Open churches


Parish members who take turns to keep a church open, coming every day to lock and unlock, may like to be reminded how valuable they are. Sometimes we wonder why we’re doing it, but here’s one example.


St Oswald’s church in Ravenstonedale, Westmorland, has a small but determined congregation, and one church- opener who is also the organist went along one morning to unlock and to practise. As he played, he noticed that a couple who used to live in the village but had moved away had come in and were sitting quietly in their old pew. He may have wondered why, but went on playing. A little later he was able to ask if there was any music they would like to hear, and yes, as it happens, there was, would he play


‘The day thou gavest Lord has ended’? So he did.


These two, I’ll call them Jack and Sally, had come to be quiet in St Oswald’s during the time that Jack’s brother was being laid to rest in another country. He had died suddenly, this man, and what with struggles over visas and all sorts of bureaucracy Jack and Sally were not able to attend his funeral. He was being buried now, and they were not there. So they came to St Oswald’s and sat in the pew where Jack’s brother used sometimes to sit with them, and where they could grieve.


We were glad the church was open.


Janet Barlow


You are welcome


Many churches are benefiting from the work of the www.yourchurchwedding.org project developed by the Church of England. Clergy report great improvements in how they are able to deal with wedding enquiries and the response they receive. Country Way’s roving reporter came upon a coach and four waiting for the newly weds to emerge from one church in the Avon Valley Partnership group of parishes in Winchester Diocese. The church leaflet is a model of good practice in inviting people to think of a church wedding. The leaflet acknowledges the special day and the church as a special place


Elsewhere in this excellent leaflet the couple are assured: “we offer a complete and professional service to help with planning your church service.” And: “from your first contact with us to your first anniversary and beyond, we are here for you for every step. There are some things about getting married in Church that you just can’t get anywhere else.”


Visit www.yourchurchwedding.org for more information www. countryway. org. uk 7


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