TRINITY

Basildon, Essex

		Welcome We believe we are called by God to serve our local community by encouraging spiritual and numerical growth and through maintaining a flourishing Christian presence here at Trinity. We seek to achieve this through worship, fellowship, youth work, evangelism and our relationship with other churches. We have many contacts with non-members through occasional offices and those who use our premises, and are challenged to find ways of making the church relevant to them.
	Welcome • About Trinity •Youth work Junior Church • Early Years • Older Folk News • Services • Directory • Links	`Minister:` Rev. Gillian Walsh Lay Worker: Mrs. Christine Welham
About Trinity. We are a friendly church situated in the South East of Basildon in the area known as Vange. Our membership is about 70 people of all ages and from many different parts of the world. Our worship is God-centred and Bible-based and celebrates the Good News of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We use both traditional hymns and modern choruses and once a month in the morning our worship is particularly focused for all ages, with an informal and relaxed style. Coffee and tea are served after each morning service, giving an opportunity to meet together. Our evening services tend to be quieter but are also more varied. We have traditional services, Songs of Praise evenings, Bible studies, Reflective services, Taize and Iona services and Services for Healing. We celebrate Holy Communion twice a month, once in the morning and once in the evening. We also have a number of joint services – with the congregations of the other two Methodist churches in Basildon, in Laindon and in Langdon Hills for evening worship – and sharing with all the Churches Together in Basildon in 4-monthly lively celebrations. During the week there are activities for different age groups – Girls’ and Boys’ Brigades for age 5 to teens, Sisterhood for older ladies, Handicapped Club for those with problems of mobility and Bible study and fellowship groups for various ages. We seek to serve our local community through involvement in local schools, by visiting and taking services in residential homes, by making our premises available to local community groups and by individuals volunteering to work at St Luke’s Hospice and the local Hospital. Services The service plan for all our circuit Churches can be found HERE Monthly Evening worship takes place on the first Sunday of each month at 6.30 pm. The venue varies and a notice is displayed on the church door. Junior Church - Sundays at 11.00am for an hour · Sunday Club for 3 to 7 year olds (Primary) and for 8-11 year olds (Juniors) · Seniors on Sunday (SOS) for 11-16 year olds. A fun time for learning about God, his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit through Bible based activities. We share what we have done with the adult congregation each week and once a month we have a family service - church parade in term times. News Older Folk Grim time for greyheads? Worried about the future? Trinity doesn’t just preach about life after death, it’s about life before it too! Here we like to celebrate Age. We believe in evangelism among the Elderly, to let them know they have a full-time Carer for life (Isaiah 46:4). There is a weekly Sisterhood meeting with speakers and fellowship to uplift and encourage and a regular Bible Study and Prayer group. For the disabled elderly transport is arranged to bring them along to a weekly Handicapped Club, where there is a variety of entertainment, talks, films, outings and services. For those who can’t make it to church but live in sheltered accommodation - in the ‘Courts’ around Vange, and the Abbeyfield homes – the Church goes to them in the form of a monthly service, with opportunity to receive Holy Communion. We believe that people of all ages – young, old and everything in between – are valuable in God’s sight and so valuable to our church community. So we want all to come and join us and feel they belong, to celebrate God coming amongst us and to have fun in his presence. How it all began……. And is continuing to grow. Basildon New Town was established in 1949 and within a few years numerous houses and other buildings were springing up all over the town. The first Methodists to arrive began meeting in 1953 in the home of a Mr. Newman-Brown, an architect with Basildon Corporation, and were led by Rev. Donald Shaw, a probationer minister sent by the Home Mission Department. As numbers grew the congregation moved first to Hillview, an empty bungalow in the middle of a waterlogged field, and then decided to amalgamate with the Free Church fellowship who met at Gordon Hall, Clay Hill Road and Basildon Methodist Church came into being. However by 1957 the members had decided that they needed a proper church building and work began just across the road. In 1959 Trinity Methodist Church was opened at its present site on the corner of Bardfield and Clay Hill Road. The church continued to grow and a Youth Hall was added in 1966 and a new Welcome Area in 1999. To complete the circle the Rev. Donald Shaw was invited back to preach at the 40^th Anniversary Celebrations of Trinity in the summer of 1999. Never content to sit still for long the members are continually updating the premises and the current project includes altering the premises to make them more suitable for those with difficulties of mobility. Directory Minister - Rev. Gillian Walsh - Rev. Gillian Walsh 01268 288672 Senior Steward – John Pearce – Youth work – Steve Nice – snice@fish.co.uk - 01268 545907 Lettings - Harold Swindell jean.swindell@blueyonder.co.uk 01268 452449 Youth Work Return to South Essex Methodist Circuit page