Camborne Community Church

The building at 19-21 Fore Street in Camborne was purchased and modified by William Sarra at the start of the 20th Century and it was established as a Christian Brethren Assembly and run by the members who attended.

Around 1913, Charles Sibthorpe (Sarra’s son-in-law) moved from Kent with his wife Ethel and they became active members and leaders within the church.  At this time, many of the tin mines in the area began to close, and the miners and their families were in great need.  Charles and Ethel opened up their home to them and established soup kitchens in the town to provide for those who were suffering.  Charles would preach to these folks after they were fed, and many came to a personal faith in Jesus.

Consequently, the church at Fore Street grew in numbers and in addition to the Sunday services, Ethel established a thriving Women’s Meeting and Charles led a mid-week Men’s Meeting (see photo).  Charles died in 1952 and his son Henry became the leading person and the church congregation grew to over 100, with a Sunday School of more than 100 children.

In 1966, Henry Sibthorpe transferred the building into a Charitable Trust so that the future of the work was in the hands of its Trustees enabling it to continue to grow and develop.  The work at Fore Street had been buoyant and thriving for many years and after Henry passed into the presence of his Lord and Saviour in 2001, Bob McFarland and Alan Rose became significant leaders.

However, over the next decade, the congregation aged and consequently dwindled.  By the end of 2012, Bob McFarland was the sole remaining Elder and Trustee, with a congregation of 15.  So, in January 2013, Tim Bodman, who had served as an Elder at nearby Redruth Baptist Church, was approached and asked to join Fore Street Chapel as the Team Pastor.  Tim joined the church in October 2013 with his family and a small team from Redruth Baptist Church.  Since then the church has gone from strength to strength, to the point that we have nearly outgrown the building.  We have therefore installed a video link to the downstairs hall and have been looking to rebuild and extend on our current site.  However, we are not closed to exploring other sites and/or buildings in Camborne.