A Feast for body and soul One church in coastal Suffolk has a found a formula to grow its Sunday morning congregation and attract a younger age range. A team lead by Revd Rich Henderson of St Margaret’s Reydon in the Sole Bay Team, is pioneering a new style monthly all age service that has a growing number of families yet retains many of the established congregation. FEAST is based on the concept of offering a good meal with a starter, main course and dessert. The experience begins with a good quality light breakfast of filter coffee, fair trade tea and fresh juices to accompany ample supplies of toast, crumpets and brioche. Held in the church room attached to the main church building breakfast provides a warm inviting atmosphere putting those new or returning to Church Services at ease. Corrine a young mother with two children (9) and (4) chatted away happily about how much she and the children enjoy the opportunity to catch up with friends in the village after they had moved away. Although raised in the church as a child herself Corrine fell out of the habit of attending church in her teens but returned following the baptism of her first child and stayed as the congregation offered such a warm welcome. After about half an hour the 42 adults of varying ages including some older teenagers and eleven children, ranging from as young as a baby to a 10 year old, were invited into the main church building for the worship service. Immediately you can sense a difference as we all knew someone else before we started our act of worship. It felt as though we were part of a congregation rather than a collection of individuals. The starter comprised of a brief introduction to the theme based on journeys, which in this case was the journey of the Good Samaritan. All the words were projected onto screen removing the need for a library of books. It commenced with a responsive greeting, and a modern song accompanied by a backing track in place of the regular congregation member who usually leads the music on a guitar. A memory verse was offered as a means of summarising the whole theme. This was followed by the reading in the form of a cartoon version of Luke 10:25-37 based on CEV and held the attention of the youngest to the oldest. An action song followed with children assisting the lead of vicar and curate with the majority of adults joining in the actions. The main course is perhaps the most innovative offering a choice to consider the passage in more detail in a variety of means. The alternatives were:
‘the Big Picture’ offering an opportunity to create a collage drawing out the meaning of the story as children and adults physically engaged; creating a modern day drama version to demonstrate how the story might be retold today; scanning the Sunday papers local, national and even The Church Times for good news stories of loving your neighbour; A toddler table where the very youngest could mould shapes from playdough to resemble the main characters in the story;
a Bible study held in the church room in which there was an opportunity to go a little deeper with the text and some opportunity for discussion.
This pattern offers a rare example of taking seriously the different learning styles and personality types that exist within our communities and reflects a society where one size will not fit all. The dessert included a brief report from each ingredient of the main course which broadened the application of the main theme. This was reinforced by gently testing the congregation to recite the memory verse! Prayers for others were based on an imaginative invitation to write a first name or initials of someone we knew who needed God’s love on a plaster to stick onto an outline of a body at the end of the service. The Lord’s Prayer was said collectively. After the notices and a final well known song we departed to a responsive ending. FEAST is only part of the total diet of worship services offered at St Margaret’s Reydon. A weekly early morning traditional Eucharist attracts between 12-20 adults and on all the other Sundays the mid-morning service is a Common Worship Eucharist attracting 45-55 adults and the occasional child or two. On the same Sunday as FEAST a choral evensong is also offered. FEAST is often the best attended act of worship in the month attracting on average 42 adults and 11 children. This surpasses the former Family Service attracted 35-45 adults and at most 3 or 4 children but often no children. Whilst FEAST may not attract the completely unchurched it is a good example of ‘doing Parish Church well’ for those with some prior experience of church and those requesting baptism for their children or holding their wedding in the church. This may reflect the higher than average affiliation to the Christian Faith as reported in the latest Census. Relationships have also been fostered through attendance at Parents and Toddlers Group, social events and involvement in festival services. Rich Henderson comments ‘the main outcomes have been a broader church that is accessible to all ages so people feel they belong.’ He continued ‘The wider Church knew that
it was a risk but they now speak positively about the difference it has made to the whole church’. FEAST clearly has the potential to grow and develop further and the principles could be adapted by other congregation in their contexts. Taking risks, using the gifts of the congregation, involving all ages in the planning, building on a base of good relationships and accessible children’s work in the local school, advertising by word of mouth and social media are all principles that can be transferred to different contexts. The next stage of development includes offering opportunities to nurture discipleship amongst the eight adults and seven children for who FEAST is their only experience of church. This could include inviting them to join the current FEAST team, periodic offering of a beginners course such as Puzzling Questions, opportunity to engage in practical loving service for others through Town Pastors, Beach Mission or other outward looking engagement. Developing authorised leadership from the core team who already have planned and lead without the Incumbent present, might provide the potential to take on the overall leadership of FEAST from the Incumbent so ensuring the long term viability of this innovative worship service.
FACTS and FIGURES Mission Context (2011 Census) Population: 2,600 Christian Affiliation of Population: 67% (average 57%) = 1,742
Age Range
Age Profile of Population 85+ 75-84 65-74 60-64 45-59 30-44 20-29 17-19 12-16 5-11 0-4
130 338 364 182 546 286 208 78 208 156 104 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Population
Other Churches: St Margaret’s is one of eight churches in the Sole Bay Team and the church building is located at the extreme northern edge of the village thus inhibiting parishioners from walking to church services. St Edmunds Southwold attracts people living in Reydon Parish either because of its style or because for some it is physically closer than St Margaret’s. Southwold also has a Methodist and Roman Catholic churches. Ministry Team (Authorised trained ministers): Team Rector; two Team Vicars; Associate Priest (PTO); Reader; Reader (PTO), Reader in Training (due to be licensed June 2016); 10 Lay Elders. Sunday Services attendances. Feast Average attendance is 42 adults 11 children, there have been occasions when it has been higher (57 adults 17 children). For 8 adults and 7 children FEAST is the only congregation they attend. Other services 8.00am BCP HC 9.30am Parish Eucharist 4.30pm Choral Evensong
Every week Weeks 1, 2, 3 Fourth Sunday
12-20 Adults 45-55 Adults, 1-2 Children 1-16 Adults
