History

The Raffles Community Church grew out of a Compassionate Ministry Project working in the community of Raffles in Carlisle. The Church was not a traditional church plant as it came from a request from the local residents who requested their own place to worship. These were residents that had come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour through the work of the Living Well Trust.

Services began as Songs of Praise services on a quarterly basis. These were fast moving dynamic programmes offering praise and worship and short sharp messages. These developed into monthly services and then, in September 2001 they began as weekly meetings and have continued ever since.

Commencing in the Family Centre initially, in January 2004 the Church moved into a building opposite which had been the former Salvation Army Hall but more recently a disused Community Centre owned by the Local Authority. On its return to usage as a Church, one resident was heard to remark 'maybe it was always meant to be a place of worship'. Insight indeed!

The Church is now an established church in the area and is an organised church in the denomination of the Church of the Nazarene. This denomination is celebrating its 100th anniversary in this country in this year, 2006.

The church is called a Community Church because that is its focus, the local community and its vision is to draw the local residents into a worshipping community that sees faith in Jesus as something both positive and relevant to their daily lives. It is closely integrated to and operates in conjunction with, the Living Well Trust which acts as its Social Action arm.

Services are people friendly, child friendly, lively, some would say different! But primarily they are centred on people enjoying the presence of God, experiencing the peace of God and