The Dwelling - Missions Arts base. West Midlands

https://www.mannatheatrecompany.uk/our-vision

The Dwelling

For the last 11 years, we as a family have taught and trained hundreds of young people and adults in the Performing arts as a means of growing in confidence and skill and learning ways of sharing their faith through performance. 

We have created audio dramas, and short films and facilitated many speaking engagements and events to support churches, CU events and organisations with short musical performances and outreaches. This has been our life as a family, helping others to learn to grow and shine. We dream of taking this a step further and having a base, where we can not only continue to provide training in musical theatre and dance and film to children ages 6- adult, but to be able to provide space for other Christians to utilise and use. A real Hub. 

The Dwelling is what we dream of calling our land. We see this base in the West Midlands within a 45-minute drive of our home church in the Dudley area

This illustration on our website is a rough sketch of what we see on the land as we imagine it in our hearts.

Our dream is to have a creative space,  3-4 acres of land, where we can build pods that can be utilised as recording studios,  music rooms, choir spaces and dance studios.

We as a family and mission can train not only our ongoing low-cost classes in Dance, drama and Musical theatre but that churches and Christian groups can utilise the venues for training and events. 

We dream of having a large performance/ Worship/ Events barn where we can hold our Missions performances and where other Christian and groups and churches can use the space for away days, training, and utilise the opportunity to bring groups to be trained by us at Manna. 

We dream of having a small cafe and bookshop where people can come and relax and enjoy each other's company, maybe while their children are in Arts classes, or where they can just be and enjoy the venue.

We want the outside space to hold creativity to learn to grow as we believe this is a massive creative expression, for children and families to be able to come and learn this too, to enjoy where our food came from and to enjoy being together in outside space. 

The Dwelling will also host missions teams to train them to use the arts to spread the Gospel; those teams will then be sent back into their communities.

As well as all this, The Dwelling will host times of worship and prayer.

Lastly, as part of our vision as Christian workers, we have a charitable arm which is to have an area of the land to utilise overnight, weekly or short breaks for those that have been affected with the same diseases that our family have the reason Manna began. These diseases consume family life and we desire to provide a space for respite for people to come away and rest in our Big Yellow converted American Skoolie at a minimal cost, and to enjoy the grounds.

The Manna Foundation  ( Click here to see our charitable arm and why we do what we do)  

Project Phases 

We have been looking at various parcels of land in the area for the last 6 months, we have seen and viewed several that would be perfect for our base, but we need the funds to purchase so we can start the build. 

Phase one will be to purchase the Land 

Phase two will be to secure power and water to the land ( should it not already be so) 

Phase three - We will move onto the land as a family to start the build in Big Yellow ( our American skoolie conversion on wheels)  We will then purchase a static to be our temporary home while the build starts and Big Yellow can become part of the Manna Foundation our registered charity.