An experiment in missional community...

In 2006, Justin Groves and his family moved to Newport tasked by the Bishop of Monmouth to start a youth church project in Newport city centre. They were joined by Delyth Liddell-Davies, a local Methodist minister, who helped to mould the vision for the Lab, and was vital in securing support and funding from Newport Methodist Circuit, which we are hugely grateful for.

“The Lab - an experiment to find God” started to meet on Sunday evenings in St Paul’s church, starting off with a faithful few students from the University of Wales, Newport, and a few local young adults. Built into the DNA of the community right from the beginning was a desire to be a “missional” community, learning how to live incarnationally in our culture today.

In early 2007, The Lab changed venue to the Pen & Wig, a local pub in Newport city centre, using the space creatively for our worship gatherings, and partnering with Bethel, another local church, to organise music gigs under the name, Explosion.

In September 2007, James Henley started as Lab Student Pastor alongside studying Youth & Community Work and Applied Theology, and we also began to develop a co-ordinating team to help plan and organise the future of the Lab. We also started to eat together as a community on a Wednesday night (now called Foodface) and actively grow a sense of community and belonging together.

In July 2008, five members of the Lab moved into St Teilo’s, the new Lab house in Alway to live missionally and get involved in the local community. Over the summer of 2008, we will be working on growing community-based projects and youth work in Alway, as well as other projects elsewhere in Newport which will hopefully come together later on in the year.

As of September 2008, we will no longer be meeting together on a Sunday night, but instead working as a hub for a network of two or three different projects drawing students and young adults together in community to live out a radical, marginal faith across the city. That’s the plan anyway.