Re-imagining Mission at Victoria Hall
A church at the heart of the city with the city at its heart
Rev. Jonathan Haigh
Victoria Hall is an iconic building in Sheffield. It stands on the site of the original church that was opened by John Wesley at the very start of the Methodist movement. It is a well of blessing and a place that represents arguably one of the most significant spiritual revivals our country has ever seen.
Ten years ago, however, Victoria Hall was nearly forced to permanently close its doors. The stock market crash had meant that local businesses collapsed, leaving the properties that we let to them standing empty. This added a lot of strain to our already-tight finances. In addition to this, the changing needs of our aging congregation made the city centre location less attractive.
We began to explore selling Victoria Hall, but when we discovered that it would cost tens of thousands of pounds just to maintain it while it was sold, we realised we couldn’t afford to close! More importantly, God had not finished with this well of blessing yet, so we re-imagined its mission. And so, the Foundry was created as a not-for-profit company to manage the building - with its many rented rooms - and the main church, which is also used for concerts and conferences. This means that the Methodist Church - now tenants in their own building - are able to focus on prayer, mission and growing a new church community.
As the Methodist Church, we fully support an ecumenical approach to this. We want to grow the Kingdom of God with our mission partners. We are a small, tender and vulnerable group. On Sunday mornings we are prayerfully seeking to grow a community of disciples fit for mission. The small faithful remnant now meets online during the week for prayer and Bible study, the result of which becomes the theme of the shared worship on Sunday mornings.
On Sunday evenings, we host Oasis, which is a completely ecumenical service that we share with the Salvation Army, Church Army and Pentecostal church. We welcome everyone but have a particular mission to the vulnerable and the homeless. We eat together, share together in conversation, then we worship together. We mainly use online resources, and we sit on sofas. The teaching from the Bible is led by informal conversation and we always offer a prayer response. We welcome up to 30 people each Sunday night. There is a growing sense of community. We are always open to welcome anyone to partner with us if they have a vision for mission in Jesus’ name in the heart of the City.
If you would like to find out more about Victoria Hall, the Foundry, or about the Sunday evening Oasis services, visit www.victoriahallmethodistchurch.org
The Reverend Jonathan Haigh is a minister at Victoria Hall Methodist Church in Sheffield city centre, and Greenhill Methodist Church in the South of the city.