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AoG faith rises from the coal dust

A church in a miners’ village gripped by despair has stood on God’s Word and been rewarded

In the aftermath of the miners’ strike of 1984/5, the village of Grimethorpe in South Yorkshire looked to be heading for oblivion. And with the closing of the mine in 1993, despair and hopelessness gripped the community. Yet 20 years after Arthur Scargill’s now infamous insurrection, Grimethorpe is undergoing a remarkable regeneration, in fulfilment of a prophetic word of Scripture given to AoG pastor Joy Gascoigne. What’s more, under Joy’s leadership, a brand new building has replaced the tattered wooden hut that was once home to the Pentecostal Church. It has not, however, all been plain sailing…

Petite and quietly spoken, Joy appears the last person who would succeed in a tough mining community. As you get to know her, however, you detect an iron determination backed by a remarkable faith in God. When I asked her just how a small group of people could see through a £300,000 building project she simply said: "We believe in miracles!"

Fourth generation Pentecostal Joy went to Grimethorpe in 1982 after training at Mattersey Bible College. She recounts the grim perspective presented by the village when she first arrived:

"It was winter and in the mining communities the smoke fills the air. The streets were lined with coal dust. It had all the characteristics of mining locked into the community."

For the full story, see the June issue of JOY Magazine.