St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Reflections on Ravenscliffe

The Ravenscliffe Christian Partnership was officially wound up on 17th July at a service at St Luke's. Here are some memories of it:

The start of the Ravenscliffe Christian Project was marked by a series of miracles. There were so many problems to overcome - a place to meet, getting Christians together, the church authorities agreeing a joint statement, a house for a leader, the appointment of the right person, the money to come in ... it forced you to believe in God when it happened. It was a testimony to prayer - the estate had been prayed over for many years before, even before the Methodist Church had closed (the building is now the Housing Office). In fact Cliff and Mavis said you could tell the long history of prayer - in contrast to their present situation.

Cliff and Mavis served from the beginnings in 1989. Some folk got saved then, and quite a few others who had been “backslidden Christians” came into a new relationship with Jesus. Cliff was the visitor and the outreach worker, who loved to see the place full of faces and full of children. His job was bringing new folk to faith and bringing the project through its childhood.

Rowland was more the teacher and the deepener of the church’s life. He helped the members to realize they too had gifts for helping and serving each other, leading worship and teaching the bible. He was the one who wanted to enable the Christians to lead their own activities and not depend on the evangelist.

And then the project went through a hard time, in which Doreen came and went quite quickly, challenging the project to become a Sunday morning Church. There were a lot of splits and unhappinesses, but we give God thanks that virtually all those involved in the fellowship have continued in different churches, and have not simply fallen away. Since then membership has stood at 6 or 7, too few to provide children’s work, or guard the premises against disruptive lads during worship.

The decision to close was taken reluctantly. John (the vicar) felt it would be unrealistic to put another worker in: Ravenscliffe has become a difficult place to work. Services continued for a time in the house, but the members eventually decided they would be better off going together to a bigger church.

Keen Christians have gone from the RCP to many parts of Bradford and the world, and the sadness at its closure doesn’t mean it was not worthwhile. In fact, its members continue as cells inside St Luke’s and the URC, still working for Jesus.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. August 2002, Page 6.
Home Page. Index of articles. In this issue: (August 2002) Vicar's Letter, Rot in the roof, Ravenscliffe, Question, Church Schools.	Reflections on Ravenscliffe The Ravenscliffe Christian Partnership was officially wound up on 17th July at a service at St Luke's. Here are some memories of it: The start of the Ravenscliffe Christian Project was marked by a series of miracles. There were so many problems to overcome - a place to meet, getting Christians together, the church authorities agreeing a joint statement, a house for a leader, the appointment of the right person, the money to come in ... it forced you to believe in God when it happened. It was a testimony to prayer - the estate had been prayed over for many years before, even before the Methodist Church had closed (the building is now the Housing Office). In fact Cliff and Mavis said you could tell the long history of prayer - in contrast to their present situation. Cliff and Mavis served from the beginnings in 1989. Some folk got saved then, and quite a few others who had been “backslidden Christians” came into a new relationship with Jesus. Cliff was the visitor and the outreach worker, who loved to see the place full of faces and full of children. His job was bringing new folk to faith and bringing the project through its childhood. Rowland was more the teacher and the deepener of the church’s life. He helped the members to realize they too had gifts for helping and serving each other, leading worship and teaching the bible. He was the one who wanted to enable the Christians to lead their own activities and not depend on the evangelist. And then the project went through a hard time, in which Doreen came and went quite quickly, challenging the project to become a Sunday morning Church. There were a lot of splits and unhappinesses, but we give God thanks that virtually all those involved in the fellowship have continued in different churches, and have not simply fallen away. Since then membership has stood at 6 or 7, too few to provide children’s work, or guard the premises against disruptive lads during worship. The decision to close was taken reluctantly. John (the vicar) felt it would be unrealistic to put another worker in: Ravenscliffe has become a difficult place to work. Services continued for a time in the house, but the members eventually decided they would be better off going together to a bigger church. Keen Christians have gone from the RCP to many parts of Bradford and the world, and the sadness at its closure doesn’t mean it was not worthwhile. In fact, its members continue as cells inside St Luke’s and the URC, still working for Jesus. John Hartley
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