Church at a Crossroads

Our Faiths by Matt Pointon

I knew where Christ Church Cobridge was even before its vicar, the Rev. Rod Clarke, gave me directions. Approaching the Waterloo Road crossroads from Sneyd Green, it looms up, a beacon in brick amidst the wasteland. But according to Rod, the church is at a crossroads in more ways than one. For starters, it is in Cobridge and according to Rod, “Cobridge is a strange place, is it Burslem or Hanley? Our mother church is St. John’s in Burslem but we are part of the Hanley Team Ministry.”

Whatever Cobridge may be, Rod is quite sure that Christ Church is to be in the heart of it. “The Church of England is perhaps the only organisation that exists for those who are not members,” he joked, “and I see that very much as part of our vision. Christ Church is a sacred space in the heart of a busy community that is accessible to all.” I asked him what he meant by ‘sacred space’ and he told me, “a place of quiet where people can connect to God.”

That community is itself also at a crossroads. One of the poorest in the city, it is home to many immigrants from around the world. “Islam is now the largest religion in Cobridge,” says Rod, “but there are many other immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe. As part of his commitment to being a church for all, Rod told me how the church building is used to host a Zimbabwean Pentecostal church, of work done with Cameroonian asylum seekers and of how a group of young Poles are currently preparing for confirmation.

“We have to tread a fine line between change and tradition,” said Rod, “and I think that we doing that right.” A healthy congregation certainly supports that viewpoint and so the future does not look dim for Christ Church. “The thing with us Anglicans is our stickability,” said Rod with a smile. “We were here when Cobridge began and so long as Cobridge exists, we shall stay. We try to make this a real church for a real community.”