Immanuel at St. Giles

Immanuel Church started in 1999 as a "Church Plant" in the Watling Valley Ecumenical Partnership, from where its initial core congregation was drawn. Its first minister was a Church Army Sister, Nikki Foster-Kruczek.

Initially services were held in the Training Centre premises at Westcroft Shopping Centre. This was not an ideal venue as, due to the layout of the building, the door had to be locked during the service. Various events took place to "introduce" Immanuel to the local community, including a fun day held in the area around St. Giles, Sister Nikki is pictured here having volunteered for a soaking in the stocks!

 Shortly after this the Churchwardens invited Immanuel to use the building for their regular worship. Although there are problems with St. Giles for regular worship in winter - mainly the lack of heating - the move has been very successful. Growth has been steady, and although several of the founding members have left for various reasons there have been new people coming in to replace them.

Following Sister Nikki's departure for pastures new Immanuel's oversight passed to Richard Davis, a URC minister with the WVEP, and then subsequently to Revd. Tim Norwood. Services have continued to be held every Sunday morning, other than when there is a partnership wide service elsewhere. The worship style is varied, most services are led by Tim or another minister, with about one service a month being lay led. A Communion Service is held at least once a month.

There are also a variety of services at Christmas, including a Carol service and a Christingle  - the second of these has become so popular we have had to turn people away from the Church (purely for safety reasons). Midnight Mass is also celebrated on Christmas Eve - a very special service when the only lighting is by candles and paraffin lamps!

During 2003 and 2004 the Immanuel congregation and St. Giles have worked more closely together, with no real distinction now being made between the two. Although for legal reasons there are still two Church Councils these actually meet together at the same time, with many common members.