Engaging through a vegetable patch

The Fellowship for Evangelising of Britain’s Villages (FEBV) placed a couple in this little village chapel.

With the presence of full time pastoral leadership the life of the church began to develop. They found that as the quality of the worship improved word got out and people started to travel to join the church. This was both an encouragement and a cause for some concern. It is all too easy for a church that begins to develop a reputation to become a centre for Christians, rather than the centre of a local community.

The church remained committed to find ways to engage more fully with the community. This started to happen in a most surprising way, when the pastor decided to use a parcel of land adjacent to the church building to grow vegetables. The vegetable plot became a means of getting to know people in the village. People would stop and chat over the hedge. There is something disarming about a man digging his plot and planting vegetables.

Relations between church and community were good and enhanced even more when the church considered applying for planning permission to extend the church. The extension will provide an extra room and good kitchen and toilet facilities. The church members visited homes in the village to tell them the plans. As a result there were no objections to the plans and they went through planning process with record speed.

From the churches perspective this was a real encouragement as the extension will help the church to develop their engagement with the community further. The building work itself, when it begins, will naturally stir village interest and will help the church in their desire to be an effective Christian witness in their village.

Last Updated 03 December 2010