The Jubilee Centre
A Hub for Teesside
Gavin Rodgers | Thu 3rd Apr 2025
What a journey we have been on! Almost 4 years ago to the day a chance meeting with a local Methodist minister would be used by God to change the direction of Jubilee Church Teesside forever! I’m sure you know the story but let me remind you…
Coming out of Covid and online Church, we all felt that God was doing a new thing in Jubilee. There were a number of prophetic words which confirmed this, including ‘enlarge the place of your tent’ and ‘The Church has left the building’. It became apparent that Jubilee would need to grow smaller in order to grow bigger! This changed things for us. Suddenly our search for a home for Jubilee was no longer focussing on a large warehouse, but a smaller base which could be a central hub for a multisite vision.
In step the Methodists! After the initial meeting with Reverend Peter Catford in April 2021, the opportunity to meet at Yarm Road became a possibility. From there we journeyed with the faithful methodists culminating in our purchase of the 120 year-old building on 1st September 2023.
In step the Methodists! After the initial meeting with Reverend Peter Catford in April 2021, the opportunity to meet at Yarm Road became a possibility. From there we journeyed with the faithful methodists culminating in our purchase of the 120 year-old building on 1st September 2023.
This was a significant move for Jubilee. We finally had our first ever permanent home, but the most exciting part of this was knowing that it wasn’t the end, but rather the beginning of our journey to becoming a church of multiple communities.
Since moving into the Jubilee Centre we have seen some amazing growth, many new families joining us, many new initiatives started (Narcotics Anonymous, youth drop in, Communi-tea to name a few). We have also been able to partner with a number of local organisations and charities (Stockton Council, Refugee Futures, NEMP, RASPS, Middlesbrough FC to name a few more!) in order to turn this old building into a place which the community is proud of.
Although God has blessed us and we have done some amazing things so far in Stockton, we know that the building requires some renovation to allow us to continue to bless local people. As John Kearney helpfully wrote in a recent grant application;
Although God has blessed us and we have done some amazing things so far in Stockton, we know that the building requires some renovation to allow us to continue to bless local people. As John Kearney helpfully wrote in a recent grant application;
“Although we have already seen a positive impact locally, we want to serve and support the local community much more. We want the Jubilee Centre to be used daily by local people and to do that we have to make the main building welcoming, warm, flexible and fit for purpose. If we can do that, we will be able to continue work in partnership with community-focused individuals and organisations to provide much needed services to the local community. We want the Jubilee Centre to be a haven and hive of resourcing activity and not a crumbling historic building gradually falling to ruin. Our aim is for this building to be something which the community are proud of, and something which can be used to make a positive difference within Teesside.”
We need the main sanctuary of the building to be flexible, accessible, welcoming and of course warm!!! This is no small task with a building of this age, but something that we are confident that we can achieve. Over the past few months we have met with various steering groups and professionals and we have come up with a ‘phase 1’ plan for developing the building. This will include a new heating system, insulation, removal of pews and levelling of floor, widening the corridor to the tea and coffee hall, new toilet and new electrical system. We will be talking more about these plans in the coming weeks. For those of you who like the finer details we will also be having a one-off building prayer meeting where we can discuss the plans in detail in the context of prayer.
Our plans are exciting, but require faith for the finance. We anticipate the total cost of the first phase to be around £210,000. (Aren’t you thankful we have a big God!). All being well we plan to start the work in September 2025 completing it before Christmas (no more COLD winters!). God has been so good to us so far. Through grant funding, rent into the building, and generous gifts we currently have around £120,000 meaning that we are £90,000 short of our target. What an amazing start!
In order to get our project up and running we are planning to have a specific building-focussed gift day on Sunday 19th May 2025. This will replace of our usual October gift day. Over the coming weeks we will share more information on Sundays about some of the specifics around the building. We will share stories, give information and most importantly pray that God will release the funds to allow us to complete this work.
As we approach this season I’m reminded of the scripture from Psalm 77 which says,
"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your works, and meditate on all your mighty deeds."
God has provided for us in amazing and miraculous ways. I'll never forget the overwhelming feeling of thankfulness when we achieved our target to purchase the church building. God has been good to us, and God doesn’t change, he will continue to be good and faithful to us!
We are asking that you prayerfully consider how you can give into our gift day offering. All of our gifts, no matter the amount, are vital in helping us create a hub for Teesside. We all have a part to play in the amazing mission of bringing the Joy-News of Jesus to Everyone, Everywhere.
We will of course be talking about this a lot more over the coming weeks, let's approach this with faith and excitement. - Strap in because it’s going to be some adventure!!