In a ‘bonkers’ step of faith, last September Llanelli Evangelical Church in West Wales decided to buy a local police station. With the purchase now complete, they’re excited to plan ‘how best to use it for the Lord’s glory’.
As they’ve grown in size over the last few years, Llanelli Evangelical Church have been searching for the right home, and one that would allow them to better connect with the local community – they’ve met in a local school and, more recently, an old synagogue. ‘We were looking for a larger building for a long time,’ said pastor Phil Swan, ‘I happened to Google commercial properties in the area and saw that what had been the divisional police station was up for sale.’ Just two weeks later, the church had put an offer in and by October, they heard that it had been accepted.
‘We actually had very little money in our building fund. It also already had five offers over the asking price! We decided to call the church to pray and to really ask the Lord if this is what He wanted us to do, and if He did then to provide the means. In two and a half weeks, we had a phenomenal response from our own people but also people who follow our ministry online.’
With processes meaning that they didn’t know the amount of other offers, they decided to offer every single pound that had been sent in – and were delighted when the offer was accepted. This February, the sale was officially completed.
Potential plans
The site Llanelli Evangelical Church purchased is vast. Covering almost three-quarters of an acre, it includes a three-storey building with 11 cells, a house, a car park and a row of several interlocking garages. As they consider how to use the site, they are receiving input from a Christian architect, and Christian builders. Phil shared: ‘We’re looking to the Lord to give us a vision for how to develop it, whether that’s renovating or possibly looking to demolish and build something new. We’re also listening to the community – Llanelli is a very run-down place. We don’t want it just to be a space where we can have a bigger version of what we already do, but we want it to be something that connects with the community. Ultimately, we want the whole thing to be driven by the gospel.’
The project has been an encouragement to both the local community – who were nervous the plot might be turned into a nightclub – and church members. Among others, they’ve received messages of support from a police superintendent, and a local headmaster and governor. The church are also running an art project with a local school, to design a mural for a side of the police station.
‘What’s been interesting is, at the end of the day it’s just a pile of bricks,’ added Phil, ‘The big thing is what the Lord has been saying to us and doing in us as a church, and I think we’ve certainly been challenged about things like faith and taking risks for God – risks which are legitimately based on Biblical principle. So, we’re hugely out of our depth, and have been from day one; it’s a bit bonkers what’s happened. If we plan a major renovation or a rebuild of the site, we haven’t got resources for that at all – but our confidence is that as the Lord provided in those two and a half weeks, we believe He’ll provide for us in the future.’
