New church ‘wants to make impact in community’

A new church is reaching out to the community in Newtownabbey.

Fishgate, named after a biblical place mentioned in the book of Nehemiah, is based at 153 Glenville Road.

Fishgate is described as a “young vibrant church which wants to help and make an impact in all the community”.

“We participate and have created public events in and around Newtownabbey such as putting on open mic nights, quiz nights and battle of the bands, as well as opening a successful gym as a type of outreach,” a spokesperson said.

“To really understand who Jesus is, we have to read what the Bible says about him and what he says about himself. That’s what we are all about here at Fishgate, getting to know who Jesus really is.

“On Sundays, we meet up with each other and have some God times. We want people to look forward to Sunday and not see it as the end of the weekend but a start to a new you.”

Currently, gatherings take place in various locations from cafes to community centres, but the congregation is searching for a new permanent base from where members can launch their community projects.

Fishgate recently donated 15 Christmas hampers to families in the Newtownabbey area, focusing on those with children.

“We are currently following up with the families and trying to help in any way that shows how we can “be” Church and show God’s love in a physical way.”

Another outreach has included a project outside Queen’s University Belfast on Freshers’ Night. On-street discussions suggested that some students “had a perception that church was dated, boring, not necessary and irrelevant”.

“We wanted to challenge the perception of Christians and we think we did just that.”

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