This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 21 April 2021. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
This article is from 2014 so some facts may be out of date. For an up-to-date list of who's who, visit the Newport page.
The Revd Richard Caddell, Area Dean of Newport.
Richard is Rector of the Lamp Benefice, which is not unique but unusual in that it is in two separate parts, with Gayhurst, part of the Gate Benefice, in the middle. "Basically you have St Mary's, Haversham with St Leonard's, Little Linford, then there is Gayhurst, part of the Gate Benefice in the middle and then All Saints, Emberton, and St Peter's, Tyringham," says Richard, who was preparing for a sabbatical to America when we met at his vicarage in Haversham. His trip will take him to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
He'll be looking at how churches build community.
Richard was inspired to find out what is happening in churches over there after reading The Connecting Church, by Randy Frazee, based on the premise that western society is fragmented.
"It looks at the idea that people live in one place but work, or go to school or college in another and maybe do sports in another.
Church adds another element to over-stretched lives," said Richard, who also read The Art of Neighbouring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon, which is based on two premises - what are the greatest commandments, to Love God and love your neighbour, and the parable of the Good Samaritan, which demonstrates that everyone is your neighbour.
"Your neighbour is the person next to you and you are supposed to love them," says Richard, who will be visiting a number of churches examining how we can build meaningful communities without adding ridiculous amounts of stress to people's lives. "It boils down to where your heart is.
Do you see your brothers and sisters in Christ as real family or is this all just lip service? It's not just about being in church on a Sunday, but being in your neighbourhoods where you are. "Richard is aware he'll be visiting American mega churches that, in terms of size, are a far cry from the rural parishes he works in.
"The thing is that big churches always have people passing through and smaller churches can get discouraged and feel they can't do anything like that but everyone has got a neighbour and you don't have to have a special team to reach out to them," he says. And what is going on in his own benefice? There has been a re-ordering at Emberton, with work ongoing to create more space for concerts and events.
The congregation there are in the process of planning how they can be more pro-active in the community.
At Haversham a coffee morning for anyone is being planned, with transport if anyone needs it.
And also a re-ordering to make improvements to the entrance to make it more accessible for wheel chairs. At St Peter's a major organ refurbishment is about to be carried out.
"Finance won't stretch to repair it completely but there is full support from the village to have that work done," says Richard. Something Different "IT's church but not as you know it," says Pam Fielding, who set up Something Different as her end-of-curacy project.
And it's providing a welcome place for a whole variety of people in the Sherington with Chicheley, North Crawley, Astwood and Hardmead Benefice.
An agape meal at Something Different.
With 45 people on the books and at least 30 turning up each time, it's a different way of doing church that is accessible but remains faithful and sensitive to Anglican traditions. It was inspired by a tea party for children and their mothers.
Pam asked the mums if an after-school club would be helpful, but they said the school ran so many extra curricula activities it would be hard to find a free afternoon. So the idea was transformed into an all age event for everyone, including a couple of teenagers, and some mums who told her they didn't attend services.
"One told me her 10-year-old found it too boring and another said her child was too young,"said Pam. "I went to the café church and was talking to some younger women.
They were believers who wanted something more formal than the café church but not as formal as the Holy Communion Service.
If you label something 'All Age' or family, people think it is just for children and someone came up with the idea of calling it Something Different," said Pam, who uses material from the book Creative Ideas for Whole Church Family Worship, by Jan Brind and Tessa Wilkinson, which comes with a CD Rom.
"It's brilliant for us. It can be expressed in all sorts of different ways.
There's a spiritual depth for those who are able to grasp that sense of belonging and fitting into our ancient building. "It's been going since December.
"Attendance is gradually creeping up and when people can't make it for one reason or another, they email to say so," says Pam, who is keen to stress that the sessions are a joint effort.
"We plan 'Something Different' together. We have a small planning and working group who offer their practical help and inspired ideas so it is a collaborative effort. "Soultimeby Claire WoodDaring to dream the church family of St Peter and St Paul, Olney, considered how they might further support their local community.
Their aim: "Not to just be a part of the community, but to be at the heart of the community". Research revealed key areas of need within the town; a lack of local support for those suffering with memory degeneration, growing dissent of the local young people, the list seemed endless. In response the SoulTime projects were conceived, funds raised to reorder the church hall, and in October 2013 the Memory club and Café opened. Volunteers staff the monthly SoulTime memory club.
Each meeting has low-key activities to stimulate memories.
Christmas included fondant cake decorating invoking past memories.
The club provides a place of safety and friendship, piercing the isolation created by memory loss.
Members and volunteers speak of the club with pleasure and its membership continues to grow as it provesto be a valued element of the local care provision. The SoulTime Café provides a many-layered response to community needs.
The majority of its volunteers attend the local secondary school, and these students are trained with new skills including: basic kitchen hygiene, working with the public, gathering valuable work experience.
Loyalty cards, a Facebook page and word of mouth ensure that the café is never quiet and is a popular venue for the local children and families. The SoulTime projects have generated a renewed sense of community and new dreams/projects are already planned.
A Sensory garden is next, a safe place for the vulnerable, frail and very young to share in God's creation. As projects the SoulTime offerings provide much more, each supported by prayer and through them we are privileged as workers in God's kingdom making a positive difference to people's lives in Olney. The Revd Claire Wood is the Rector of the Olney Benefice. A growing café churchby Tim DawsonTHE Café Church was started four years ago by the Rector, The Revd Mandy Marriott, after she was approached by mums who wanted their children baptised. There wasn't a Sunday school running at the time, so they began to discuss the idea of a Café style church where adults and children could come together on a Sunday morning, and the children could have some Christian input with stories, crafts and activities, and the adults could relax over coffee and pastries, and explore particular themes in a very low key way. When people arrive they are offered coffee, tea, juice and pastries, and have the opportunity to have a chat.
Many of the people who come would never venture through the door of the church building.
Meeting in the school is familiar and non-threatening.
This year we started with creation and Adam and Eve and will aim to cover the main stories and themes in the Old and New Testaments in a fun and engaging way.
The parents on the team are very good at coming up with creative ideas for the children. Café Church is now called SCANS (Sherington Community at North Crawley School), and generally meets on the third Sunday of the month at 10. 45am.