Stainforth Methodist Church

incorporating the Stainforth HOPE Centre
Click here to read the story of this new venture

Location:   From Doncaster take A18 towards Thorne.  At traffic lights in Dunsville (just passed Total Petrol Station) turn left, and continue up Broadway.  At T junction with Station Road turn left and continue over railway bridge.  The Church is on the right in half a mile.
(Map Ref: SE 642 113)                        Link to Map

Minister:   Revd C Helena Harbottle    tel: 01405 812101   

Worship   

Sunday:    10-45 am (1st Sunday of every month only)
                 3-00 pm (All other Sundays)

Activities

Coffee Morning: Wednesday 10 am to 12 noon 

The following activities also take place on our premises:

Citizens' Advice Bureaux and Job Centre 
are both open at various times throughout the week

Sewing Class   
Monday, 7-30 pm
Contact: Elaine Rowan

Local History Group
1st Thursday in each month, 7-00 pm
 Contact: Jim Wilson 01302 885905

"We are a small congregation with limited resources.  However, our links with the Anglican and Roman Churches in the village permit some outreach into the community."

Other Churches in the area on the web
St Mary's Parish Church, Stainforth

Centred on HOPE
A new way of being church

With only eleven older members and dilapidated premises, some of which couldn’t even be used because the floor was in danger of collapse, there wasn’t much hope for the future of Stainforth Methodist Church, and eventual closure looked inevitable.

Situated in an area of South Yorkshire already suffering high levels of deprivation, Stainforth recently joined the ranks of ex-mining communities following the closure of Hatfield Pit at the beginning of the year.  With all the problems typically associated with an area of low income/high unemployment, low self-esteem/high crime rate, it is easy to see why HOPE was generally in short supply.

Then, out of the blue an approach was received from an unexpected quarter.  The local Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, who had out-grown their existing premises, had acquired local government funding to improve their facilities but only lacked adequate premises to develop!
 
The Methodist Chapel was ideally situated and with surplus capacity ripe for renovation and adequate space for extension and car parking.  The CAB proposal was to fully renovate the whole building, including the worship area, to provide a suite of modern premises for their own use, that of the Job Centre and the Methodist Congregation, with joint use of a coffee lounge, kitchen and related facilities. 

The name for the new facility reflected its participants:
H – Help, as given by CAB
O – Opportunities for new employment in the Job Centre
P – Peace and Prayer provided by the Church
E – Enterprise; acknowledging Doncaster Council’s financial contribution.

No one is under the illusion that the project will immediately make everything right.  The congregation is still small and limited in its resources, but the opportunities to work alongside other agencies in serving and helping the community offers great potential for the future, with the Church back in the centre of society standing alongside those in need.