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This is a text-only version of an article first published on Thursday, 15 May 2014. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
FROM Messy Churches for toddlers through to listening cafes for older folk, outreach projects and one-off celebrations, churches in the Oxford Diocese have been using grants from the Mission Fund in exciting creating ways.
Jo Duckles looks at some examples. 700th anniversary of shrine
WHEN John Schorne discovered a spring in North Marston, Buckinghamshire, the Rector could have had no idea that the waters would have special healing properties. Or that on the 700th anniversary of his death, members of a team of 11 churches named after him, would be planning to celebrate with a series of events to raise money for two hospices. The scheme was given £500 from the Mission Fund.
Bishop Alan is pictured at the John Schorne Well.
Heidi Meakin.
The celebrations will kick off with a bang on Ascension Day (29 May) when fireworks will follow a Eucharist with Bishop Alan presiding.
The commemorations mark the life of John Schorne, whose shrine became the most popular after Walsingham and Canterbury, and was visited twice by Henry VIII. The Revd David Meakin, Schorne Team Rector, said: "The story goes that in a drought Schorne struck the ground with his staff and a spring opened up.
The waters had healing properties and were particularly well known for healing gout. "In those days pain was represented by a devil or an imp so it was thought that Schorne could command the devil out of a boot.
Some people got the wrong end of the stick and thought he could command a devil into a boot.
That formed the origin of a Jack in the Box," said David.
Schorne died around 1314, when the shrine in his memory was established.
"The income for North Marston went from £6 per year to £500," said David.
"The Dean and Chapter at St George's, Windsor saw North Marston's success and made an application to the Pope to get Schorne's bones transferred.
Sadly for Windsor the shrine was relocated as the cult was coming to the end of its popularity. "There's a connection with healing and early on in the planning process we thought this festival could make quite a lot of money," said David.
"We will be raising funds for the Willen and Florence Nightingale Hospices. " Events throughout the festival will include a medieval banquet, an Evensong sung by the boy choristers of St George's, and many more.
See www. schorneteam. co. uk for more details.
From Blockbuster to coffee house
THE smell of fresh paint and fresh coffee will combine as a new church-run cafe to rival Starbucks and Costa opens on the Broughton estate in Aylesbury. The church, which meets in the estate's junior school, celebrated its birthday over Easter.
More than two years ago a survey revealed that people on the estate felt they needed two things: somewhere to meet and something for young people. "We have done a youth cafe for the last six years or so and have built a relationship with the landlord of the local shops that surround the entrance to the primary school," says the Vicar, the Revd Phil White. So the church has taken over what used to be the Blockbuster video store and since March the shop, which currently has blacked out windows, is being transformed.
As well as a cafe, the building, entitled More+ aims to be more than a cafe, with possibilities including: debt relief advice, a credit union, a drop in for young people and for the elderly being among the projects planned.
The project has cost £40,000 with £6,000 coming from the Diocesan Mission Fund.
"We want to make it a better cafe than Starbucks or Costa.
We are getting a professional coffee maker and we are training our volunteers to be baristas.
We are working on transforming the unit at the moment to make it the best quality it can be and to offer it to the community. "Currently the building's windows are blacked out to retain an element of surprise when the finished coffee shop opens its doors later this month.
An official opening is being planned for September.
Family fun in Cowley
A FAMILY fun day has helped show the people of Cowley in Oxford genuine hospitality and friendship. The aim was to develop a warm and caring church equipped to welcome new people and demonstrate that the church is relevant in the community and a place where people come to celebrate life.
At a parish vision day the church looked at new and fresh ways of engaging the community.
The church has connected with the community through the two CofE schools of St Christopher's and St James's, and is hoping to hold more events similar to the fun day in September last year. There the St James Church Centre was set and ready to go by 9. 30am, as was the bouncy castle.
It was set up outside the centre as an advertisement for anyone walking down the street.
A total of 250 people visited.
Vicar, the Revd Howard Thornton, said: "If they were asked why we were holding a fun day people were to say we were doing it to help people in Cowley have fun.
People did seem to have fun; many stayed for an hour and a half and many said they couldn't wait for the next one.
Those who helped run the fun day had a good time and thought we had met our objectives of increasing our visibility, improving our public image and learning how to attract people to a church-run event. "A few were disappointed that we didn't see any new people in church as a direct result of the day.
However we had achieved another important objective - to get more church members into the right mindset to reach out into the community and begin to develop relationships with others.
Team members agreed that the most important thing to improve for future fun days would be that there should be a programme of attractive events that we could offer to visitors. "