Church of the Year 2025
Shiloh Community Church, Guernsey
"Shiloh is a vibrant church which has re-discovered Jesus’ heart for the least and the lost. We are focused on serving the local community underpinned by our mission of “Love God, love others, serve many.”
Unashamedly we do church differently. Instead of focusing on Sunday services to reach the community we have supplemented regular church with a food bank, a clothing bank, a community café and forged relationships with relevant charities. We host a mental health support group (MIND), a creche run by Home Start, Quitline counseling as well as running courses on parenting, budgeting, and affordable cooking, plus various groups and activities for children, youth, emerging adults and older people.
We no longer have 2 services on a Sunday. Instead, we have a well-attended prayer meeting at 9.30am, followed by café and children’s work, with a full church service in the evening.
Sunday cafes offer a gentle introduction to faith through a short presentation followed by table discussion, or interviews with church members. On the first Sunday of each month, the café is replaced with an all-age service, followed by a meal.
The premises are extremely well used throughout the week and it would be good to make improvements (eg additional toilets and potential shower for homeless people).
The foodbank caters for “drop ins” combined with targeted visits to 30+ people in local council estates, many with family and health issues some of whom are referred to us by the local authority.
God is graciously blessing this work, leading to a dramatic increase in those with whom we have regular contact, as well as several confessions of faith and baptisms.
During the last 5 years our core membership has remained fairly static but the number of people we have regular contact with has shot up to over 400 per month. Almost without exception these folk are of limited financial means but are finding riches of a different type.
We seek to represent Jesus in all we do and to be his hands and heart within this community. The outreach is strengthened by our own festival weekend (UpFest), participation in key public events, serving hot drinks on local council estates and in the town and much more.
We intend to build on these foundations in various ways such as, funding permitting, the appointment of a church/parish nurse to strengthen the church’s mission to families facing challenging circumstances.
By the grace of God, lives of individuals and families are being transformed. Even though we function with a small staff team, the cost of these ministries has risen beyond what the Church's offerings can sustain in the medium to long term. We are therefore opening discussions with other charities and the government to establish revenue contributions towards our welfare interventions.
On this journey, funding from the “Church of the Year award” will allow the further development of our outreach, the upgrade of the toilet facilities and move us toward the point where the whole work can be on a sustainable financial footing."
To support Shiloh Church in their vital project, please email Amy for the BACS details, or send a cheque made payable to 'Southern Counties Baptist Association' to Baptist House, 129 Broadway, Didcot Oxon, OX11 8XD.