In an exclusive interview with Premier Christianity, the worship leader turned vicar revealed how £1.2m was raised to renovate a warehouse on Gas Street where the church now meets. ‘Money has come in and God has provided in incredible ways. We’ve raised £1.2m and a bit towards the next phase,’ he said. The first phase of the building project was completed earlier this year. Four hundred and fifty people including vicar of HTB Nicky Gumbel and the Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquhart attended the launch on Friday 5th February. Speaking of how he was initially worried about raising the funds, Mr Hughes said, ‘There was one particular moment when I was in the kitchen with [my wife] Rach and I was having a low moment. I was down in the dumps.
‘As I’m grumbling and moaning, my phone goes and it’s this guy saying, “Tim, we want to give you £25,000 towards the vision and the building.” That was unbelievable! It was God saying, “I’ve got this, it’s not resting on your shoulders. Trust me and I will give you everything you need.”’
Mr Hughes said the church planting project had been ‘incredibly exciting’ and ‘one of the most fulfilling things’ he had ever been a part of. He added, ‘But it’s definitely the most challenging thing I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a huge adventure that has tested our faith in every way. We’re standing here pinching ourselves at what God has done and what is unfolding.’
He also revealed that while worship leading is a ‘massive part’ of his calling, he may not be touring as much in the future.‘To be honest, I don’t want to travel. I don’t want to miss a Sunday. There’s no other place I’d rather be. ‘I probably won’t be putting out quite as much music, but I’ve never been wildly prolific. Longer term for me, where I get excited is seeing young songwriters who hear things totally differently, writing amazing music. ‘I hope I’m not writing the same old songs in the same old way as I get older. I feel like some of our music needs a bit of freshness and that’s going to come through young people reimagining it.’ He also admitted that Worship Central’s focus had become more international, but revealed the group would be ‘focusing a lot more on doing stuff in the UK’, in the coming months and years. Speaking of the future he said, ‘It just feels like there’s so many opportunities. We need real wisdom in what to throw our weight behind and faith to keep stepping out. Now we’ve got the building, the next step of faith is to fill it.’
To read the full interview, visit Premierchristianity.com/blog
