Story

Grove Church of the Nazarene is a church which seeks to grow in faith and fellowship through meeting in small worshipping communities across Manchester. We find value in the importance of being known by a group of people who are seeking to journey through life and faith together.

We meet on Sunday’s in different homes across Manchester and once per month for a gathered worship service. We are one unified church aiming to form a network of small worshipping communities where people can thrive in their faith and form deep relationships with others whilst serving the needs of their local communities outside of Sunday mornings. Through these small groups we seek to bring the love and light of Jesus Christ into the world around us.

Our story begins with Didsbury Community Church, where we served the local community faithfully for over ten years, worshipping together at Nazarene Theological College whilst also meeting in many venues around the Didsbury community.

A few years ago we sensed a call from God that He was about to bring change to our church and the first step was to move from the space we met in. As the Covid-19 pandemic coincided with this we began to meet as small groups online around a simple structure of sharing, praying and discussing God’s word together. The relationships we formed were significant during a time where relationships were restricted.

Our conversation around scripture led to a deeper and more fruitful understanding of God’s word. We also saw the value in forming more intentional relationships within smaller groups. Allowing ourselves to be known more deeply by each other also opened the door for deeper relationships with God.

From this came an important question: do we return to how we used to be or pursue a different way of doing church? After a few weeks of gathering together and many months of prayer, we knew that God was leading us to become a church focussed on small worshipping communities. To invest in being a church where deep conversation was encouraged and all the joys and struggles of our lives were able to be shared.

In October 2022 we began to meet in homes and returned to the simple structure of sharing, praying and studying weekly whilst gathering monthly for sung worship, testimony, communion, teaching and plenty of food!

We have been blessed by all that God has done as we have shaped this small group and we are looking forward to seeing where he will lead us next!