Tiny Church is church in a vehicle, which means we can go beyond our church walls to where people gather, this could be parks, supermarkets and all places outside. This is a project that has been started in the northern end of the circuit. We have been helped by the Methodist funding 'New Places & New People'. The idea is inspired by the 'Tiny House' movement, where people have a perfectly formed tiny house that enables people to afford a house and also live in various places with quality, not simply a campervan. I had seen a YouTube clip of somebody who had been inspired by the tiny house movement and had created a tiny art workshop space. The person on the clip wanted to teach art in various places but also make it affordable, the lady created a space that could seat about 10 people for workshops. When I heard this idea I thought we could have a tiny church, which would enable us to go to new places.
It is our hope to take the Tiny Church to people beyond our church walls, it is our hope to reach people who would never dream of entering in to a traditional church. We can go to beautiful places outside and have quiet days, art days, chance to worship outside, we can also go to community spaces and offer song, prayer and meditations. It is our hope that we can be creative about this idea, led by the Spirit and be guided in new ways of sharing God's love.
We had started this project not long before lockdown, this meant that as soon as restrictions lifted we were able to hold various outdoor services with our current congregations. We have met in graveyards, church car parks, and a community car park. Each outdoor service so far has been moving to worship with the awareness of creation around us, and as we have listened to songs we have heard the birds singing too. It was ideal that we were able to lead services as soon as lockdown lifted we were able to transport speakers, posters, and our cross in the vehicle this meant that we were easily mobile and could go out and share God's grace in a variety of contexts.
The photo is of the tiny church, taken at Bettisfield where we had one of our outdoor services.

The idea is to transform the inside of the tiny church so that it is a welcoming space, that has a sense of God's presence about it. We will be getting a mission team together to help with creative ideas, encouraging the possibilities and working with us.
For more information contact Deacon Carys Woodley, Lay Pastor Jacob Molyneux or Rev Julia Skitt. We are excited about this idea and how it will enable us and others to go to places where there are no churches.