Leeds church finally finds permanent home - after 20 years of searching

Emmanuel Baptist Church opened the doors at St Margaret’s Hall in Horsforth earlier this month following extensive renovations.

For many years the church was based at Cottage Road, Headingley but began hunting for a new home when the congregation outgrew the premises.

The church then rented the current building before taking ownership last October.

Now, after the completion of structural and internal work, worshippers are enjoying life at the new, full-time base.

Roger Barden, one of its three pastors, said: “We’ve made a few changes, mostly structural changes but also internal tweaks.

“We’ve decorated inside and put carpets down and there’s a new pre-school place which wasn’t here before.

“The church has been looking for about 20 years for somewhere to call home.

“We’ve rented various places on a Sunday and originally rented the current building from St Margaret’s before buying it.”

Work was completed in August with the first Sunday services held last weekend.

The pre-school opened in the first week of September.

To celebrate the completion of the works, the church is staging an open day on Saturday, October 1 between 11am and 2pm.

Roger, 38, added: “The church is keen for people in the local community to come and see for themselves the fruit of this project.

“All are welcome every Sunday and to the open day when there will be more information about the church’ ministries and the pre-school along with food and entertainment.”

To find out more, visit www.ebcleeds.org.uk.