Eden Netherton: Transforming a neglected community through faith

Being at the heart of a deprived area is always a challenge for churches, both financially and emotionally. So Baptist Insurance Company was delighted to provide support to the ongoing missional work of the Eden Netherton team based at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Liverpool. 

 
For 50 years, Emmanuel Baptist Church has had a presence in Netherton, one of Liverpool’s most deprived areas. In 2015 the church established an Eden team to focus on bringing care and love to this particularly disadvantaged estate. 
 
Team leaders, Tom and Emma Grant (pictured) moved from Hampshire to live long term on the estate, and to provide authentic support and missional work by becoming part of the community itself.

Bringing love to broken communities from within

Church-Eden partnerships connect people in some of the UK’s most difficult areas and neighbourhoods to faith from the ‘inside out’. The partnerships support those who have been called to move to places where nobody else wants to go; places that are often broken, neglected or very deprived.
 
The Revd Allan Finnegan, minister of Emmanuel Baptist Church said, 'The places in greatest need are often the places where the church is in decline. We’re in an area where there’s lots of violence and hopelessness, around one-third of our congregation struggle with literacy and the wounds from neglect and a lack of love run deep in Netherton.'
 

A church transforms when it transforms the lives of others

Allan’s seen huge changes in the church since it embraced the Eden Netherton project five years ago: 'It’s completely changed our church. I’ve been part of this church for 37 years and faith looks pretty different now. It’s messier, but it’s honest and real…  it’s been a great thing for us all.
 
'The longer we’ve proven our love for this estate, the stronger our relationships have grown, the more trust and respect we’ve earned, and the more disciples we’ve made. I’m not sure how, but we always seem to be okay, and the change to lives that we’re witnessing is amazing.'
 
The grant from Baptist Insurance Company will support the Eden Netherton team to continue undertaking missional work on Netherton estate, bringing healing and hope to a broken community.
 

To read more about the inspiring ways that Baptist churches are benefiting from Baptist Insurance grants, or to submit an application, visit: baptist-insurance.co.uk/grants