East of England

The following few case studies, some of which were used in the report Building Faith in the Future, are from the East of England region. They follow the same order as the chapter headings in the report.  Please note that it may not have been possible to find case studies for every heading.  If you know of other cases which may be of interest, please let us know.

CHURCHES AS A CENTRE OF CULTURE

Norwich Cathedral

A special Art and Creative Day held on July 23 2004 aimed to encourage people of all ages to take part in different art based activities.

There were several free workshops during the day, including site-specific photography, a giant interactive weave, designing your own stained glass window, knitting, and brass and texture rubbing.

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CHURCHES AS A CENTRE OF VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITY

A survey completed in September 2003 by the Keswick Hall based research company OPERA looked at the extent of the churches’ social action in the City of Norwich. It showed that church volunteers provide 154,555 hours of social action services in terms of social work from drop-in centres, outreach work with the homeless, debt counselling and drug and alcohol-user support  within the City every year absolutely free. This equates to 80 full-time works that would otherwise cost £650,000 (at the national minimum wage of £4.20 per hour).

Norwich Cathedral

On July 13 2004, between 10am and 4pm, more than 35 organisations gathered for a Find Out Fair, in the Cathedral Nave, offering expert free advice to the public on a wide range of subjects. These included help for school leavers seeking employment or training opportunities, information about health and disability issues, childcare and family issues and advice for older people about their welfare, leisure opportunities and benefits and pensions. Free entry, and open to all ages.

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THE URBAN CHALLENGE

St Mary-at-the-Quay, Ipswich, a 15th C church, now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, is situated in a very run down industrial area, surrounded by large amounts of wasteland, but is gaining a new focus as part of the Waterfront Development project.  The church will be used by museums and art galleries for displaying modern art installations, promoting young local artists and providing office space and other facilities.  The Development Corporation there are particularly keen on public/communal meeting spaces in what is becoming a  large residential inner city development.

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THE RURAL CHALLENGE

Norwich Diocese

Church Buildings: A Source of Delight and a Cause of Anxiety – the report of a Working Group, Diocese of Norwich, November 2003

“What could be more important (than the Church) in village life? It is beautiful, peaceful and the only communal place in our Parish. The village needs its church so people can meet, support each other, express their own emotional needs and aspirations in an atmosphere of goodness and concern as Christ taught.” (Doreen Kimberley, Churchwarden at St Aethelbert’s Church, Alby in letter April 2003)

The Diocese of Norwich has the most churches per acre, per person than anywhere else in the world, most are Grade I or II* and 659 of which are medieval. In February 2003, the Bishop of Norwich wrote to every churchwarden asking them for information on how they manage their churches. 200 churchwardens responded from across the Diocese and their replies provided a record of hard work, imagination and the commitment of those people who are keeping their churches alive for the use of the wider community.

The most common problems listed were cost of needed substantial repairs, lack of facilities which make it difficult to extend the use, and isolation in terms of small and decreasing populations and being off the tourist route, but alongside these, the responses revealed a new confidence. Our churchwardens are not panicking; they are getting on with the job. (Source: Kate Weaver, member of the Working Group. April 2004)

A huge number of activities are taking place in these churches: schools visits,  children’s and young peoples’ events, mother and toddler groups, holiday clubs, art and craft exhibitions and workshops, music and drama events, pageants, fairs, fete, and flower  festivals and one-off events such as a village quiz, a teddy bear parachute jump from the church tower.

Churches also provide venues for various local groups eg: history societies, while the churchyards, many of which are conservation areas, provide quiet spaces combined with a local wildlife habitat.

Some of the larger churches provide social care through lunch clubs, day care facilities, a venue for learning difficulties, adult education classes, parent and toddler groups, and a nursing clinic.

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EDUCATION

The Churches Conservation Trust’s education programme has succeeded in enthusing school children about an array of curious aspects of church buildings and their history.

Celebration of Art and Music at St Peter's Church, Offord D'Arcy, Huntington, Cambridgeshire. As part of the Celebration a professional artist worked for 2 days with the children of Offord Primary School.  The works were displayed at St Peter's and will eventually hang in the school hall.

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ADULTS: St Albans Cathedral is home to the St Albans Centre for Christian Studies, an ecumenical centre for Christian learning now 30 years old. The Centre puts on a varied  programme of activities and events throughout the year including evening class 10-week courses, workshop days, lectures and conferences. On average around 200 people will participate in the programme per term. Also open to the general public is the Hudson Library, a modern theological lending library able to meet the needs of the general reader, teachers and students.

The education centre is now being expanded into an ecumenical lifelong learning and community outreach project. To achieve this aim, the education centre is now working with other local learning providers including the St Albans Learning Forum and bodies such as local museums and seeking external funding.

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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: St Albans Cathedral Education Centre

St Albans Cathedral has a team of 4 qualified teachers plus an administrator and a volunteer team of around 30 people working with 13-14,000 young people each year.

Working mainly with schools groups, they provide a wide range of trails and practical workshops devised to tie in with National Curriculum demands. Subjects include the Maths Trail, Alban and the Romans Trail, Invaders and Settlers Trail, Medieval Craftsmen,  Victorian Architects, and also they offer Trails and workshops for children and adults with special educational needs. There are also more  society-based sessions on Looking at the Cathedral as a Place of Worship, Signs and Symbols and Citizenship where all the key Citizen skills of investigation, interpretation, reflection, empathy, evaluation, expression, co-operation, communication, listening, negotiation, decision-making and participation are fostered.  There are also practical workshops in geology, stained glass window making, monastic herbs, Tudor music and Roman letter writing and many more.

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