Making your church more inviting
In Issue 45 Country Way I read with interest the article “Tourism, churches and the economy”. It was however the photo of the welcome notice that first caught my attention being similar to that displayed at St Magnus Scottish Episcopal Church, Lerwick, Shetland.
Shetland lies 957km north of London, 360km west of Bergen, Norway and 1123km south of Reykjavik in Iceland, but the islands are easily accessible with flights and ferries arriving and departing daily from and to the British mainland.
The Shetland Islands themselves consist of 100 islands although only 12 are inhabited. 7,000 of the island’s population of 22,000 is in Lerwick the capital and main town. Shetlanders are very proud of their beautiful islands, with three miles being the furthest distance you can be from seeing the sea. Shetland is not a quiet backwater, rather it is a vibrant active community with lots of cultural and social activities. It boasts excellent sports and community facilities in addition to diverse wildlife and scenic walks. Over recent years, tourism is an industry that has grown within the islands and Shetland has been and is happy to welcome people of all nationalities.
The life of the church is closely connected with the life of the community. St Magnus Church is based near the centre of Lerwick and is the main Scottish Episcopal Church in Shetland. Members of the congregation are from all over Shetland.
At the end of 2001 and beginning of 2002 St Magnus undertook the Foundation Phase of the Provincial Mission 21 programme ‘Making your church more inviting’. This led to a project under the heading of
Local Collaborative Ministry. From that was created a Mission Co-ordinating Group appointed to look at goals identified by Mission 21 for the ongoing attention of the congregation. Two of these goals were outreach and welcome.
Members of the Co-ordinating Group had noted that one tour company arranged walking tours around Lerwick that included St Magnus Church. Could the church be more welcoming to the tour participants and offer refreshments in the church hall? This was put to the owner of the company and in May 2004 Teas at St Magnus was born. A welcome sign was displayed outside the church and a further sign on the inside door welcoming visitors in many languages.
For the last 4 years, from the beginning of May to the end of September, on one morning each week, volunteers from St Magnus Church have enjoyed welcoming visitors to both church and hall and providing warm drinks along with home bakes. Chatting with the walkers relaxing in the hall after their walk is always enjoyable for all concerned and on many occasions informative. In 2007 alone St Magnus welcomed many visitors from 22 nations in addition to local residents.
Although hospitality is provided free of charge, recipients have been generous in contributing to the donation boxes in church and hall and to our ongoing fund raising to facilitate very necessary major repairs to our 144 year old church building.
St Magnus prides itself in providing a warm welcome to visitors from near and far. Why not make Shetland and St Magnus your next port of call.
Aileen Robertson
Chair – Mission Co-ordinating Group
www.stmagnus.org.uk
www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
23
rural mission
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32