Explorations in Community and Spirituality in a South Norfolk town
Introduction
For nine years from 2010 – 2019, the Methodist Church in Wymondham (a small town just outside Norwich) explored, with myself as minister, various ways of engaging with both community and spirituality with varying degrees of success. I offer some reflections here in case these experiments – which, of course, were meaningful and productive in their own right – might be useful to the wider church. N.B. The Church was already (and had been for many years) engaging in steady outreach through coffee mornings, ladies’ groups, a men’s group, partnership with a Day Care Centre and a parent & toddler group. Further, a sequence dancing group was started by two church members that created relationship and community like the existing groups and activities.
The vision, from the beginning, was to explore missional initiatives on two levels. Firstly, engaging with community and, secondly, engaging with spirituality. The hope was that these two aspects would interact and be fruitful in a way that was greater than each pursued separately. To a large extent, this is what happened and, although there were was no ‘big project’ and no mass revival in local Methodism, nevertheless there was a steady increase in church members made, lives changed, relationships made, community fostered, and cultural goodwill fostered in the local community. I believe that this sort of quiet, steady missional activity is the way forward for many ordinary churches, in ordinary places, in our current cultural climate. There does not need to be huge expenditure, or a major project underway, to make a significant difference in the life of a church or in the lives of individuals. The results may be relatively small, and they may often be intangible, but they are very achievable in many places where praying, missional people are not sure what to do to make a difference in our present non-churchgoing culture.
Some of the things we tried
Creating community on our own premises
Wymondham Methodist Church is very lucky in having a modern suite of halls (the ‘Town Green Centre’) with over 25 groups (church groups and hirers) using them on a regular basis. The decision was made to establish a separate identity for the Town Green Centre (TGC) with its own logo, website and email mailing list. Although users knew that the TGC was run by the 
Methodist Church, it gave the building a sense of being a ‘third space’ (see for example https://thirdspaceministries.co.uk/) which enabled it to be more neutral and less ‘churchy’. For three years from 2013 – 2015 we employed a ‘Town Green Centre Networker’ who worked to build relationships and a sense of community. An important part of this aspect of the whole vision has been the concept of the TGC Open Day – we have held three Open Days (in 2014, 2015 and 2017) at which nearly all the groups using the Centre have had stalls and/or displays. This has not been the opportunity for groups to sell wares, but to sell themselves, and to network with each other and with the general public. N.B. In 2017 we celebrated 25 years since the Town Green Centre was opened by BBC Songs of Praise presenter Pam Rhodes (when she worked for Anglia Television). Pam came back during a special weekendwhich included an Open Day, a re-dedication Ceremony performed by Pam and a ‘Songs of Praise’ event hosted by Pam.
Perhaps one of the best things we did was create a community from scratch by establishing a drop-in with opportunities for adult colouring, jigsaw puzzles, craft activities. ‘Open Door’ has run successfully for 3 years, has formed community, and has resulted in both occasional and regular church attendance (in June 2019, 4 people were received into membership who had been introduced through Open Door).
Engaging with the community in the town
We learnt, over time, that joining in with what the community was already doing was far more effective than trying to do our own thing from a cold starting point. Whether it was the town Christmas event or the town’s Vintage Day (when we displayed the church’s history) or the events of Remembrance Day (particularly for the centenary of the end of WW1 in 2018), by making our own distinctive contribution we were able to capitalise on the numbers of people walking past our door as well as share the positive feelings from very good community events. By getting included in the programme, and by offering our building free to the community (sometimes giving a percentage of donations to the Town Team), we were able to gain an excellent reputation for community-mindedness, hospitality and generosity. N.B. We also discovered that when we opened our main Church doors on these occasions, people naturally came in to have a look and to see what was happening. The Manse garden also twice participated in the town’s Open Gardens which brought over 400 people onto the church site on both occasions.
Offering opportunities for spirituality both ‘at home’ and in the town
Creating community on your own premises and gaining ‘cultural goodwill’ in the town are, of course, good things in themselves but we were seeking to do more than this. We wanted to use the sense of community, and the relationships we had developed, to engage non-Christians in thinking about spiritual things, and to give them opportunities for spiritual and divine encounter. In our building we tried ‘Health and Well-being’ events (with a strong spiritual dimension), Labyrinth mornings, an Enneagram Workshop, a Mindfulness Day. More traditionally, we had a very successful ‘Display of Nativity Sets’ for 4 years – in partnership with a community person with a large collection of nativities, and as part of the town Christmas event (see above). One year, we built a large Easter Garden at the front of the Church and adults and children coming to an Easter Fayre came to see it. Many didn’t just look, they involved themselves in the scene. One lady, on the fringe of the Church, said,“I felt as though I was there!”
One of the best things we did wasan attempt to stimulate both thinking about the Christian story,andan impact fromthe use ofbiblical figures,using the Mexican tradition of ‘Posada’. Large two dimensional figures of Mary and Joseph travelled round our building, and the town, visiting somewhere different each day of Advent. We did this for 5 years with the practicalities, as well as the spiritual and missional benefits, being written up in a Grove Booklet (‘Hosting Mary & Joseph’ EV 114 https://grovebooks.co.uk). A summary, as well as accompanying resources and pictures, can be found at http://www.jacquisresources.co.uk/using-posada-as-outreach-in-advent. The figures visited shops, schools, carehomes, businesses as well as private homes. Many
participants spoke of the special experience of hosting Mary and Joseph, and of the peace which thefigures (albeit made of corrugated plastic!) brought withthem. Some of our hosts looked forward to the visit of the biblical characters year after year.
Mindfulness
Perhaps the most successful missional activity – in terms of tangible benefits – has been the running of courses in Mindfulness, including a pioneering experiment in facilitating spiritual experience through the medium of Mindfulness. Seven courses were run using the secular based book and CD ‘Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ by Danny Penman and Mark Williams. These involved a teaching element as well as meditations from the CD. Spin-off benefits included enduring relationships, discussions about spiritual things, and participants attendingvarious church events including, in one case, a return to churchgoing and eventual membership. The courses were almost exclusively made up of people from outside the church and were attracted through social media as well as traditional publicity.
Some of the outcomes and benefits that we experienced
- Several people, over the years, have come to church, attended special services, become integrated into the life of the church family. One or two people asked for healing prayer. One person from the Mindfulness Courses, four people from Open Door, and at least one person from other groups meeting on the premises eventually became church members. There was no immediate increase in church-going from any particular activity or event (and this was not the main aim) – just a slow and steady process of extending the church family in different ways over a period of time.
- Relationships were created with many people, on and off the premises. As well as giving a good base for conversation and invitation, we will never know how the relationship with Methodist Christians affected lives, moved on spiritual journeys and helped with worries or traumas. But people’s lives will undoubtedly have been touched, in one way or another.
- Involvement in the mindfulness groups, in particular, impacted the lives of those who participated. Participants consistently reported a decrease in stress levels along with an increase in peacefulness and the ability to relax and to be able sleep at night.
- ‘Cultural goodwill’ was created in the community and in the town. The Methodist Church gradually gained a reputation for being concerned about people, being involved in the community, and being engaged in anything important going on in the town.
- We kept ourselves alive! Rather than stagnating (and declining) in a ‘maintenance’ mode of church, we found life in trying different forms of outreach and in prioritising visitors, spiritual seekers, and the community.
Some of the things we learnt or re-learnt
- ‘Small’ results are ok... One person here and there coming to church, becoming a member, being moved on in their spiritual journey, forming significant relationships, becoming part of the wider ‘3rd space’ community – all these constitute good outcomes...
- As above, success does not necessarily mean ‘bums on seats’. In our contemporary culture, we need a much wider definition of missional success – anything that extends God’s kingdom in our own situation is good news!
- Doing any activity that works well involves hard work and, often, sacrifice. It can also involve spending money with no obvious return. But these things are worth it when all the benefits are considered.
- It is worth having a dedicated worker (even for a limited time) if funds allow. A burst of concentrated outreach and relationship building can show what can be achieved and can build a foundation for the future.
- Good publicity is, of course, essential. Eye-catching, readable posters; flyers for church, community and neighbours; round robin emails to contacts (we built up a large email contact list); using social media appropriately and well. It was worth having large (A1 or A2) posters on the outside noticeboard that were readable from a distance – people often came to events because of seeing them advertised in this way. Of course, having an attractive, user-friendly, and up to date website is also essential in contemporary society.
- Also essential (most of the time) is offering refreshments to accompany an activity and to advertise this alongside the main event. It can make all the difference between someone choosing to come in, or not.
- The welcome that people receive – in church, in a group, on coming to an open event, can be decisive in whether or not they will return. There were frequent reports that the welcome and friendliness received brought someone back to the church or centre (or the opposite with the opposite effect!)
- Perhaps surprisingly (or perhaps not) the name attached to an event or group can make a big difference to attendance. ‘Display of Nativities’ sounds more accessible than ‘Crib Festival’ and ‘Open Door’ more attractive than ‘Drop-In’.
- Creating relationship can be key to further steps in participation. People might not come cold to an event or group or service but, if invited through a relationship with a person or group of people that they already enjoy, the event or group or service becomes much more of a possibility.
- Organising community and outreach events can be fun!
One of the biggest things that was re-learnt, and confirmed for me, was that, for any sort of meaningful success, a venture needs to be based on prayer as well as being in tune with God’s guidance and purposes. When we prayed about things, and for things, they tended to go well; when we neglected to pray, we were more likely to run into problems.
With God’s leading, with prayer, with hard work and long-term commitment, who knows what can happen as churches try different things, explore new ways of forming Christian community, discover new ways of engaging with the local community, and as Christians seek to make connections, wherever they can, between the interests and concerns of contemporary people and the Christian gospel.
Jacqui Horton
September 2019