Susan Lewis and Community House's extended family (8 mins)

Description

Susan Lewis discusses how Community House has enriched her life - she talks about her links to the church, how she became involved here and how Community House is a nurturing place - a safe place which feels like an extended family to her.
Community House is set in a modern 1960s building but used to be in an old Victorian building which had to be pulled down. At this time, the purpose of the church changed to reflect the diverse community that was also changing.
Community House Presbyterian Church set out to serve the community, not convert people to Christianity. Here, people's views are respected, listened to and challenged. Susan talks about how people here try "to make harmony in the world" She explains the meaning of 'SHALOM' and how it reflects the ethos at Community House.
00:00 Sue describes how she became involved in activities at Community House and the ethos of the community centre. She is a church member and has been (and still is!) a friend of Marilyn Priday for many years.
00.46 She was inspired by Marilyn’s life and started going to the Church that Marilyn belonged to where she discovered many more people who are just as generous of spirit as she is.
00.55 The current status of the Church and its very long history. We don’t have big congregations, but it is like a family – a nurturing place which sets out to serve its community. The Church recognises diversity and the need to outreach to them. There is no mission to convert people. They try to make harmony in the world. The word they use is ‘Shalom’ which describes harmony within all things.
02:45 Sue’s current activities at Community House; toddler group – she runs that herself -it’s been running for a year; Coffee and Laughs been running that group with Marilyn.; events.
03:40 If there’s something to celebrate, we will! Pakistani Day, stories of the Nativity, similar and diverse stories; trips
04:15 We have coach trips – National Botanical Gardens, Grayson Perry exhibition in Bath, based on the Rake’s Progress; visit other Church groups such as Knit and Natter, in exchange they may have Curry and Cakes! Friendships
05.27 Sue talks about the insights she gets about being ‘other’ by being with the Coffee and Laughs group and not being traditional Welsh white looking. Most of Susan’s friends were born in Pakistan. She holds so much respect for these women. Some said “I wasn’t being brave, I didn’t have a choice.”
08:13 End