A church has opened a new £1 million worship and business centre, having outgrown its previous venue on the outskirts of Durham.

The Emmanuel Centre, which features a 500-seat auditorium, held its first Sunday service at the weekend (May 21).

More than 300 people from 20 nations were part of the celebration, which came 14 years after the expanding church opened in the adjacent Durham Centre, nearby on the Belmont Industrial Estate.

Since the opening of The Durham Centre, a worship and business facility with a 300-seat auditorium, in 2009, the church has grown in numbers, diversity and faith.

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With a vision to become a worshipping community of 400 and beyond, it was decided to invest in the larger new venue.

Apart from staging the church’s services, The Durham Centre has also proved highly successful as a business and conference venue, with bookings by outside bodies now back to pre-pandemic levels and look set to exceed them soon.

Both the Durham and Emmanuel centres, situated alongside each other on the Belmont Industrial Estate.

It means that on Sundays the church’s main meeting now takes place in The Emmanuel Centre.

Meanwhile, The Durham Centre, which previously hosted the services, is now entirely devoted to activities for children and young people, of which there are more than 100 regularly attending the church.

Alan Bell, Emmanuel Church’s lead pastor, said: “We are extremely grateful to God for how he has blessed us, growing us in numbers, diversity and faith, so that we reached the point where The Durham Centre was no longer big enough for us.

“Creating The Emmanuel Centre is a step of faith.

“We believe that God’s will for us is to be a worshipping community of 400 and beyond, reaching the nations and our local communities for Jesus.

“We are very pleased to now be worshipping in The Emmanuel Centre.

“We would warmly encourage people to come to visit us and are excited to see what God will do in the days ahead.”

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Founded in 1980, Emmanuel Church is part of the Regions Beyond family of churches.

It met in various locations around Durham until the move to its first permanent home, The Durham Centre, in 2009.

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Church founder David Campbell returned to speak at The Emmanuel Centre’s opening service, on Sunday.

The church has links across the globe and is also active locally, in social action projects and supporting local communities.

Apart from more than 100 children and young regulat attenders, it has thriving community groups, known as Emmanuel Communities, and more than 50 student members.