What is Touchstone?

Touchstone was established in 1989 as a Methodist presence in the city centre of Bradford - a church without a congregation serving not only Methodists but also the wider church in its work with communities across Bradford and West Yorkshire. In 2008 Touchstone was designated ‘a District project of Connexional significance’. Touchstone is recognised by the wider church as offering specialist expertise and experience, particularly in the areas of interfaith work and city issues.

Touchstone employs six members of staff, full and part-time, and has a volunteer base of ten. It is managed by the Touchstone Council, whose members are drawn mainly from around the District and with some ecumenical representation. Touchstone is funded broadly from three sources - locally from Circuits, the District, and the Connexion.

Touchstone is located in a four storey end-terrace Victorian house, close to the University and very near the city centre, in a residential area where most of our neighbours have Asian backgrounds or are students. We are open during office hours, but also at other times and we welcome visitors from many places. Visitors are particularly welcome on Thursdays to join our weekly prayers at 12.30 p.m.


A Resource for the Churches and the City

Touchstone is very much a networking and signposting organisation, aiming to make a serious contribution to the future development of Bradford while holding information about other churches, other faiths and other organisations within the city.

It has a strong administrative base which includes two paid workers and the team of volunteers, who help with reception duties, photocopying and a variety of other tasks as required.


Why Touchstone?

One type of ‘touchstone’ is a very ordinary looking rock which is used to test the purity of gold and gold alloys - the metal leaves streaks when drawn across the touchstone. Our ordinary looking house is a place where people can discover the best in themselves.

Another ‘touchstone’ is the fool in Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’.
There is a long tradition among Christians that one should be prepared to look foolish in order to achieve things that are good and worthwhile.

The Work of Touchstone includes...

Faith to Faith work helping Christians around the city understand more about their neighbours of other faiths. In Bradford, there are many opportunities for building relationships amongst people belonging to the major world faiths and at Touchstone we have helped this process to happen through workshops, arranging visits to other places of worship like local mosques and bringing people from different faiths together over common concerns and interests. We edit a weekly column in the local newspaper called ‘Faith Matters’ which features a piece written by various people from different faiths each week and also publish a quarterly Faith to Faith in Bradford newsletter which is distributed throughout the Methodist District and to those on our mailing list.

City Centre work, engaging in and with political, economic and civic structures in and around the city of Bradford.We have been particularly involved in planning and transport issues. From time to time sections of the local authority, schools and other public bodies make use of our links with faith networks and our experience of different elements of community life.

Higher Education/Further Education Chaplaincy to the University of Bradford and Bradford College. We have helped to develop a team of chaplains and faith advisors, working with Christian colleagues and representatives of other faiths, to secure a healthy awareness of faith as a resource within these institutions. Support and care is provided both for students and staff alongside opportunities for worship, personal and spiritual development. We are involved in the development of a multi-faith prayer centre on campus.Students are encouraged to think about the wider city and the relationship of worship to international issues.

Training: We contribute to training opportunities for lay and ordained people through Bradford Churches for Dialogue and Diversity, the ecumenical training arm of the Bradford Churches. Like the wider Methodist Church they draw upon our distinctive areas of experience and expertise which include areas such as interfaith, community ministry, the media and city politics. We have regularly provided placements of varying lengths for those training for full-time ordained ministry.

Spiritual Development: Touchstone offers a variety of spiritual opportunities for people to engage with God. These include the more traditional such as weekly Thursday prayers (including monthly communion) and a theological reflection hour on Tuesdays, and also the less traditional such as urban retreats on the top deck of a bus or round the markets. We were partners in the production of the Bradford City Centre Prayer Walk. We have given over one room in our building to be a Quiet Room, which is available whenever the building is open for anyone to use as a space for peaceful reflection and prayer. The Annual Touchstone Celebration is a highlight of our year, involving creative worship and interaction.

Ecumenical Activities: Touchstone is seriously committed to ecumenism. Our mission statement reminds us that we are ‘a movement of faith celebrating the good news of Christ through the words, deeds and lives of those who share a vision for the city’. To this end, we work alongside all who strive for a better Bradford, especially with Christians of other traditions. A current example of this is our developing partnership with Bradford Cathedral in offering support for ecumenical activity within Bradford. We also explore, with other churches, what it means to be Christian in a city with such a variety of faiths, cultures and ethnic backgrounds.