Pastor Tracey Day arrived at the rural community of Penycae to become the senior pastor for the Penycae Church of the Nazarene five years ago. When she first arrived, the congregation wanted to change their name to the Penycae Community Church of the Nazarene, but Day told the congregation,
“We could really only change it [the name] to Community Church if we were working in the community.”
During this time, the village of Penycae, with only 5,000 residents, was declared an “area in need of regeneration” by the local council and soon after was declared as “deprived” by the Welsh government, along with 9 other villages in the area.
Day said, “these are villages that are deprived in education, housing, employment and things like that … there is a need in schools and families to encourage healthy eating habits, more social interaction, numeracy, and literacy courses.”
Through this declaration, the Communities First program, a program started by the Welsh government to help combat poverty in Wales, was brought into the area to help tackle these issues. This was an opportunity that the Church looked at to become involved within the community.
Day began speaking with the local council and other community groups, which led to a steering group within the village. They assessed the various needs of the community and laid out various projects to help meet those needs. Then, eighteen months ago, one of those projects – the Food CoOp – was launched.
Food CoOp is designed to bring fresh, quality produce – fruits, vegetables, salads, and more – to the people in need at a discounted rate. People in the community place their order from a list of produce at the church and pay for it. The orders range from two-pound and four-pound bags to a six-pound family size box. The church then places the order with two local suppliers who then, in turn, deliver the order in bulk to the church the following week. When it arrives, Stella Edwards, the leader of the program and 30-year member of the church, brings her volunteers – a mixture of church and community members – together to bag or box up the orders that were received.
“A few years ago we were challenged,” Edwards said. “’if the church disappeared, would we be missed’.”
Edwards admitted that, when they realized the feeling that they would not be missed, it challenged and encouraged them to do more and to make themselves known more in the Lord’s work.
Day said, “We didn’t just want to become a community center, we wanted to become a center for community.” Through the Food CoOp, this has become a reality and it has spawned other ways in serving the community. They not only meet the feeding of the body, but of the mind as well.
They began offering parenting classes, craft clubs, and “bring and take” exchanges, where people bring their unwanted stuff and other people can take it for free. They also began to offer computer and Internet courses, since the Government has made welfare and other benefits mostly accessible online. They are planning to launch literacy and numeracy courses in the beginning of the year.
The 35-member congregation has been willing to volunteer their time and talents to help run these courses and work the Food CoOp program. “At some point in the week, all of the people in the congregation are involved with members in the community,” said Day.
Through this mindset, it has also led to the feeding of the soul as well. Barbara Richards is one example. Thirteen months ago, she was invited by a friend to the craft club. While she was there, Edwards told her all about the Food CoOp. She began to volunteer there and, soon after, began attending the church.
She said, “I think it’s absolutely brilliant how the church gets involved in the community … it’s a family.” She was also impressed how the church doesn’t force itself on people. “They don’t say you have to come to church in order to get food,” Richards said.“They just serve the community with no strings attached.”
At their last District Assembly, the Penycae Church of the Nazarene formally changed their name to The Penycae Neighborhood Church of the Nazarene.
Edwards said, “It’s all about getting Jesus noticed through us.”
