Giving Roots room to grow  

Wymondham Baptist Church opens building extension to house its popular café Roots as part of a joyful 230-year celebration 

Wymondham Baptist Church (WBC), based in a small market town in Norfolk, celebrated 230 years of Christian worship and officially opened its exciting new extension ‘The Canopy’ on Saturday 5 September. 

The Canopy was built as a home for WBC’s thriving Roots Café. Already running a food bank, a pay-it-forward scheme for the food and drinks they serve and consistently inviting members of the community such as the Early Help Hub and the Citizens Advice Bureau to give support, WBC seeks to be a safe place where people can feel welcome and seen, no matter what life has brought their way. 

Run by one paid staff member, Roots relies on volunteers to create a safe, accessible and loving environment for people to connect with others. 
 

“The major thing with Roots, and with us as a church, is you can walk through those doors, when we've got the café open, and it looks like a normal café.” 

The Revd Paul Smith and Emma (paid staff member for Roots Café) chatted to The Baptist Times about the opening of The Canopy, where Paul highlighted that the church wanted to provide a space the local community could use, and The Canopy allowed them to do so. 

“The major thing with Roots, and with us as a church, is you can walk through those doors, when we've got the café open, and it looks like a normal café,” Paul stated. 

On the morning, Ben Goldsborough MP, cut the ribbon and opened the doors to the new space for the whole community (pictured above). The celebrations continued into the afternoon with a special service celebrating God’s provision in both finances and manpower. 





Throughout the process of designing, applying for funding and building The Canopy, WBC has consistently seen God’s hand. “God just provided who we needed at the times when we needed them”, Emma commented.

They were especially reminded that God has been their provider financially. WBC were able to obtain over half of the money they needed from the local county council; “they've never given that to any faith-based group in the past”, Paul explained. The rest was raised by fundraising in the church and asking their contacts for generous donations. 

In the end, the church discovered not only had they raised enough money, but they had exceeded their expectations and raised more than they needed. The money left after building The Canopy has been used to add further to the building’s interior and rooms. 

The landmark weekend reached a powerful close on Sunday 6 September, as the church witnessed two baptisms by full immersion. 

Both were originally volunteers at Roots who did not attend church. The more they volunteered, the more they connected with the church and formed friendships that led them on the journey of faith to getting baptised. 
 

"If God can do it here, He can do it wherever you are."

Both Paul and Emma are excited about what the future may look like for The Canopy and Roots. From potentially working with local children’s therapists to opening the space to everyone, they look forward to seeing how the church can serve the community and how the relationship between the two can grow to bring glory to God. 

The church didn’t do it alone; they did it with God’s provision and by visiting other church cafés. Their encouragement to local churches who are seeking God for their next adventure was not to do it alone. Work with other churches. Learn from each other. 

“Be kingdom builders, not territory takers.” Paul finished with a smile, “If God can do it here, He can do it wherever you are... Trust God. He will meet the needs of the people. But know who your community are, know your people, know who you are”.