The changing face of
On the first Sunday of each month high quality, fresh coffee, tea, croissants and bacon butties are all on the breakfast menu at Haddenham Village Hall in Buckingham- shire.
This is Caféplus – the church in community mode. Other things happen during the morning depending on the resources available and using the various rooms of the village hall venue. There is a crèche in a space adjacent to the café and a children’s Sunday School running in another room for part of the morning. In a third room, there is a Quiet Space and the opportunity for prayer ministry. Each month there will be different one-off events of general interest to the community.
A litter-picking party round the village, a demonstration by hand bell ringers, a craft sale for a developing world charity. A presentation called Food 4 Thought takes place at 10.30am, presenting contemporary issues from a Christian perspective with an emphasis on accessibility and informality. Caféplus is still developing. An enquirers course is an optional activity in part of the venue, Bible study and worship may grow from this. Currently an outreach project of St Mary’s church in
Haddenham, it may eventually develop into a church plant.
In the Tas Valley in Norfolk, church-planting takes a completely different form. Here Christians meet in small groups
Rev Sally Gaze with her family
known as cells for prayer, bible study, worship and to engage in practical service and mission together. The church has grown to 50 adult members and 20 young people in five years. A majority of these people are new to faith.
Hollybush Christian Fellowship is situated in the farmyard of Jim Wilkinson in the remote hamlet of Newsham in Yorkshire. It is a larger congregation with a more conventional programme of worship services. However, it deliberately seeks to meet people who are not part of a church congregation in their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The fellowship receives referrals from social services and local doctors’ surgeries, some for practical help and some for pastoral care. There is a used clothing store open 2-3 days a week and a café. There is a programme for children
including holiday projects and seasonal workshops. Volunteers from Hollybush are also active in visiting a local prison, hospital visiting and in the church army youth bus project in nearby Thirsk.
Doing what God sends us to do
These are just a small selection from the many exciting examples of rural church- planting in Britain today. Yet, a few years ago, when the working party for the best- selling Mission-shaped church report asked questions about church-planting in a
questionnaire, there was a less than enthusiastic response from rural areas. As one Church of England official wrote, "With 648 churches in this diocese, there is little incentive to plant more."
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www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
church planting
© Encounters on the Edge No. 28
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