Our beautiful church building has been reordered and renovated! It’s not the first time in our history that the St Thomas’ Church Family has been through a building project. Richard Clayton and Robert Wasney oversaw the last significant building project when the St Thomas’ church building was moved from the Quayside to its current location in 1827. Part of the reason for this was so that the church community could better reach young people, children and serve the city. To make the church building fit for purpose in the 1800s! We now have a building fit for purpose for the 2023, and we trust for many years to come!

The Bishop and the Church of England have asked us to serve as a Resource Church for the region. To be a church community that reaches out to those who currently don’t go to church, to train leaders and to resource mission and ministry by planting new churches. A church building can’t do any of those things - it is God who does those things as he works through a church family. But having a fantastic building can certainly help!

We have not renovated St Thomas’ so we can be more comfy, have a better experience on a Sunday or have a flash new building. We have renovated St Thomas’ so we can do better all of the things that we have been called here to do! We long to see the building packed full of young people and children. We can’t wait to see the church building used for community events and as a blessing to the community. We can’t wait to see it as the base for a church planting network that spreads out across the North East. We can’t wait to see how the building project helps us serve the city, the thousands of students and all who pass by the doors of this church as we share the good news of Jesus with them.

At the heart of our new building lies a beautiful cross-shaped hole in the floor that will often be filled with water as we baptise people who are being saved and rescued by Jesus. The baptistry in many ways sums up why we have done this project - that we might see many people come to faith in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As the lettering around the baptistry says:

“Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” - Romans 6:4

Ben Doolan
Church Leader

TTA Awards 2023
Winner - Best Heritage Project

CENE Awards 2023
Shortlisted - Conservation & Regeneration award