‘This is my best church’

Author: The Revd Lydia Avery

Published on: 14 December 2021

I’ve always thought that to be a welcoming church, the welcome needs to be present throughout the week as much as on Sunday. Upper Tas Valley Benefice agrees.

Like many rural benefices, we don’t have a lot of money to spare and so when the PCC heard about the Sharing Good News Fund we made an application for financial help to update what had become tired provision for children. This was straightforward and very easy to do. We heard that our funding bid was successful quite quickly, and, together with the Benefice’s contribution, it has made a positive difference to what we can provide for children.

Since that time, we have refurbished the children’s areas in all eight churches with new furniture; now have freestanding display boards for children’s art, prayers and reflections in place in the four churches that are closely connected with a primary school (there are four Church of England primaries here); we’ve updated books and have bought new Christian-themed games; have increased art materials for Baptisms and Messy Church; have introduced children’s visitors’ books; and, finally, we now have a huge and unmissable banner for Messy Church.

How has all this gone down with children? The children’s visitors’ books tell us …. “this is my best church”, “it’s a friendly place”. A parent has recorded that “it’s a wonderful children’s area” and one child told their teacher, after a church visit, that “the church makes me feel welcome”!


The author...

No Image Found

The Revd Lydia Avery

Licensed clergy - Incumbent: Interim Priest in Charge, Upper Tas Valley (Benefice)

This article is from...

Articles in this issue...

Funding awarded

Two churches in the Diocese are set for a major cash boost as the recipients of the Norfolk Social Infrastructure Fund.

More

Welcoming new residents

Housing developments are happening everywhere, Horsford is no exception. Just six miles north from the centre of Norwich, it is a place to which couples and young families are keen to move.

More

VAT is a grey area… but let us add a little colour!

Parochial Church Councils come within the scope of registration for VAT. Whether they do so in practice depends on the extent to which they supply items which are taxable. In most cases, the taxable turnover will not be great enough to call for registration. Some expenditure that most of our PCCs have are listed below, some of which attract reduced or zero-rated VAT.

More

Nurturing early growth

Where are the spaces in your community that enable faith conversation to flourish?

More

The stable which became an Easter Garden

They are many of us saying this – but it is true: ‘We have tried new things because of the pandemic – and there are some things that we want to keep.’

More

Faithful band of pilgrims at Easter

Great Yarmouth Minster is blessed with a set of Stations of the Cross paintings set in our town

More

Thinking about heating?

Before you go any further with a heating project, you should carefully review your current situation.

More

Opportunities to enrich your regular routine

‘Becoming’ is a process; it takes time, and the process itself is the key benefit.

More

Continuing the journey

This spring, our PCC and congregation at All Saints, Chedgrave, were delighted to discover that they had achieved a bronze eco-award.

More

Bronze award pursued

St Mary’s Church, Kelling, is a Grade II listed building set in a large churchyard in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the North Norfolk coast.

More

Keep up to date

Subscribe to our eNews for a snapshot of news, events and resources, usually emailed once a fortnight

Signup to newsletter