An article written by Alison Hannah, PCC Secretary at All Saints Church in Old Buckenham.
As a village church with increasing costs and an income that unfortunately doesn’t always match, the ‘unexpected’ is usually unwelcome – it often means an expense that wasn’t in the budget! However, there can be amazing ‘unexpected’ events, and last year we were taken completely by surprise when we received a legacy of £10,000 from the will of a local farmer – he wasn’t a member of the church but had lived in the village all his life and clearly felt ( as we would want all our parishioners to feel) that ‘All Saints’ was his church.
The gift came at a time when it could not have been more welcome. The ‘church rooms’ (the old village school, owned by the church and positioned at the entrance to the churchyard) was in the process of being decorated by tenants – who had leased the building for their new enterprise – a village bookshop and café. It had just become clear that a ‘little problem of water entry’ was actually a major roof issue – and that even worse, the disused chimney stack was in danger of collapse, threatening both the bookshop business and the church’s ability to rent out the building at all.
The cost of repair was far greater than we were expecting, and church funds were insufficient to the task. Then suddenly, we were informed we were to receive this unexpected gift – and with some careful juggling the work could be done and the project saved. The bookshop café is now open and providing a truly welcome addition to the life of the village; the church is receiving rent for a building that was becoming sad and neglected and we are delighted that it is now being loved, cared for, and used by so many. So we are incredibly grateful for that ‘unexpected’ event!