Our story
Our history
The Harvest Fields story began in 1993 when Marlpit Hall Farm in Sutton Coldfield was taken out of green belt.
Archie and Janet Gilmour owned the farm and one morning as Archie was leaving for work he surprised Janet over the breakfast table with what he thought should be built there:
a village-type community (with houses of all different types and sizes, some to rent and some to buy, where all ages could feel secure)
a park and playground, and
a community building that would meet the spiritual, social and practical needs of the new community. This building would be the home of a new church.
Archie then promptly left for work and left Janet somewhat wide-eyed and open-mouthed!
They started to share this vision with various people – the vision of “Harvest Fields”. They found people who would pray with them and they employed an architect to sketch out what they saw. They absolutely knew that this was a God-given vision and they gave themselves wholeheartedly to it.
They prayer-walked the land often, praying for planning permission and what was to built there. They felt led to prophetically plant a brick so did just that - hopping over the field fence at night so that no one would see - and going back a week later with a watering can to “water it”!
The new church began meeting in their lounge, a body of believers committed to Harvest Fields, who would regularly prayer-walk the fields, praying the vision into being and praying for the future residents that would live there.
They watched as the houses sprang up, the roads were tarmacked and the first residents moved in.
They planted bibles in the four corners of the new Harvest Fields Centre to symbolise that this new building was built on the words and promises of God, and they finally moved into the building to worship in 2007.
Our purpose
We are a church with a very clear mission - we want to make Jesus famous here at Harvest Fields.
We want the people who live at Harvest Fields and in the surrounding roads to know Him and His life changing love. We therefore seek to love, serve and meet the needs of this community.
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5 v 13-16
Our home is right in the middle of the estate at the Harvest Fields Centre and we are so very grateful that they are also seeking to connect with the community and meet their needs.
Our leaders
We’re Ed and Sue, the Senior Leaders here at Harvest Fields Community Church.
We live on the Harvest Fields estate with our two boys and have a real longing to see God known and worshipped here.
We are a family leading a church family and we are a church that absolutely prioritises “family”. In practice, this means we want relationships and love to come first as we seek to make a difference to the families in our community.
We would absolutely love to welcome you - come see us or get in touch!