Our very first bi-annual celebration as Taking Ground is coming up! All nine northern churches will be meeting at TVC Church for a morning service, followed by a bring-your-own picnic lunch afterwards.
For more details visit the event page here.
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Martin Dunkley, leader of Taking Ground, would like to share an update regarding our Daniel Challenge year out programme.
“Having taken the decision to pause Daniel Challenge due to the impact of the Coronavirus, we have used this time to undertake a comprehensive review into how God wants us, as Taking Ground and our individual churches, to invest in training and equipping our young people and future leaders.
“As part of the review into Daniel Challenge we have undertaken substantial research into Christian gap years and gap years more generally. We have considered the impact and success of Daniel Challenge and the strengths and weaknesses of it in its current form. Most importantly, however, we have been asking God what he wants our training for young people and future leaders to look like.
“While we were undertaking the review, we really felt that God had exciting plans for training and developing young adults and our future leaders, but there was a sense in all these discussions that this was shifting away from Daniel Challenge and that Daniel Challenge was coming to a natural end.
“Over the Christmas period the government also announced that following Brexit the UK would no longer be supporting the Erasmus Programme. The Erasmus Programme provided a significant level of funding towards Daniel Challenge as well as a significant proportion of the students. The government pulling out of the Erasmus Programme felt like it was the final confirmation that the door was closing on Daniel Challenge.
“I am therefore writing to let you all know that Daniel Challenge will not be restarting in September and we intend to close down the programme.
“Whilst we are saddened at having to make this decision, it is important to note that we take this decision in real faith that God has exciting plans for us and how we can develop and train our young people and future leaders. This may be done in our individual churches, as Taking Ground or a mixture of both, however there is a sense of faith and expectation that God will guide and direct us into the pathway he wants us to take, in a way that aligns with our individual church ministries and the vision and values of Taking Ground.
“On behalf of the Taking Ground leadership team I would like to thank you for your love, care, investment and support in Daniel Challenge. As I reflect back on Daniel Challenge over the years and I see the impact it has had on so many young people, I thank God for all that he has done through it.
“If you would like to discuss this with me personally please get in touch. God Bless, Martin.”
We look forward to the future of training in Taking Ground, and hope you will pray for us as we explore this.
It is with great reluctance that we have decided to cancel the Daughters Day event on Saturday March 14th 2020. As you can imagine, we have not taken this decision easily. It has not been taken out of any sense of fear or panic. It’s a decision that has been taken prayerfully and is rooted in love and care for each other and a sense of responsibility for the wider community.
If you have purchased a ticket through your local Church, your local representative will arrange for you to be reimbursed.
It is our intention to hopefully reschedule the Daughters event for the Autumn, and we will keep you informed as and when a firm decision has been made.
Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but as you will be aware the current circumstances that we find ourselves are very changeable, but we are confident that our God is in control. As daughters of Father God, it would be good if we kept prayerful for our communities and nation at this time.
It’s that time of year again – students from Texas are coming to north east England to run events, bless our churches and teach about Jesus in local schools. We are welcoming four teams this year to Hexham, Birtley, Sunderland and Teesside, which is why we call it the Texan Invasion!
The three northern teams (Hexham, Birtley and Sunderland) will be getting together on Sunday 15th March at Hexham Community Church for a Celebration Service to finish the Texan Invasion week, with Drew Humphrey, leader of the team, speaking. Service starts at 10.30am with tea and coffee served from 10am.
Our family of churches will be meeting together for a big Sunday morning service on Sunday 13th October. Guests are welcome!
Martin Dunkley – leader of Taking Ground as well as TVC Church – will be speaking.
Children’s groups will be running during the service (usually start after a few songs).
Service starts at 10.30am. Tea and coffee served from 10am.
Location: The Oakwood Centre (home of TVC Church), TS16 0RD. There is ample free carking available on-site.
Get ready for the Texan Invasion!
This year we have three northern Taking Ground churches hosting teams of students from Texas: Hexham, Birtley and Sunderland!
The teams will be around from 6th–11th March 2018 and will be involved in schools and community work and locals events in each area (including the ever-popular line dancing night!), all with a focus of sharing the good news of Jesus.
All three churches will come together with their Texan teams, as well as Durham Community Church, for a joint northern celebration service at Hexham Community Church on Sunday 11th March.
For details of Texan events in Hexham, click here.
For details of events in Birtley or Sunderland, stay tuned or contact the churches direct.
We know lots of you are excited to attend our first Taking Ground Family Camp in the north east of England this year. To all those who have booked and made the best of those early bird prices, thank you!
However, to those who are thinking of coming and have not yet booked… we need you booked in by 28th February, otherwise the camp may not be able to go ahead.
As a family of churches, we know what a fantastic opportunity this camp will be to grow together, build faith, and make connections across our north east sphere of Salt & Light UK. It would be a real shame not to be able to make this happen, so make sure you are booked in!
You can find more information on the camp, including (low) prices and the booking link, here.
If you are already booked in, why not be an ambassador for your church and encourage others?
Taking Ground is holding its FIRST EVER regional Family Camp in spring 2018! Set over the early May bank holiday, this is a fantastic opportunity to grow closer to God, discovering His heart for Taking Ground, while being a church family and having fun together!
Worship | Teaching | Kids’ and youth groups | Family events
Carl Beech – Director of the Message Trust – confirmed speaker
The event will run from Friday 4th May to Tuesday 8th May 2018.
Arrival is from around midday on Friday, with the first gathering in the evening. There is a praise and worship event for the whole family on Monday evening (finishing time to be confirmed), and then for those who wish to stay over, Tuesday morning is time to pack up and be off site by 12pm.
Book before 31st OCTOBER 2017 for the best EARLY BIRD PRICES!
All tickets include a free camping pitch and Sunday Night hog roast!
For booking and for more information visit www.takingground.org.uk/familycamp
Drum roll please……….
We have a new Facebook!
This is really exciting and hopefully will give us a great chance to show more of what we are up to and share stories, videos, news, and more across our family of churches. Have a look at our Facebook by clicking here.
Email us at contact@takingground.org.uk to register an interest in sharing content if you are from one of our churches and would like to be involved with connecting our family of churches even more! We don’t know exactly what this will look like at the moment, but the more people that are involved, the better and easier it will be!
Martin Dunkley, leader of Taking Ground, would like to share an update regarding our Daniel Challenge year out programme.
“Having taken the decision to pause Daniel Challenge due to the impact of the Coronavirus, we have used this time to undertake a comprehensive review into how God wants us, as Taking Ground and our individual churches, to invest in training and equipping our young people and future leaders.
“As part of the review into Daniel Challenge we have undertaken substantial research into Christian gap years and gap years more generally. We have considered the impact and success of Daniel Challenge and the strengths and weaknesses of it in its current form. Most importantly, however, we have been asking God what he wants our training for young people and future leaders to look like.
“While we were undertaking the review, we really felt that God had exciting plans for training and developing young adults and our future leaders, but there was a sense in all these discussions that this was shifting away from Daniel Challenge and that Daniel Challenge was coming to a natural end.
“Over the Christmas period the government also announced that following Brexit the UK would no longer be supporting the Erasmus Programme. The Erasmus Programme provided a significant level of funding towards Daniel Challenge as well as a significant proportion of the students. The government pulling out of the Erasmus Programme felt like it was the final confirmation that the door was closing on Daniel Challenge.
“I am therefore writing to let you all know that Daniel Challenge will not be restarting in September and we intend to close down the programme.
“Whilst we are saddened at having to make this decision, it is important to note that we take this decision in real faith that God has exciting plans for us and how we can develop and train our young people and future leaders. This may be done in our individual churches, as Taking Ground or a mixture of both, however there is a sense of faith and expectation that God will guide and direct us into the pathway he wants us to take, in a way that aligns with our individual church ministries and the vision and values of Taking Ground.
“On behalf of the Taking Ground leadership team I would like to thank you for your love, care, investment and support in Daniel Challenge. As I reflect back on Daniel Challenge over the years and I see the impact it has had on so many young people, I thank God for all that he has done through it.
“If you would like to discuss this with me personally please get in touch. God Bless, Martin.”
We look forward to the future of training in Taking Ground, and hope you will pray for us as we explore this.
It is with great reluctance that we have decided to cancel the Daughters Day event on Saturday March 14th 2020. As you can imagine, we have not taken this decision easily. It has not been taken out of any sense of fear or panic. It’s a decision that has been taken prayerfully and is rooted in love and care for each other and a sense of responsibility for the wider community.
If you have purchased a ticket through your local Church, your local representative will arrange for you to be reimbursed.
It is our intention to hopefully reschedule the Daughters event for the Autumn, and we will keep you informed as and when a firm decision has been made.
Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but as you will be aware the current circumstances that we find ourselves are very changeable, but we are confident that our God is in control. As daughters of Father God, it would be good if we kept prayerful for our communities and nation at this time.
It’s that time of year again – students from Texas are coming to north east England to run events, bless our churches and teach about Jesus in local schools. We are welcoming four teams this year to Hexham, Birtley, Sunderland and Teesside, which is why we call it the Texan Invasion!
The three northern teams (Hexham, Birtley and Sunderland) will be getting together on Sunday 15th March at Hexham Community Church for a Celebration Service to finish the Texan Invasion week, with Drew Humphrey, leader of the team, speaking. Service starts at 10.30am with tea and coffee served from 10am.
Our family of churches will be meeting together for a big Sunday morning service on Sunday 13th October. Guests are welcome!
Martin Dunkley – leader of Taking Ground as well as TVC Church – will be speaking.
Children’s groups will be running during the service (usually start after a few songs).
Service starts at 10.30am. Tea and coffee served from 10am.
Location: The Oakwood Centre (home of TVC Church), TS16 0RD. There is ample free carking available on-site.
Get ready for the Texan Invasion!
This year we have three northern Taking Ground churches hosting teams of students from Texas: Hexham, Birtley and Sunderland!
The teams will be around from 6th–11th March 2018 and will be involved in schools and community work and locals events in each area (including the ever-popular line dancing night!), all with a focus of sharing the good news of Jesus.
All three churches will come together with their Texan teams, as well as Durham Community Church, for a joint northern celebration service at Hexham Community Church on Sunday 11th March.
For details of Texan events in Hexham, click here.
For details of events in Birtley or Sunderland, stay tuned or contact the churches direct.
We know lots of you are excited to attend our first Taking Ground Family Camp in the north east of England this year. To all those who have booked and made the best of those early bird prices, thank you!
However, to those who are thinking of coming and have not yet booked… we need you booked in by 28th February, otherwise the camp may not be able to go ahead.
As a family of churches, we know what a fantastic opportunity this camp will be to grow together, build faith, and make connections across our north east sphere of Salt & Light UK. It would be a real shame not to be able to make this happen, so make sure you are booked in!
You can find more information on the camp, including (low) prices and the booking link, here.
If you are already booked in, why not be an ambassador for your church and encourage others?
Taking Ground is holding its FIRST EVER regional Family Camp in spring 2018! Set over the early May bank holiday, this is a fantastic opportunity to grow closer to God, discovering His heart for Taking Ground, while being a church family and having fun together!
Worship | Teaching | Kids’ and youth groups | Family events
Carl Beech – Director of the Message Trust – confirmed speaker
The event will run from Friday 4th May to Tuesday 8th May 2018.
Arrival is from around midday on Friday, with the first gathering in the evening. There is a praise and worship event for the whole family on Monday evening (finishing time to be confirmed), and then for those who wish to stay over, Tuesday morning is time to pack up and be off site by 12pm.
Book before 31st OCTOBER 2017 for the best EARLY BIRD PRICES!
All tickets include a free camping pitch and Sunday Night hog roast!
For booking and for more information visit www.takingground.org.uk/familycamp
Drum roll please……….
We have a new Facebook!
This is really exciting and hopefully will give us a great chance to show more of what we are up to and share stories, videos, news, and more across our family of churches. Have a look at our Facebook by clicking here.
Email us at contact@takingground.org.uk to register an interest in sharing content if you are from one of our churches and would like to be involved with connecting our family of churches even more! We don’t know exactly what this will look like at the moment, but the more people that are involved, the better and easier it will be!