Our church already feels like a family

Last year, Richard and Klaudia Cairns moved to Barnsley to launch Inside Out church. Now, fresh from celebrating its first anniversary, they told Chris Rolfe about their first year in action.

“It’s been exciting, and definitely a journey of encouragement and challenges,” says Richard Cairns.

He and his wife Klaudia have just marked the first anniversary of Inside Out church, the congregation they planted in Barnsley last year, and they are reflecting on its first 12 months.

Celebrating the milestone with a Pie & Peas service they were thrilled to see every seat filled. It’s testament, they say, to how far things have come.

“The thing that means the most to us is that our church already feels like a family,” says Klaudia.

“We hear it all the time; people say they notice the family feel as soon as they walk in.”

Their church family includes a core team which was boosted by the arrival of Jonathan and Heather Lampard in autumn 2025.

They likewise had been planting a church, but their demanding jobs made continuing that role a challenge, so they teamed up with Inside Out.

“That’s when we started to notice things moving forward,” says Richard. “Jonathan and Heather came with a real heart to serve and that heart is growing through the church too.”

As the congregation has formed, Richard and Klaudia have noticed God moving among them.

One lady came to Inside Out after a struggle with post-natal depression that led to a search for faith on YouTube and her buying a Bible.

“She made a commitment, decided she needed a church and came here,” says Richard.

“She loves it. She’s growing and God’s put on her heart to restore relationships in her family.”

Another lady, Doreen, had her first experience of spiritual gifts at the church.

“She’s normally quiet as a mouse, but one Sunday someone had a message in tongues.

“It was a beautiful moment when Doreen understood what they were saying and stood up to share it. She’d never done anything like that before. It was so encouraging to see people stepping out in a new gift like that.”

The church has been experiencing God’s presence in worship too, despite not having a worship team.

“We’re using iSingWorship music backing tracks, and people have been meeting with God in powerful ways.

“There’s so much hunger for worship and people are recognising, wow, God’s really doing something here!”

Discipleship has been a priority as the church has grown. As Richard and Klaudia were sharing this story they were midway through their first Alpha course. And a teaching series on the church’s values, authentic, audacious and available, was also run recently.

The church has had an outward focus too. Klaudia and some other ladies wanted to begin something for families. As a result, after-school club Snap Time was born (named with a nod to Barnsley’s mining history, where mineworkers called their lunch break ‘snap time’ as they snapped open their lunch tins). It offers free crafts, Bible stories and food.

“For a good while we were seeing an average 15 people coming along, then word spread at the school gates and we get a steady 30 now,” says Klaudia.

“The kids come out of school and ask, ‘Is it church day today?’ then other friends get curious and start coming.”

Richard is also enjoying getting involved in the Barnsley community.

An independent church, Gateway Church, employs him three days a week to run his Waymaker community engagement project, involving new activities like coffee mornings.

“When we moved here they sensed I was here to do more than plant a church. They asked what was on my heart for the community and that’s how Waymaker was born.”

As a recovered addict, Richard also has a heart for people in addiction and is passionate about a second project he is pioneering.

“It’s called From Dust to Diamond,” he explains. “It’s not like your traditional 12 steps. It’s a rolling three-month discipleship programme looking at things like God’s love and identity, strongholds and bondages.

“It asks how we can live free lives once we’ve got clear of addictive behaviour. It came from a revelation God gave me about seeing the treasure in people’s hearts, for cleaning the dust away so the diamonds within them can shine. I believe it will help a lot of people in Barnsley.”

Inside Out’s first year involved some heavy groundwork, but the results are starting to show, says Klaudia.

“The truth is, planting can be isolating at first, especially if you’re in a new area, but we feel we’ve built our foundations now. We wanted to become part of the community first, to understand their heart and who they are, then build from there.”

Richard agrees.

“It’s hard work physically and emotionally at first but it feels like God is moving in the church.

“He’s adding to our numbers, we’ve got great relationships with the other churches round here and we’re going up a level now.

“As we had our first anniversary I asked the church, ‘Are you ready for round two?’”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.