and days for meeting together so that church is accessible to those who are unable to make Sunday mornings. We aim to be creative and innovative in the style of what church may be and want to encourage the people of Thatcham, regardless of denomination to see this as an opportunity to work closely together.