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We're a church of around about 120 people,
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but over 2,000 people use
the facilities each week.
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So we're a church that's
seeking to serve this community.
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My name's Mat Wilson,
I'm the senior minister
00:12
of Rowheath Pavilion Church
that meets here in Bournville.
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The Cadbury's are a Quaker family.
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And they had a view of
life for the workers
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that was holistic in nature.
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And so they created a pavilion,
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so that the people who worked
in the chocolate factory
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would come out of work and have a place
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of leisure and enjoyment.
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So as the church began here,
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it wanted to reignite that Cadbury vision,
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but with the passion of
Jesus' name at the heart.
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The church exists here
to serve a community
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that is surrounded by sports people.
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So one of our church
members is a keen runner.
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She has developed this
group called Bourn Running.
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We have a mixture of people,
00:58
generally aged between early
30s to 79 and soon to be 80.
01:03
We started off aiming very
much for the beginners,
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people who've never run before.
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The idea to get people moving
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and just feel part of a group.
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It's not necessarily how
good you are at something,
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but it's about whether you feel
really passionate about it.
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I started it originally
because I think it was
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when you enjoy something so much,
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it's a bit a like sharing good news.
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You just want to pass it on.
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It just sort of snowballed very quickly
01:27
once I felt God was saying,
"Faith and running."
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And I'd just arrived at this church
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and they said, "Take your time,"
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"figure out what you feel
God's saying to you."
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"We want you to thrive here,"
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"you know, rather than burn out."
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"And what's the worst
thing that can happen?"
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I think it's what I hoped it would be.
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But I think it's also much more
than I thought it would be.
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I think also I underestimated
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how challenging it would be also
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with some of the desperate
situations people are in
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and what are the things
that they struggle with.
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And it's been a real privilege
to walk alongside them.
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We're keen to build community
where people can gather,
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belong, and feel valued and respected,
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whatever their view on life.
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But within in that, is a sense of,
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it's wonderful to build community,
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but we want to be
distinctive in that community
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by our Christian witness.
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We actually believe that
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true community is built
around Jesus Christ.
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And the way to know and experience life
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in all its fullness is through Him.
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So wonderful to gather people
together in the same location.
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People enjoying sport, people
going to the cafe, the bar,
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a few people worshipping
Jesus on a Sunday,
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many more playing sport.
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But as we gather people into community,
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we want to be salt and
light within it and say,
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"Actually the true source of community
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"is found in a relationship with Jesus."
