Thurrock’s Faith Organisations Survey Passes Half Way Point

The Faith Organisations Survey has been taking place since June. Tim Harrold has been commissioned by Transformation Thurrock and Thurrock Council to interview as many local worship centre leaders or representatives as possible in order to confirm addresses and contacts, and to make a comprehensive list of every activity undertaken for and in the community by those faith centres.

The purpose and aims of the Faith Organisations Survey – which is different in substance to the Faith Action Audit of 2014 – are described and explained below.

It’s estimated that there are around 80 Christian fellowships and churches in the Borough of Thurrock. So far, 45 of Christian faith centres have been approached and information gathered. There another 10 or so pending, as at the time of writing, with a number of others still to be contacted. The survey will also necessarily include those of other faiths represented in the borough.

The following 45 fellowships have completed the survey (this list is in alphabetical order). If you can’t see your fellowship here, please get in touch with Tim Harrold on tim@transformationthurrock.com as soon as possible to arrange a meeting with him.

1. All Saints Chafford Hundred
2. All Saints Belhus
3. Ambassadors (Stifford Clays)
4. ARC Thurrock (Grays)*
5. Aveley Christian Centre
6. Aveley Methodist Church
7. Belhus Park Chapel
8. Church Of His Presence (Grays)
9. Community Church (Chafford Hundred / Chadwell St Mary)
10. Corringham Baptist Church
11. Corringham Evangelical Church
12. Dayspring Chapel (Grays)
13. Destiny Chapel(South Ockendon)
14. Fresh Hope Community (Stanford-le-Hope)
15. Gates of Praise International Centre (Grays)
16. Gateway People’s Centre (Stanford-le-Hope)
17. Grace Baptist Church (Grays)
18. Grays Baptist Church
19. Grays Methodist Church
20. Grays Salvation Army
21. Horndon on the Hill Methodist Church
22. House of Praise (Grays)
23. House Of The Lord (South Ockendon)
24. New Covenant Church Chafford Hundred (Grays)
25. MFM Chadwell St Mary **
26. MFM Purfleet **
27. MFM Tilbury **
28. Orsett Community Church
29. Our Lady & St Joseph (Stanford-le-Hope)
30. Our Lady Star of the Sea (Tilbury)
31. Socketts Heath Baptist Church
32. Spring of Life, Grays
33. St Catherine’s East Tilbury & St Francis’ Centre Linford
34. St Cedd’s Stifford Clays
35. St Clement’s West Thurrock
36. St John’s Corringham Town Centre
37. St John’s North Grays
38. St John’s Tilbury
39. St Margaret’s Stanford-le-Hope
40. St Mary’s & Emmanuel Chadwell St Mary
41. St Mary’s Corringham Village
42. St Mary the Virgin Little Thurrock
43. St Mary’s North Stifford
44. St Michael’s Aveley
45. St Peter & St Paul’s Grays
46. St Stephen’s Purfleet
47. Stanford Boiler Room
48. Thurrock Christian Fellowship (Corringham)
49. United Benefice of Orsett, Bulphan & Horndon on the Hill***
50. United Reformed Church (Grays)
51. West Thurrock Chapel
52. Zion Hall Mission (Bulphan)

* ARC = A Radical Church
** Mountain of Fire & Miracles
*** Actually three churches!

The above list does not include a number of worship centres of other faiths.

Information about the Faith Organisations Survey

New: How does this differ from the Thurrock Faith Action Audit of 2014?
The purpose of this audit is not to convert the information we will gather into a measure of the value of volunteering to the borough, but to create a thorough list of all the worship centres and their ministers and activities. This will then be made available to the public.

The purpose of this audit is to highlight those ways in which the faith sector works to break down isolation and loneliness, to build bridges within and across communities, and finally to support people of all groupings and ages. This will aid community cohesion and public access to the many activities that the faith communities offer the borough, e.g., parent & toddler groups, art groups, knit & natter groups and so on.

Since Thurrock Faith Matters was closed down before Christmas 2016, there is a need for a fresh attempt to build links across the faiths and cultures now present in Thurrock, and in doing so create connectivity, conversation and cooperation.

Exhaustive: What’s the aim?
The aim is to glean information from every faith expression. The information we intend to cover is:

• name of place of worship or organisation
• venue and address
• contact details
• website address
• activities provided for the wider community (NB not for the faith community itself)
• how to access them

To get this information, we would like to arrange to personally meet with every minster or faith representative in the borough and fill in together the form we have developed for this undertaking.

An exciting aspect of this venture is the anticipation of finding and meeting with groups and their representatives not known about before, thus providing them with a sense of belonging and voice.

Interactive: What happens to this information?
All the gathered details will be placed on a website that will work on lots of different levels. Anyone wanting to find, say, a particular place of worship by religion or denomination, or a specific activity, will be able to do so through a simple search.

From the Council’s point of view, they will have a comprehensive understanding of who they represent in the faith sector and a clearer idea of what it brings to the borough in terms of volunteering and so on. From Transformation Thurrock’s point of view, not only will we be able to more effectively serve the Christian Faith Community but also establish better relationships with other faiths.