Who Says Churches Aren’t Growing Anymore?
November 2009
It’s fantastic to see what is happening now… it’s a reminder of what can be achieved when
Christians combine unshakeable faith in God’s promises with determination to follow Him.”
 Back in 2003/2004, the (WGPC) looked set to be closed down as its membership dwindled. However the building is still likely to be no more, only that a bigger one will be in its place to cater for the church’s expanding membership!
“We are up to our maximum of 90 people now,” smiles church leader Pastor Harry Ashenford. “People have joined mostly from word of mouth and we’ve started an Alpha Course, a children’s ministry, prayer outreach and Bible study groups that are all bringing others in. We have a great mixture of people from different backgrounds. We’ve even got a lot of people in their 20s and 30s, the generation that churches usually have a hard time attracting.”
WGPC’s current popularity is nothing new: the first half of the 1980s saw its membership reach unprecedented levels, with several van loads of children/ youth populating its Sunday and weekday activities. The membership peaked and then began to fall slowly until the leaderless church was taken under the umbrella of Birmingham Christian Centre during the time of former BCC senior pastor Nigel Tween.
 “It was sad to see what had happened at Winson Green,” says local believer Veron Graham, who attended the church between 1979 – 1985. “It’s fantastic to see what is happening now. I know that God had given Harry a vision for the church and it’s a reminder of what can be achieved when Christians combine unshakeable faith in God’s promises with determination to follow Him.”
Harry says: “I originally came here to preach one message in 2002 but now I know that being at this church and in this community is a long term thing. The church is established in its own right now and I see it moving toward revolutionising the community. We are introducing people to the reality of a relationship with Jesus from our mission which is based on caring for the people of Winson Green.”
 The church’s caring mission is reflected in its next phase of development: the plans to build a bigger building on the current site and incorporate a range of community facilities, including a café, drop-in centre and a crèche.
“I believe that revival (a mass commitment of people to Jesus) is going to start all across Winson Green,” continues Harry. “Over the last few years God has been building us up and bringing strong people who have been pillars to support us as we grew. We are an evangelistic (keen to tell people in the community about Jesus) church and being here is great, invigorating and encouraging.”
The revival looks like it is already underway – in October 2009, WGPC held its first youth gathering (at 7pm) and over 100 young people came to enjoy music, dance, singing and a really good time! The church has also started a range of meetings including a Tuesday night women’s aerobics club and informal day-long socials at the church in which everyone is welcome to come along and leave when they like.
“It is all going so well and we have God alone to thank for this,” concludes Harry.
Amen to that!
Further enquiries:
WGPC meets at 2a Handsworth New Road, Winson Green, Birmingham, B18 4PG. For more information about the church, visit their
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