ArticleBlog | Renew Wellbeing: the local church taking its place at the wellbeing table
Renew Wellbeing: the local church taking its place at the wellbeing table
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 26.09.23
Leading out of her own journey with mental ill health, Ruth Rice shares the dynamic yet simple and sustainable church initiative of safe spaces, where it’s ok not to be ok.
Several years ago as a result of a breakdown, I opened a café style space in Nottingham along with the lovely New Life Baptist Church, which I was leading at the time. It was a place designed to share hobbies for wellbeing, to offer a quiet space to join in the rhythms of prayer that had brought me back to health, and to work alongside overburdened mental health services. This place, named Renew 37, looked like a café but felt more like a shared front room. Open four days a week, it became a safe place to belong.
As a place of prayer, attached to a space for community, where people could share a hobby, it brought me life and peace, and I was delighted when other churches wanted to try something similar. So, in 2017 Renew Wellbeing – the charity I now lead – was born. We developed simple ways to train, support and encourage churches to set up quiet shared spaces, where being present, prayerful and in partnership with mental health services is prioritised.
Replicating a Supportive Initiative
By March 2020, there were 50 Renew centres nationally. It was wonderful to see churches interpreting the values of presence, partnership and prayer in outdoor spaces, cafés and local church buildings. Even though I had thought a café-style feel was necessary, many churches simply used space in their buildings. I began to see the simplicity of adapting any space that could be open to the community, improve wellbeing, and prioritise prayer. Then we hit the global pandemic. All the cafés closed overnight, and I thought it was all over. However, it had only just begun.
We adapted and learnt to do our training online as well as in person. The church began to really understand the need for purposeful safe spaces. We now have 250 centres open nationally and many more in training. Being part of the Renew Wellbeing (RW) family means learning together as one church how to better serve those who are struggling and ‘be’ church for anyone at any stage of their mental health journey. As part of the RW ‘family’, we pray daily on Zoom, and have weekly and monthly input and quarterly reviews. There are annual retreats and Zoom celebrations too. All of this is optional, but available.
Each regional area has a coordinator who helps network RW spaces with each other. Our branding and publicity is available to churches who have completed the training, and ideas are continually shared on a variety of social media platforms and in regional networks. As far as safeguarding is concerned, most RWs are adult spaces, but we have specific training for children, youth and family spaces. Although safeguarding responsibility lies with the host church, our coordinators help ensure everything is in place before starting.
