The Emmanuel Centre is here!

Our new home, The Emmanuel Centre, is here!

On Sunday 21st May, we celebrated the Grand Opening of The Emmanuel Centre (TEC), our new 500-capacity church building.

TEC is a statement of faith, as we step into the vision God has given us to enlarge our tent, and become a worshipping community of 400 and beyond.

£1 million-plus investment

TEC is a £1 million-plus investment and offers a 500-seat auditorium which, like our previous home The Durham Centre (TDC), will be used for church and conference business purposes.

Its opening comes 14 years after that of TDC, which has a 300-seat auditorium plus other smaller rooms.

Since we opened TDC, God has blessed us with growth in numbers, diversity and faith.

Both The Durham Centre and The Emmanuel Centre are on Belmont Industrial Estate, in adjacent units. As of Sunday 21st May, our weekly main church meeting takes place in TEC.

Meanwhile TDC, which previously hosted our services, is now entirely devoted to activities for children and young people, of which there are over 100 regularly attending the church.

Grand Opening

The Grand Opening was a fantastic celebration, as we recalled God’s goodness to us, prophetic direction, and looked to the future.

David Campbell, who founded Emmanuel Church in 1980, returned to preach. Hear his sermon on the Spirit-filled church here.

Enjoy the photos!

Work begins on The Emmanuel Centre

‘Enlarge the place of your tent’

As a community of believers, we want to be faithful to the promises that God has spoken over us, and pursue them wholeheartedly.

One such promise we received a few years ago via a trusted friend of the church was from Isaiah 54:2:

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes”

This and other confirming prophetic words prompted us to buy the building opposite our current home at The Durham Centre (TDC) and begin to plan to convert it into a 500-seater auditorium: The Emmanuel Centre (TEC).

When completed (and Covid restrictions allow), TEC will host our main Sunday meetings, freeing TDC to be used for children’s and youth provision (again, when Covid restrictions allow).

Work on TEC begins…

Work begins inside The Emmanuel Centre. The markings on the floor indicate where the stage will be constructed

We’re excited that work to convert the building has now begun. In the first phase, the auditorium will be converted. Further works to the foyer will follow subsequently.

We look forward to meeting in TEC from spring 2021.

Funding the future

This project requires significant finances.

Church members and friends have already contributed to the purchase of TEC by one-off donations and increasing their regular giving.

During November, we are inviting everyone in our church community to consider what more God is calling them to give.

We understand that for some the Covid-19 pandemic has put a strain on finances. But if you would like to give, more information on how you can do so is available here.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure!

Questions?

We’d love to chat. Email us: info@emmanuel.org.uk and we’ll get back in touch.

For more on our vision to grow to a community of 400 and beyond, please see here.

Below, check out some images of The Emmanuel Centre before works began, and the first days of work on-site. Enjoy!

International Sunday brings a visit to The Emmanuel Centre

Our International Sunday last week was a wonderful time of connecting with God and being propelled forward into the future.

Many of us donned national dress, we welcomed our great friend Finny to speak and we all visited the building that will become The Emmanuel Centre, where we launched a special gift day to fund this exciting project.

‘Your appointed time’

Finny spoke powerfully from the book of Zechariah.

Zechariah was destined to be a Priest, with regular day by day activities; but rather being called as a Prophet, putting on prophetic robes, for “this appointed time” to show that “Then you will know the Almighty has sent me”.

The five visions he had set out in Ch 1-4, are so apt for us today:

  1. God is setting peace in our midst

  2. He will de-horn any enemy that may come against us

  3. Expanding our capacity, rather than using a measuring line to build walls, he will become a wall of fire to protect us

  4. Leaders, at all levels, will have a new authority as they have new ventures, inviting neighbours to sit under vines

  5. Olive trees will fill the reservoirs of the Golden lamp-stand - don’t despise small beginnings.

Please do listen again to his sermon available here.

The three vats

Alan then reminded us of a prophetic word from 2017 regarding three vats that would cover the building and would contain grain for the feeding of the nations.  This prophetic picture was then actualised as mixing vats were taken out of the building by transporter (see below).


We then walked across to The Emmanuel Centre where we launched our crucial Gift Day. We are just lacking cash to see the building developed, and we were asked to pledge an amount that could be given before or after the end of the tax year.  

For more information on how to give financially, click here. For pledges related to The Emmanuel Centre, please include ‘TEC Pledge’ and your surname.

During the month of February we have pushed into God as we explored the richness of communion, and in the evenings as we prayed for the development of The Emmanuel Centre. During those times we saw many prayers answered, including the adequate provision of electricity in to the building, and much lower costings than was first anticipated.

Our vision is outlined here.

So as we are experiencing growing momentum and growth in our community, come before God and ask what he wants you to give into His Kingdom.