Spitfire Hangar FAQs
In April we announced that Concord Church will be moving our Sunday services to the Spitfire Hangar in Brabazon with services starting at the Spitfire Hangar on 21st June. Check below for frequently asked questions.
Vision
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Calling - We believe God is leading us into a new season and calling us to inhabit this space.
Capacity - To have more room on a Sunday to welcome newcomers as our numbers are growing each year! Particularly for the children and youth too.
Community - To be more embedded in the community that is growing up on the airfield, be more visible and play our part in supporting the newcomers to this area. -
The Hangar will help us to be even more integrated in the new community. We will be better able to build relationships with the Spitfire Hangar team and other partners to serve our neighbours. There’s already activity at the Spitfire Hangar with Mokoko and a Gym coming soon as well as other community groups.
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Yes. The Spitfire Hangar is a community space which will hold weekly events and classes for different groups of people within the community. However, we have priority of the spaces for Sunday and our weekday activities. There are plenty of rooms to rent at the Hangar.
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We will continue to use our strong link and relationships with the staff and team at Aerospace. The church staff team will continue to work from the Aerospace Museum during the week. We will also have Carols Under Concord at Christmas time as well as working with them for possible other community events and ministries where possible.
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The Hangar is a renovated aircraft hangar designed to be used an event space. Check out their website for more info and images.
spitfirehangaratbrabazon.co.uk/
What is staying the same?
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Yes. We were named Concord not solely because of the aircraft (although the aircraft does inspire us!), but because the word concord means harmony and unity, and is used in historic Anglican prayers. For us, the heart of bringing people together in unity in Christ is still there. The airfield will always be the place that the Concorde aircraft was made, so it also makes sense geographically that the name stays the same.
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No. The essence of Concord and how we worship will not change. Although we may make positive adjustments to help a Sunday morning flow better, we will not be changing the worship style or the traditions that we currently have.
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Everything else about Concord Church will remain the same. We will still have great pastries and welcome, the people will remain the same and the heart and vision of Concord won’t change.
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The church office will remain at Aerospace Bristol and we will still have Community Carols Under Concorde. As we look to launch new ministries and activities, we’ll also look to see if Aerospace Bristol is a better venue for them.
Youth and Children’s work
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There will still be separate spaces for the children’s work as well as a dedicated room for the youth. The two children rooms are directly outside the main meeting space and the youth will have the purpose built youth room downstairs.
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We take safeguarding seriously at Concord Church. We will continue to adhere to our safeguarding policies with new risk assessments. We will continue to use a checking-in and out system with the children’s work. The rooms have got fire doors to access them and all children will be kept inside safely.
The rooms we will use on a Sunday morning are upstairs (similar to now) but there is a lift that can be used to allow everyone to access the space.
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It is a very similar cost to what we are currently paying. However, as a church we are praying and trusting that God will provide all that we need for this. We are also needing to increase giving which will allow us to continue to work as we currently are.
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At the Spitfire Hangar there are lots of rooms that we can run kids groups in. One very exciting thing is the purpose built youth space that is being established at the Hangar. It will have table tennis tables and table football. It gives a real platform for Concord to do even more with young people.
Logistics
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We are aiming for the move to happen mid June. We plan for the summer months to be a place to work out any creases and then have a proper launch celebration in September on our 4th Birthday.
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It is a public building with a cafe downstairs. Parents, just like they do now, will need to supervise their own children when not in kids groups. The rooms that the children’s work will be held in and the youth room themselves are safe and secure.
The rooms we will use on a Sunday morning are upstairs (similar to now) but there is a lift that can be used to allow everyone to access the space.
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There is a large public car park in Brabazon which is a similar walking distance to the walk from the Aerospace car park to the Concorde Hangar. It’s free for three hours parking - which is plenty of time for a Sunday service. For those on team, we will make arrangements to park for longer. From the car park, there is a cut through which is sign-posted and a path way to walk up.
Public transport is increasing in the area and the M4 bus now stops on Runway Avenue, a new road heading up the runway towards Brabazon. The hangar is also accessible via safe cylcing routes and by foot. -
There is a storage cupboard at the Hangar for us where we will store all our equipment, including cafe, kids, worship etc. that are needed for each Sunday. The benefit of moving to the Hangar is that there is also a kitchen that we will have access to. This should make welcome easier. We will need to set up the room for Church on Sunday.
How can I help?
We’re reflecting on Joshua 3:5 ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ Start by preparing yourself, setting yourself apart for what is to come. If you would like to help with the moving of boxes across, please let us know. Alternatively, it would be great for you to invite friends and family along to the full launch in September and to general Sunday services so that they can get involved as well