Worshippers will soon have another place to meet on Sundays when a new church opens in Penhill.

From September 1 John Moulton Hall on Penhill Drive will host a weekly service open to everyone.

Under the umbrella organisation Good News 4 Swindon, the new church will be a partnership of six Swindon churches, with a strong focus on working to serve the local community.

“There are a number of things we want to do,” said Tom Price, senior leader of Discovery Church Swindon and chairman of Good News 4 Swindon, who will lead the new church.

“We’re hoping to begin by building a bit of an understanding of what the needs of the community are, and then bring in the resources to try and help,” he said.

The organisation is planning to help with the Men’s Sheds social inclusion and wellbeing project by partnering with Gateway Church. And it is running a holiday club for local schoolchildren before term starts.

“We’re very conscious of not coming in as if we have got all the answers,” added Mr Price, who also does debt counselling with Christians against Poverty.

“This is a long-term commitment where we look at how the church can serve the community in lots of different ways,” he added.

Other institutions involved are Discovery Church Swindon, Gateway Church, Gorse Hill Baptist Church, North Swindon Baptist Church, Cornerstone Church Swindon and the Light and Life Mission.

“This is just the beginnings,” said Mr Price. “We hope to bring goodwill and a desire to serve the community.”

The new institution will follow a more modern style of style of worship, with guitar and drums accompanying singing.

Mr Price added: “Many people haven’t experienced the kind of church we’re talking about here. We do find that a more traditional service doesn’t resonate with people today, and that for many people coming to the kind of low church we are, it is not what they have previously experienced as church.”

He continued: “The big thing for me is that people experience God, and the presence of God in their lives.

“Religion isn’t a thing of the head but of the heart.”

Mr Price added: “We want people to know God personally, to introduce people into a relationship with the living God.

“However it is a corporate thing too, which is why this is a coalition of churches working together in Penhill,” said Mr Price.

The congregation will gather at 10.30am for tea and coffee before the service starts at 10.50am.