Broadfield Christian Fellowship

Thought for the Week – from Caroline (19th September 2021)

Colossians 3:24 “Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

My parents divorced when I was about 4. We lived in Hong Kong until I was nearly 5 and I have no recollection of ever speaking to my Father in my entire life. I have a photo of my brother (6 years older than me) with my father but my brother has never mentioned him. I know my father had 5 brothers and sisters and they would have had children but I never knew any of them. On coming back to England I lived with just my mother like an only child as my brother was sent to what was known in the 50s as Public School, and was a boarder. It was not easy for me or my mother and unknown to her I was sexually abused by her “friends” from an early age on several occasions. All my life I have wondered about the family I never knew but never did anything about it and life took over. I had no male input (not healthy anyway) and no other children in my home. During my childhood one of my father’s sisters, Aunty Doris, sent me money at Christmas and 10 years ago I managed to obtain the phone number of the daughter of this Aunt (a first cousin). I phoned her to see if she could tell me anything about my father; I got abrupt short shrift from her, she seemed to be devoid of any emotional intelligence; I suspect she knew about my drug years and viewed me as trouble. A couple of years ago I was chatting to a man in the gym and discovered he had a hobby, he was an enthusiastic genealogist and he offered to investigate my family tree. He is such a sleuth and spent hours and hours mapping out my past generations, at no charge may I add. It helped him through a difficult time caring for his sick wife. Sadly she passed away a few months ago and he has returned to “hunting down” my relatives, this time it’s helping him through his grief; he has done this for other people too. Well he has discovered just lately that my father married again in 1953 but they had no children (I often wondered whether I had half brothers or sisters). To my surprise I learnt that my father died at St. Helier Hospital Carshalton in 2005 a year after my mother, I had no idea he was so close. My gym friend has also found my fathers WILL. My father had left a very large amount of money and it went to my father’s second wife’s cousin (who is not a blood relative), there was no mention of myself or my brother. I have also learnt I having living relatives in London who are extremely wealthy. I’ve no doubt there will be more. It would have been nice to have had the inheritance from my father but I know I/we have a heavenly Father who has an everlasting inheritance for me/us. His riches, His treasures, His abilities, His love, His mercies, His compassion, His forgiveness stretch to eternity (and beyond in Buzz Lightyear’s assessment). Not only that, we are considered royalty and sons and daughters of a King. It doesn’t get much better than that. To obtain this inheritance all you need to do is invite Jesus into your life, say sorry for your sins and mean it. In Christ there is no distinction of race, rank or gender; we are all equal, brothers and sisters and heirs to God’s promises. God is not only a trillion billionaire and whatever the largest number you can think of is, He can do anything and He is your Father. But remember not everybody is a child of God (some people class everybody as His children), you are only His child if you have surrendered your life to Him.

Welcome to the Broadfield Christian Fellowship Website

Broadfield Christian Fellowship is a local church made up of people from all backgrounds. We are based in the Broadfield Community Centre, which we share with the Church of England and Roman Catholic churches. We are adjacent to the local shopping parade, which includes a large free car park, and opposite the library and Neighbourhood Hub, ideally situated for the local community.

Broadfield is the largest neighbourhood in the new town of Crawley in West Sussex, situated in its south-western corner within the triangle formed by the A23, A264 and A2220. It is predominantly made up of estates of council, housing trust and former council housing, with private housing estates around the perimeter. Broadfield has a population of over 13,000. Click here for a map showing our location.

Broadfield Christian Fellowship is a Link Church within the Ichthus Christian Fellowship, which is based in South London, and a member of the Evangelical Alliance. We are in fellowship with other evangelical churches in Crawley and have links with various local Christian groups, such as The Lighthouse Project, a Christian ministry to the children of Crawley, The Christians Against Poverty Crawley Debt Centre, Holmsted Manor near Cuckfield, run by Youth With A Mission, the International Bible Training Institute in Burgess Hill, and The Easter Team, a local Christian charity that serves people who are homeless or in need in and around Crawley.  We also support and have a number of members actively involved with Street Pastors Crawley.

We meet every Sunday morning at 10.30 am (10.00 am for refreshments) in the Community Centre Social Hall for worship and teaching. Our worship style is informal and generally led by people from within the Fellowship, with occasional visiting speakers. We normally celebrate communion on the third or fourth Sunday in each month and at other times as arranged. We have weekly house group meetings, usually on Tuesday evenings.

Every Wednesday at 9.15 am we run the Triangle Coffee Shop in the Social Hall, at which coffee, tea, biscuits and cakes are served for a nominal donation. Second-hand clothes and other items are also freely available, subject to Covid restrictions. This provides an important service to the community and many people drop in during this time. We have also hosted the Friday Meal, a free drop-in cooked meal at 5.00 pm every Friday, but the future of this is currently being reviewed. The Coffee Shop and the Friday Meal have been awarded the highest 5-star Food Standards Agency rating for Food Hygiene by the local authority.

On the first Sunday of each month at 7.00 pm we join with other churches in Crawley for celebration, teaching, prayer and fellowship at Crawley Baptist Church, Crabtree Road, West Green.

Email Contact Details

You can contact us by email at fellowship@broadfield.org.uk with any queries you may have about our activities or this web site. If you wish to contact one of the leaders or trustees, please use the same address and your message will be passed on. Thank you.