About the Gate

The Gate is part of the Barnabas Fellowship of Churches and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

It is a church that has a rich history of serving the practical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our community, town, nation, and the nations; a vision we retain to this day.

With buildings in Sindlesham, Tilehurst & Calcot we can reach people and build relationships in East Reading/Wokingham, West Reading & West Berkshire.

‘Without the children’s work, parent café, art workshops, counselling, volunteer opportunities and signposting to other services, my family would not have survived &overcome alcoholism, depression, anxiety & life-altering physical illness. We were supported through crises after crises with love and care so that we could heal & grow as a family.
I KNOW the difference this group of people make. I have lived it. And I am passionate about growing our outreach; supporting other individuals, families & our community towards positive change.’ – Member of The Gate Central, Tilehurst.

‘Thanks to the Gate’s support through its Love your Community work, we’ve been able to offer breakfast bagels to all of our pupils meaning that hunger doesn’t have to be a barrier to the children learning when they arrive at school’– Stieve Butler- Headteacher, Meadow Park Academy.

Locally the Gate has a vibrant youth and children’s work serving 430 children and young people every month through:

  • Little Acorns, Acorns, Seedlings & Gate Kids for babies up to primary school age children.
  • Our TLG Education centre which works with 11–16-year-olds at risk of exclusion from education.
  • Supporting a local primary school in a high area of deprivation in a breakfast bagel project.
  • Gate Youth which includes outreach events and discipleship groups for older children& young adults.

Also, the Gate serves the wider community through:

  • Art workshops, sports evenings, parenting courses and marriage courses alongside ministries for women, men and over 50s’s.
  • In addition to this we have regular weekly groups meeting in homes and in the church buildings for prayer, bible study and fellowship.
  • Locally we also support Readifoods food bank, CIRDIC (Churches in Reading Drop in Centre) for the homeless, and the Terracycle initiative.

Nationally and internationally the Gate:

  • Is the home of ‘The Turning’ an Evangelical initiative that brings churches together In the nations of England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany and Spain to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • Is a lead church in the ‘Barnabas Fellowship of Churches’ which supports churches in England, Northern Ireland, France, and several nations in Africa and also facilitates projects reaching out to some of the most vulnerable people groups in Zimbabwe and Israel.
  • Is the lead church in the ‘New Carmel Prophets’, bringing local churches and individuals together In hubs to pray and discern together what God may be saying for specific areas.

How our new building will enhance our Christian service and community activities.

Strengthen art community

Build on our existing art community-The dedicated art space will facilitate people being able to come together both to be creative but also explore the opportunities for well-being and healing that this brings. Courses that explore how art can help people to overcome things such as grief and trauma in their lives have always been well attended but only run sporadically due to space. The new centre will enable us to introduce regular programmes of courses.

Welcome strangers and refugees

Having recently welcomed more than 100 political refugees from Hong Kong into the church community and given support including English classes and CV writing were cognise this kind of need is only increasing. The additional space will mean we are able to facilitate support as described above on a regular basis meaning that asylum seekers, political and environmental refugees and others will be able to feel both welcomed and supported as they navigate living in a brand-new culture.

Enhance our support of families

Enhance our support of families from our nursery and education provisions. We recognise that wrap around care for the whole family can often make all the difference when it comes to helping people navigate the pressures of everyday life. The increased space will mean we are able to increase our offer of emotional support and look at increasing our offer of support around parenting, dealing with grief and money management amongst other things.

Join us in this exciting venture of re-building for God’s Kingdom.

If you would like to support our re-building project, please give the most generous gift you can by clicking on the give now button.

Thank you for your generosity and kindness.