The Church of England in St Mary’s, Sixpenny Handley,
Gussage St Andrew and St Rumbold’s, Pentridge.
Gussage St Andrew and St Rumbold’s, Pentridge.
It is now some 18 months since I came here. In that time I have been grateful for all the dedicated hard work by many, many people – far too many people to name. I have tried to listen and learn where we are in this place - and where we need to go. One of the privileges of my position is having time to pray and reflect and talk and listen, and one of my roles is to try to pull ideas together. I am talking about vision – God’s vision – for this place.
The PCC has already talked and considered much, and out of this has come the change in the service pattern (which I believe is showing growth) and the development of weekday activities such as the Lent course, kids’ clubs and soup lunches. We have also spent many hours discussing the way ahead for practical issues such as bringing water into the church, installing a toilet, and improving the heating and sound systems.
All these are part of the whole vision I would like to share with you now, and have an important part to play in the development of the church in this place as the body of Christ: For that is what we are – the body of Christ. We are here to develop the Kingdom, to strengthen those who belong, and seek to bring in those who do not.
We cannot separate worship, theology, pastoral and social concern and practical issues. They come as a package. And our vision is incomplete until we turn our talking into action.
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I would ask you to think and pray about these ideas. We have to balance the fact that we are the living Body of Christ, with the fact that we worship in a beautiful old building, which is also part of our heritage. This does not mean that we stand still! I believe God has exciting plans for His Church in this place. Rev. Mel Durrant |
I want to see our longstanding hopes and dreams become reality. What I have to offer is not a final and complete plan, but is intended as a starting point for consideration, for your prayer, and (I hope) for your support. It will need a lot of hard work by many people to investigate the options, get the quotes and the faculties, raise the money, and oversee the completion of the projects. I want us to be transparent in what we are doing. And I want us to start straight away.
Before we get into details, though, there have been a number of events, thoughts and prayers that have come together over the last few months and I would like to outline them briefly:
The first was the baptism of Henry Chick, using the old font in the base of the tower. The congregation was able to gather round closely and it was a very special and intimate welcoming into the church family – and has led to my intention generally to do baptisms in this way in the future. This is going back towards how we used to do things in the past.
The late-Norman font is currently tucked away at the base of the tower
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However, our beautiful old font is tucked away in the cold tower. Traditionally and symbolically the font in Anglican churches is usually near the door – it is all about entry into the church. This set me thinking about the font.
I am going to blame Alec Hunt for the second thought - at a PCC meeting he suggested building the toilet just inside the church by the main door, and although his suggestion was not met with much enthusiasm, it set me thinking both about where to put the toilet and about that area and the welcome we give as people enter our church, not only for services each Sunday, but for weddings, funerals and all the other times people come in…
Maybe our ‘Welcome’ area could be more welcoming, and maybe an indoor toilet is better – an outside toilet down a long path does not feel very 21st century!
This led me to look around the whole church again – how beautiful it is, how flexible it is for different forms of worship, how much space and light there is, and yet (I’ll whisper) beginning to look just a little bit shabby (I believe it is a number of years since it was decorated).
The final push was hearing about Sir Roy Strong being involved with prizes for the best redevelopment of rural churches for their effective use in the 21st Century. Roy Strong was director of the Victoria and Albert Museum for many years, has written many books on churches and has been one of the high-powered proponents of ‘traditional’ architecture (and not changing anything) for many years - so it is a huge change in his thinking and a sign of a change of thinking generally. It is that phrase ‘effective use in the 21st century’ that is key.
Put all these together and I would like talk you through the whole plan briefly first, then go back and look at each stage in detail…
I know this is a lot… but remember we have been talking around nearly all these ideas for many years.
I took the opportunity recently to talk to John Turnbull (the Diocesan architect) when he was here looking at the roof. He was encouraging and didn’t see any immediate objections to any of the ideas. However, as we all know, every stage will need consultation and faculties from the Diocese and maybe permission from conservation agencies. If any or all of these plans are adopted we are looking at a timed scheme – perhaps phased over three years.
I suggest that we need a project manager to oversee, co-ordinate and push forward the whole plan. Others will need to work with the project manager on each part of the plan.
Now I want to go into each idea in a bit more detail:
Entrance and welcome area. Click to enlarge
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Putting the font nearer the door makes theological (liturgical) sense – and puts on display one of our most beautiful and historic objects!
We might also think about replacing the cupboards with narrower shelving for hymnbooks, library books etc underneath, and welcome leaflets etc on top. I would also like to level the floor - if there is not stone flagging underneath the wood this will have to be put down. Although the area could be carpeted it is unlikely that the conservation people will allow us to concrete the floor!
The font could go either just inside the door, or further into the church at the back of the nave.
View down the nave towards the tower. Click to enlarge
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Moving the font to a better position gives us space for a small room built in the base of the tower, perhaps completely freestanding but as near to the back wall as possible. Depending how big it has to be, there would either be doors across the tower area (on the tower side of the arch) or some sort of permanent screen on the front of the room itself. This would give us space for a toilet and probably also some storage. The architect, John Turnbull, suggested a compostable toilet that would not need flushing, and is a reasonable cost, or we may decide that one on mains drainage is better. Of course, the toilet facilities must be soundproof and suitable for disabled access.
John Turnbull said the roof of the room would go up to the fourth pane of the window (only a little higher than the reredos screen at the moment), so there would be minimal affect on light coming into the church. He would give us a slightly sloping roof (which would also let more light into the church, but to stop us putting boxes up there!).
Obviously, access to the door up to the tower must remain. The radiator on the wall is not used and can be removed, and if the space is needed, the weights of the clock can be permanently up in the tower on an automatic winding system. A decision would have to be made about where to put or what to do with the reredos.
At the moment the sound system is struggling. Either a new system or improvements are needed which can be easily set up and operated. A small sound box could be installed at the back (lockable, and probably in the shelving in the welcome area) so that the sound can be accurately adjusted.
We have the definite offer of a screen that would bolt against the wall of the Choir and hinge around above the pulpit when needed. When not needed it would be virtually out of sight. The DAC have no objections to this. I also see fitting, at some stage in the future, a neat little projector on the wall, perhaps where the white loud speaker is at the moment.
This area gets crowded (it’s a wonder that nobody has had hot coffee spilt on them) and I have been told that there are people who do not stay to coffee because they find it difficult to get to the serving area (as well as the lack of a toilet). Running water has made the serving and clearing up of refreshments much easier, but we are not on mains drainage and we ought to be.
View of the current kitchen and hospitality area. Click to enlarge
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The kitchen itself is becoming shabby (Angus has done some repair work on the doors) and does not have enough shelf space. There could be more working area around the sink and the cupboards need to be lockable.
In order to make more space for people to mingle consideration could be given to rearranging the back pews at the centre of the church – although leaving the two against the wall. As in the entrance area this raises the issue of the flooring.
In the North aisle we might also rethink the next pew - turning one against the wall and the next one to face the kitchen area. This would give a pleasant area for sitting. In both cases we can rearrange seating for the large services. It is important to say here that I see no reason to move the remainder of the pews – this is not the thin edge of the wedge!
A decision needs to be made about what kind of heating we plan to install. Several options are currently being investigated. I would like to see the ugly heaters go, but the DAC suggested they remain as a booster to any new system.
Any of this work is going to add to the dust and dirt in the church and mark walls etc. They will soon need cleaning and painting. Some of the pews and stalls are looking a little knocked about, especially in the choir area – could these be given a little tender loving care?
As you know we currently have a 3 pronged attack regarding funding:
As you know we have difficulty paying our Share, and this must be taken into consideration when these proposals are considered. We must also remember that appeals have already been made for some of this work and donations have been given for specific work. We must honour these donations and get on with the work!
Rev. Mel Durrant, April 2008