Emmanuel Chapel is a sort of cross between the Tardis ( small and not particularly noticeable on the outside - enormous and doing masses of stuff on the inside) and that story of the loaves and fishes. For anyone rusty on their Bible, it goes a bit like this:Jesus has been teaching and everyone's been out on the mountain listening all day - 5000 odd have turned up. Sermon over, everyone realises they're a bit hungry, but not a bite to eat in sight. Except for one lad who's had the foresight to bring a picnic - not a lot, a couple of loaves and a few fishes. Jesus asks his disciples to collect up all the food there is amongst everyone and they come up with this paltry sum. Disciples are unimpressed and worried because everyone's really quite peckish now. " Don't worry" says Christ. "That'll be fine". He divides the loaves and fishes up, and hey-presto, everyone - all 5000 of them - have enough to eat. And there's even some left over.
With the limited source of funding that they appear to have, Emmanuel Chapel do a huge amount of work and manage to make it go a very long way. They are not only a church, but also a place for young people in the area to come in the evenings and meet friends, chat and get vital adult support and input in a relaxed environment. And, almost loaves and fishes like, they say they still manage to set aside some money to give to charities. Amazing. Just imagine what they could do with more...!
Photo shows Henbury Council Candidate, Chris Windows, me, and Nikky Furst who helps run Emmanuel Chapel.
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