This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 10 April 2017. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
An encouraging mixture of mission is going on in the Vale of White Horse Deanery in South Oxfordshire.
Messy Churches, a youth club, and even a new notice board (which may sound insubstantial but is a vital communication tool even in the digital age) were among the projects funded by grants made available by the Deanery Synod.
The funds came from a £2,000 pot from the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Revd Colin Fletcher, when the Vale of White Horse became one of four deaneries to join the new Dorchester Archdeaconry earlier this year. The Revd Charles Draper, who has been Area Dean of the Vale for nearly two years and Vicar of Faringdon for 12, was delighted with the grant applications that were made.
Each benefice could apply for up to £250. Uffington used the cash for a Messy Church, Cherbury and Gainfield for a youth club, Longworth for a Café Church and Charney Bassett for a notice board.
All of those benefices are currently in vacancy.
The rest of the grants were awarded to Shrivenham and Watchfield for Café Inspire; All Saints, Faringdon, for refrigeration equipment; Ashbury for Messy Church and Stanford-in-the-Vale for Oasis and Parent Talk. Charles says: "It does feel like we are quite stretched with vacancies and we are looking forward to new blood coming in.
What has been nice for us in the deanery has been reading all of the applications and realising that all of this mission is going on, even where parishes are in vacancy. "The big story for Faringdon itself is the opening of the Barber Rooms, a super modern extension to the ancient church consisting of two new rooms, with a dividing wall that can be removed to create one larger space, and a kitchen. Previously the church used smaller downstairs and an upstairs room, which were not ideal for larger events.
They had at first considered creating larger spaces within the existing church, without wrecking the 13th Century building. "We had received a legacy for £400,000," says Charles.
"The PCC did not know about the legacy and were discussing the needs of the children's work and how that was really taking off. "He later showed me around the church, including the slightly cramped downstairs room and an upstairs room that had no disabled access.
Another option was to use a building over the road, but traffic meant that was potentially dangerous, especially for children's groups. "The PCC came to the decision we should build outside and at that point I said we had received this legacy," said Charles, whose PCC was pleased they had not known about the funds before deciding on the location of the Barber Rooms. The rooms were opened earlier this year, after fundraising for another £300,000 and collaborative work with the Diocese, English Heritage and the District Council.
The final part of the whole scheme has been fundraising for a new path up to the church.
Workmen were busy laying paving slabs when I visited and the path was officially opened in a ceremony on 2 November. A glass door to the Barber Rooms was paid for with the funeral collection for Alice Hignett, a much-loved church warden who died this year.
The idea was to reflect the way Alice welcomed people into church.