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Please Keep Church Open in August |
Nine years ago I
arrived in Fakenham to a packed church for my Induction by
the Bishop of Norwich and then the following Sunday I was in
for a shock. It was the first Sunday in August and there was
no choir, bell ringers or children’s work, with just a small
congregation we managed to get through the hymns and I went
home rather depressed. As it was the holiday season I was
not sure who was a visitor or who was a regular member of
the congregation. It took until September to find that out.
It was the
tradition that the church went on a holiday in August as
numbers at church were low and everyone had a rest.
As you can
imagine I had different ideas. From 2002 August became a
busy month at Fakenham Parish Church. The choir and the bell
ringers did not have a holiday, junior church was provided
each week whether anyone came or not, and Stepping Stone
Pram Service carried on as usual (last week we had 20
children). Thursday Market Day refreshments which consisted
of a coffee and biscuits in 2001 has developed into homemade
cake and scones, filled rolls and homemade soup with a stall
and books for sale. Last week a record £600 was made from
the stall and refreshments when in 2001 the average would
have been £20 per week throughout the year.
Am I a hard
slave driver and workaholic who will not allow people to
have a rest in August? The answer is that with the
experience of being Vicar of Herne Bay (a Kent seaside town)
I was used to lots of visitors in August, the Carnival and a
town heaving with daily visitors. Fakenham is certainly not
heaving with people at anytime except Thursdays, but we do
get many visitors looking for a church service and if we are
closed, running at half steam, or simply hoping to get the
service over as quickly as possible because it is holidays,
then we are disappointing our many visitors, as well as
local people.
In an age when
people take holidays at all sorts of times I do believe that
all churches should keep going during August. Visitor
ministry is important. Often I am in church and have an in
depth conversation with a visitor about God, the church and
the world.
I do believe
that we should keep churches open at all costs and that
August is a vital time for the church to be there. People on
holiday have time to relax, look again at their lives and
consider the future. If the church is closed, services
cancelled, the quality of the worship rather poor, and there
is no one around to answer questions, then we are letting
the side down. As I am writing this ‘Thought for the Week’,
the telephone has been busy with people asking questions
about all sorts of pastoral needs. If this office was closed
in August where would they go?
I will be on
holiday in October after our Flower Festival and before our
10th Christmas Tree Festival enjoying some bracing air in
Cumbria. Frankly I would not miss being around Fakenham in
August because there has been so much going on in our
Parish. This Saturday I will be marrying three couples and
on Sunday baptising twins in the morning service and two
further children in the afternoon. I shall be in my element.
Adrian Bell
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