New church vows to get modern

A UNIQUE new church is preparing to open its doors to the modern community.

And as part of a forward-thinking vision, there will be no hymns as the Crossley Christian Centre in Kent Avenue makes a break with tradition.

The church is based in The ROC (Radclyffe Outreach Centre), a former shop store room which has been transformed into a community facility.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, will launch the facility on Saturday.

The first weekly meeting will be held there at 11am on Sunday, with events also taking place during the week.

The ROC was officially opened on Crossley Estate on September 30. A variety of organisations hold drop-in sessions there where visitors can use the internet, brush up on their numeracy, literacy and IT skills or pop in for advice.

It is hoped that it will eventually be replaced by a new community centre.

Rev John Simmons, vicar of Christ Church and St Saviour’s, has been involved in The ROC project.

He said: “The reason we are doing this is because, as a parish, we have been trying to think of how we can best serve Crossley.

“We have already got two churches that hold fairly traditional-style services, although we are modern in our approach.

“We wanted something that was out in the community for Crossley.”

The work ties in with the fresh expressions of church movement which is looking at new ways of reaching the heart of communities.

Rev Simmons hopes that the Christian centre will attract people of all ages. He said that it would have meetings, shaped by what people wanted, rather than services.

“We are not calling them services, we don’t want to give the impression it is going to be a traditional style. We are not going to have hymns,” he explained.

“We will talk about Christian teaching, the Christian faith, but we will also talk about issues that are real for the people who live on Crossley estate today.

“We obviously do not know how it is going to work out but we want it as a church to be flexible. We are not going to say ‘this is how we are going to do it’.”

l Bishop McCulloch’s visit is part of his three-year pilgrimage to visit the 346 parishes of Manchester Diocese.

l Those who want to get involved in The ROC can attend at meeting at St Saviour’s Church, Denton Lane, at 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 15. It will launch the new Crossfold Community Association, bringing together people from Crossley estate and Fold Green, which will help to run the centre.