Trinity Life emerges from Lockdowns
Part 3 of 4
In 2020 we gathered a small group who met online during the first COVID lockdowns, but we were eager to meet in person as soon as we could. We found ourselves watching the shifting and changing rules like hawks! In March 2021 the UK government published the roadmap out of lockdown. We know we weren’t alone in attempting to decipher large documents, seeking to work out what they meant for us as a fledgling church plant. The advantage we had over more established churches is that we didn’t have so many people to take into account!
The first phase of the roadmap allowed two households to meet outside, so we began to meet up in pairs. The rules in this phase also permitted supervised childcare activities from the end of March. This allowed us to run an Easter Egg Hunt on Good Friday for kids in the church where they heard what Easter is all about. The next phase of the roadmap introduced the 'rule of 30' - thirty people can gather together outdoors. Since we were only four or five families large at this point, we fit within this limit and planned to gather.
On Sunday 23rd May 2021, Trinity Life Church met all together in person for the first time in our back garden. We worshipped and we prayed. We shared the vision and mission we felt God was laying before us as a plant. We also paused halfway through the preach to put up an event shelter to fend off the rain that started to fall! We finished the morning with a BBQ to celebrate this milestone. It wasn’t the first BBQ I’ve cooked under an umbrella and, since we live in England, I’m sure it won’t be the last!
Through the spring and summer, we settled into a rhythm of gathering outside. Sometimes we'd eat together after the meeting. Other times we'd get together to enjoy each other’s company in a park or on a picnic. We gave these times over to sharing what we meant by the different parts of our vision statement. We talked about our calling to show LIFE with a good Father, in the Son, by the Spirit, together, on mission. Alongside Sunday mornings, we continued to meet in the middle of the week, but now we were able to meet within homes. We also began to meet for men's and women's breakfasts every other month or so.
One element I loved in these early days of TLC is the contact we had with the community around us. This came about simply because we couldn’t be inside a building. For example, after the 2nd or 3rd gathering in our back garden, my next-door neighbour remarked “Your singing is getting better every week!” So clearly he’d been listening. On another occasion, we met in a different garden when someone heard us worshipping. They had been praying about which church to join and so sought us out. That same morning, a neighbour interrupted the preaching to ask when the music would play again. We assured him I wouldn’t be going on too much longer!
Another highlight of these early days was the TLC camping weekend. In place of Connect Festival, we decided to camp over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Four families, and several day visitors over the weekend, arrived at a farm near Chepstow in Wales and had a great time. We went on walks and played games. We cooked BBQ and ate takeaway fish suppers. We chatted over the campfire late into the evening, and we worshipped together.
Over the summer, more people contacted us to find out more about the plant and some began to join us on Sunday mornings. By the middle of the summer holidays, we had grown to around seven households. On one rainy summer Sunday, we struggled to fit inside a living room. With Autumn and Winter coming, we felt it was time to find a larger public venue. We finally found a local school with a Drama block that we were able to hire. We had our first Sunday morning there on 5th September to trial the space and then booked it for the rest of the year. We settled into a rhythm of Sunday mornings at the school, with Trinity Life Kids running every other week.
Although we were emerging from lockdown, COVID continued to make its presence felt and have an impact on our life together. Shortly after starting to meet in the school, we had a couple of cases within the core families of TLC. We felt it was most responsible to return to a Zoom-based gathering for a week or two. We also noticed the number of cases rising toward the end of 2021. We debated cancelling our Christmas Carols outreach event but decided to proceed. We kept the space well-ventilated and encouraged the use of masks, which ended up being a high point of the year. We had 45 people (including new visitors and invited friends) join us for a cafe-style setting to celebrate with food and a festive sing-along.
Throughout 2022 people continued to join us. This helped build a sense of momentum and led to a sense of stability and liveliness in TLC. For example, in 2021 the kids leaving the room for their separate activities often left only four or five adults in the 'main' room. Throughout 2022 we found that more and more adults remained in the room once the kids had left. Where the room felt bare and empty once the kids departed before, there was still life and energy in the main room. This in turn helped the whole morning feel fuller, more lively and more purposeful.
I don’t want to give the impression that it was only people joining us during these days. As well as welcoming new people in, we also needed to learn how to release people. Not everyone who came returned for a second visit. Some people came for a short time but decided not to join us. Meanwhile, others joined us but ultimately felt that TLC was not home for them. Sadly, of the initial four families who were part of the early days of TLC, two have now moved on to other churches. We miss these people but wish them the best and bless them as they continue to love and serve the Lord Jesus.
Our model for mission and outreach in these early days was one of gathering and scattering. We gather to equip one another for God’s mission. We then scatter to love and serve those the Lord had placed around us through the rest of the week. We also encouraged people to invite people to our Sunday mornings. This resulted in non-believers experiencing the reality of God’s presence and the life of the body of Christ. Although they haven’t yet come to faith, we are confident that God planted seeds that will bear fruit in the coming months and years.
One danger we and other families faced during this season was tiredness and burnout. The weight of serving and ministry in the plant was being carried by a small number of people. We needed to work out how we could build more sustainably. Part of the answer to this was to formalise and mobilise the core team that had begun to form. This allowed us to pool wisdom and make better decisions that affected church life and pacing. Another part of the answer was for me to learn how to delegate better and more widely. These are areas of TLC life that are still developing but good things are happening.
We also struggled to build momentum for midweek gatherings. Finding a night that suited everyone's schedule was difficult. With a smaller number of people to draw from we weren't able to form different groups on different days. In the end, we looked at where God’s life seemed to be and decided that this was our Sunday mornings. We reduced our midweek meetings and focussed on getting together once or twice a month for fun and fellowship. This also proved to be part of the answer to our tiredness and risk of burnout!
Coming out of 2022, we looked at TLC and rejoiced to see what God has built. He has formed a new church of 30-35 diverse people from different nations and generations. We've not fully arrived yet, but God has given us a great start! With all the ups and downs of emerging from COVID lockdowns, we can now look to the future in faith and hope for all that God is going to do. But what does the future hold for TLC? We’ll share what we are in faith for in our next blog post.
Jon and Laluna Sidnell lead the team planting Trinity Life Church in Swindon. If you’d like to get in touch, you can visit their website or email hello@trinitylifeswindon.com.
If this has provoked you to consider church planting, and you'd like to speak to someone about it, then please email Chris Kilby from the Commission UK Team on chrisk@commission.global