Building bridges between church and community
Koinonia
The Curate’s House was empty. It was becoming a target for vandals. Something had to be done.
The Parish of Bettws, Newport, is in a Local Ecumenical Partnership. It is the only partnership in Wales between the United Reformed Church and the Church in Wales. Rosie Buxton had recently arrived in the area - and she is a Church Related Community Worker in the URC.
After some knocking on our door, the Holy Spirit got through. Why not make the house a community house? So St David’s Koinonia House was born.
It took some getting going, but by June 8th we were almost ready. We invited Bishop Dominic and Revd Peter Noble (the local Moderator from the URC) to come together to open the house. They were accompanied by Mrs Rosemary Butler AM. After a short service when the Moderator dedicated the house and the Bishop blessed it, the three of them cut the ribbon and declared it open.
The house is used by the church as an office - and we work in partnership with other community organisations. Newport Mediation and One to One Counselling also have offices there and use the facilities for their work. Other organisations such as Drug Alcohol Family Support and Raven House Trust use rooms for meetings and counselling.
Revd Henry Davies