"He is a light for these people here”

Lisa Isaac shares the story of Golau Baptist Church in Llanelli, tracing its beginnings as a small youth group to a newly constituted, Home Mission-supported church that meets in unconventional spaces

 

EARLY BEGINNINGS: THE “MISSING GENERATION”

I was a primary teacher for eight years, but felt called by God to leave teaching and go into ministry. I took the pathways course at Cardiff Baptist College. I’d grown up in a traditional Baptist church in Llanelli, (Greenfield) just west of Swansea, and I began to notice a significant gap in our church community. There was a “missing generation”—people roughly between the ages of 10 and 50. There were activities for small children and older adults, but very little in between.

So just before COVID, my husband and I started a small group for teenagers on Sunday afternoons. We’d look at Bible stories and just enjoy some social time. Around the same time, we started a very accessible Bible study for adults who hadn’t been brought up in the church, meeting in a local café.
 

ADAPTING THROUGH COVID: GARDENS AND PARKS

When the pandemic hit, we had to stop everything. However, in 2020, as things calmed down and we were allowed outside, we restarted these groups in our garden. We realised teenagers, in particular, were desperate for a place to socialise. Since traditional church spaces weren’t available, we started a youth club in a local park, playing rounders and cricket.

It grew from there. We started a group for adults as well. We saw more and more “unchurched” people— both teens and adults— attending our studies and social groups. We even began monthly worship sessions to give them a flavour of worship without the pressure of a full, traditional service.
 

A VISION FOR A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CHURCH

Halfway through my ministry course, I began to worry about what would happen to these groups once I finished college. I didn’t think a traditional church would work for them. I felt God telling me these people didn’t just need a group—they needed a church of their own. After mulling this over and speaking with my tutors and the South Wales Baptist Association, the vision for Golau Baptist Church began to take shape.

Llanelli already had traditional English and Welsh-speaking Baptist churches, but we needed something bilingual and accessible for those who found traditional environments off- putting. I was really blessed Pantygwydr Baptist Church in Swansea - a church where I did a placement while at college - said they’d be willing to partner with us, so they became our sending church. Their minister Matt Carter is the moderator for South Wales Baptist Association.
 

SEARCHING FOR A PERMANENT HOME

As I neared the end of my studies in 2024, we needed to find a venue. My dad and I went on a prayer walk through our area to find the right spot. We discovered two incredible locations within one week – and both were keen for us to use their buildings:

• The Llanelli Goods Shed: This is an old railway goods shed near the train station that had been turned into a community building. It even has a train inside! We use this for our “Renew Wellbeing” space and holiday clubs.
• The World Horizons Building: A mission building near the beach that historically housed missionaries. They loved our vision and allowed us to use their space for our Sunday services and youth club. We felt very blessed, and again, God was a light guiding us to the right direction.
   

THE NAME: GOLAU

Golau in Welsh means light. I always feel that God is a light— he is a light shining in the darkness for us. And that would be a way for people to come to know of him, and for others perhaps who don’t know him yet, that we could be a light for them. The church is bilingual, so we wanted it to be a Welsh name, a simple one, but also a name that had a lot of meaning. And the fact is Jesus is the light of the world, and he is a light for these people here.
 

WEEKLY PATTERNS IN 2026

Now, in early 2026, our weekly pattern is quite diverse:

• Sundays (4:00 PM): We have four different styles of service throughout the month: traditional, family-style, café church, and a “bring and share” service on the sofas.
• Youth & Young Adults: Youth club follows on Sundays at 6:00 PM. We also have a Teen Study Social on Wednesdays and a “Young Adult Life Group” twice a month for those aged 16 to late 30s.
• Community & Study: We hold a “Renew Wellbeing” space every Friday at the Goods Shed. Bible studies still happen in our home or garden, depending on the season.

 

GROWTH, BAPTISM, AND FUTURE STEPS

Most of the people from those original groups have stayed with us. We’ve seen teenagers grow into young adults who now help lead the younger ones, and unchurched adults have grown into leaders within the church. We are even preparing for a baptism study in March for those ready to take that next step. The support from Home Mission and the South Wales Baptist Association has been vital. They provide half of my stipend, allowing me to focus on the church, and they’ve acted as a missional steering group, helping us with the complex paperwork of becoming a constituted church.

On our first anniversary in September 2025, we officially became a part of the Baptist Union, and all in the Association have been such a help. I’ve always had a heart for people who weren’t in church, and want to provide a space where they can ask questions. I want people to have a home where they can speak, listen, and get their questions answered - somewhere where they just feel comfortable. You can see they need something, but they don’t realise it’s Jesus. It’s amazing when they find Him.
 

Lisa Isaac is the minister of Golau Baptist Church in Llanelli

Watch a Home Mission video from South Wales Baptist Association featuring Lisa introducing Golau Baptist Church: bit.ly/golaubaptist  

 


 

Click here to download a pdf of this article