Christian and Muslim Groups Work Together in Bid for Northstowe’s First Faith and Community Space
Plans include facilities for the whole town to use, alongside a new Chapel by the Lake and an Islamic Prayer Room, in a rare, inclusive design approach shaped by the community, for the community.
The Northstowe Church Network, working in collaboration with Northstowe Muslims, has confirmed it will submit a bid to South Cambridgeshire District Council for the lease of the first piece of Faith and Community Land Northstowe. This is the first of four designated sites that will help shape the civic and spiritual life of the town. Rooted in seven years of neighbourhood-level listening and collaboration, the proposal aims to create an inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and genuinely community-shaped space serving residents of all backgrounds, including those with no religious beliefs.
Photo 1: Trustees from Northstowe Muslims meet with representatives from the communities involved in the Northstowe Church Network at the town’s temporary community centre, The Cabin.
Photo 2: In true Northstowe spirit, Muslims and Christians squeeze into one of our homes to share tea, cake, and friendship.
Revd Dr Beth Cope, Pioneer Minister for Northstowe, said: “Since moving in as some of the first residents of this new town, we have been ‘praying, exploring and sharing’ in Northstowe. We believe this is the moment to deepen our collaborations and develop a home for the local community and Christian worship. We want to let this beautiful landscape nurture a community of welcome that gives glory to God and helps root those of all religious and non-religious backgrounds.”
Shaped by water, light and the shared rhythms of community life, the vision reaches far beyond just a building. The bid proposes a multi-use, multi-generational place of welcome where neighbours may gather, rest, create and celebrate — whether they come often or only once, whether they arrive with faith, with questions, or with none. The building is held within the gentle curve of Bug Hunter Waters. Its spaces are positioned to receive the light and wide horizon of the lakeside, one of Northstowe’s most cherished features. A café, open exhibition space and smaller rooms for community use offer possibilities not yet available elsewhere in the town.
At the heart of the site is the “Chapel by the Lake”. Intended for Christian worship across various traditions, the chapel would also welcome music, arts and space for people to pause amid the busyness of daily life. As the future Parish Centre of Worship, it will also enable residents to marry and to honour loved ones in Christian funeral rites for the first time here in Northstowe; a profound step for a town becoming home to new families and generations.
Across the site, planting and architecture are woven together to create places of calm, reflection and reconnection. Crucially, the design process has listened closely to many Northstowe residents, including paying close attention to the imagination of local children and young people whose hopes for Northstowe’s future are rooted throughout the concept.
The Northstowe Church Network intends the site to become a living hub for its charitable work across the town. It will be the place from which new partnerships, volunteer support, wellbeing initiatives and intergenerational community-building can grow. This would not replace the work already rooted in Northstowe’s neighbourhoods, schools, open spaces and community venues, but strengthen it. As the town continues to grow, the Network hopes these developments will help reduce isolation by offering varied pathways into shared community life.
A distinctive feature of the proposal is the inclusion of an Islamic Prayer and Education Room within the shared community spaces, providing a spiritual home for Northstowe’s Muslim community until a purpose-built Islamic centre is developed in the future — a hope fully supported by the Northstowe Church Network.
Jawad Nawash, chair of Northstowe Muslims, celebrated the growing interfaith joint working, saying “Our children will grow up here. They deserve a town that teaches friendship across difference. We hope this bid helps build that future.”
Both the Northstowe Church Network and Northstowe Muslims believe that Northstowe has the potential to become a nationally significant example of understanding across faiths and in strong community-partnerships. This project and what it represents can be instrumental in transforming perceptions and strengthening connection across the town as its identity continues to be shaped by the people who are putting down roots and building their lives here.
The bid seeks to establish this lakeside community venture as a haven of faith, hospitality and welcome in Northstowe.
A decision on the bid is expected from SCDC Council in Spring 2026.