With a launch party at the Arlington Rooms and events targeted at young people, we were going to be the coolest church in Southend. It was September 2o02 and we were dreaming of creating a community that included young adults who would otherwise not come into contact with the Church.
It completely failed.
Hardly anyone turned up, and within a few months of starting, all but three of the planting team drifted back to the churches that sent them. The dream, the plan and the community seemed pretty much dead.
But as they say, you can’t have a resurrection without a death. So all was not lost!
