A NEW church at the heart of a new community has been started by a group of Christians, led by the Vicar of Blackmoor.
The aim of members of the group, called Beacon, is to be ready to offer help as the first families move to the town from this summer.
In the heart of the regeneration will be churchgoers who have already started meeting and praying regularly for their new neighbours.
They’ll be offering to host social events and family activities so the new residents can get to know each other.
The Rev Dominic Clarke, who will be working one day a week with Beacon, said: “The area is largely wasteland at the moment, but by 2019-20, the first phase of housing and the town centre will be finished.
“We wanted to be ready for that moment, and so a group of us are meeting fortnightly, worshipping and working out how best to serve this new community.
“We are really fortunate to be meeting in Mustangs, which is the old army social club. It’s right next to what will be the new town centre, and the building is being redeveloped, so we can be ready for whatever is built around it.
“We are calling ourselves ‘Beacon’ because we want to be a beacon at the centre of the new town, offering light to the local community.
“We want it to be something different from the churches that are already in Bordon, serving those who’ll be working in the new town centre or going to the new schools and youth hub which will be across the road from us. So a cafe-style ministry seems like one likely avenue.
“We suspect that the new families are likely to be younger, on average, than the existing population, so we want to appeal to that age group. It’s a dream for a vicar to be able to create a new church in a new community, and I know I’m going to enjoy it.”
Dominic is studying for a Masters in pioneer ministry, so although Bordon is within the Guildford diocese and Blackmoor is in Portsmouth diocese, he was asked to lead the co-operative project.
Beacon includes worshippers from Anglican churches in Liphook, Bordon and Blackmoor, Methodists, Presbyterians, and some from the Acorn Christian Healing Centre.
For more details, see www.facebook.com/beaconbordon or follow @beaconbordon on Twitter.