Why we are here

When Soul Survivor Watford started we were a bunch of friends attempting the ‘impossible’ because God had spoken. Twenty-eight years ago this looked like a small group reaching out to young people in Watford with the good news of Jesus. God has been very kind and today there are over a thousand of us who would call Soul Survivor Watford ‘home’.

 Though we are now a larger community, our call remains the same: to share the love of God with our families, friends, and communities. This is at the heart of being Jesus’ people: ‘Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matt 28:18-19).

Our main ‘strategy’ for obeying the Great Commission has always been to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. We want to go where he sends us and welcome all he draws to us.

The need

Before Covid we were crowded into the warehouses and the needs that were present before the pandemic will still be there when we eventually fully emerge on the other side of this.

You may remember it’s been some years since it became clear that if we were to continue to welcome those God was calling we would need to create more space. In particular, we recognised a pressing need to make room for those who don’t yet know Jesus and for our ministries to young people, children and those facing adversity. On some Sundays we were struggling to fit everyone in to the sanctuary and having to turn people away from the children’s work. The young people had to meet in local houses and lots of our midweek activities were unable to grow.

Much may change because of this pandemic but we are convinced that our call to welcome people in Jesus name, to serve and encourage children and young people, and to help those most struggling in our community won’t! We want to prepare and be ready to step into this calling in the future.

‘Your route is being recalculated…’

In order to complete the project we had originally talked about taking out a mortgage of around £2 million. Wonderfully, as a church we are currently debt free; we own both of our buildings outright! Of course, at a time of great economic uncertainty, taking out a mortgage of this size no longer seems wise. Therefore, in the current climate, whilst we still have the same vision, our journey is going to take longer and will be in phases.

We may need to think cleverly about how we can achieve the same objectives in a phased way but our goal is still to create a family home that serves the vision God has given us. Our route may have been recalculated, our destination remains the same.

The next step

Phase One is done! This is the expansion to the main area of Warehouse 7 and – thanks to the generosity of the church family - we have been able to pay for this in full.

In normal times this area is used regularly and in so many different ways from welcoming hundreds of families from our community at Soul Tots to being a space where children and young people meet to worship, from the 4pm and 6.30pm services to Alpha, Connect Café and the Leadership Community. In many ways it functions as the kitchen, dining room and front room of our home. When the two warehouses are joined together this new and expanded space will also become the permanent entrance to the whole church.

The extension has brought the front of the left-hand side of the warehouse forward, using the space at the front of the Unit 7 plot and expanded the building into the area between the warehouses. It will create more room for children and young people throughout the week and on a Sunday, and it will allow us to better serve those facing challenges in our community. The revamped kitchen and café area gives us a greater ability to gather around food, have fellowship and invite in our friends. The building has a new large, welcoming glass entrance and we’ve already had lots of people passing by pop-in to see if we’re a cafe or restaurant.

 Although some of these ministries may need to take a different shape in the immediate future, the needs among these groups, if anything, have escalated during the recent months. We want to be as prepared as possible to meet them in the years ahead.

The current plan for Phase Two is to extend Warehouse 5 to join the newly expanded Warehouse 7. This will again create much needed space and allow the two buildings to work cohesively. It will create more room in the sanctuary area and facilitate the ministry of our church family. This extension will be part of a longer-term development plan for Warehouse 5. We are currently in the planning process for Phase Two and will keep you updated as things develop.

Thank you so much!

There are times when the slow progress has been very frustrating but, as with the rest of the world, none of us saw COVID coming. As exasperating as it has felt we are actually now very grateful to God that we were unable to begin this project before the pandemic! It has allowed us space to rethink and to plan a sustainable route forward.

We want to thank all of you so much. The faithfulness of those who have given sacrificially and prayed fervently for this project has been a joy to behold. We believe this plan gives us room to grow in a way that is affordable and which means that the majority of our resources will always go into people rather than buildings.  

We will regularly update you on the progress of the building work over the coming weeks. Let’s continue to dream – not of expanded buildings or structures – but of the family of God growing and of the kingdom of heaven advancing!

‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’ (Ephesians 3:20-21)

With much love,

Mike, Andy and the team.

Below are videos and images from different stages in our journey for those who would like to look back and see the progress.