"Buildings for Mission?" Training Day 20th March 2012

Do you consider your church building to be one of your greatest assets, a wonderful tool for mission, or a burden to be borne, draining money and time?

Whatever your answer, the training day St. Mary's, Church Fenton, York on 20th March 2012 had something for you!

Whether you are clergy, a churchwarden, a lay leader, or someone involved in your church in any capacity this day had something to offer and challenge you. For architects or conservation officers the training day was IHBC Accredited and counted towards CPD requirements.

Your church building is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, able to communicate the Christian message to anyone passing or coming in even when no-one from your congregation is there. It often holds the memories of your community and the story of faith in that place for centuries, but it also needs to be telling the story today, responding to your living needs and working for you.

The day held on 20th March was a pilot for what we hope will turn into a national programme encouraging everyone to look afresh at their building, to learn its history, to understand its needs and how best to care for it, to be creative in these tough times about how to make it work in the ways you need it to, to make it a beacon for Christ in your community, not a black hole into which resources are inexorably drawn never to be seen again.

Contributors included: the Bishop of Selby, Canon Peter Moger, the head of English Heritage's Places of Worship team, The Cathedrals and Church Buildings Division, York Diocese's Phil Thomas and Christianity & Culture, so it was PRACTICAL advice from the people who know how to fill in the forms!

Feedback from the day was very positive, with many people feeling they had really gained something to consider with their own parish. There was also considerable interest in more specialist day and half-day training on topics such as 'Statements of Significance', 'Reordering for Worship', and 'Interpreting Your Building for All'.

The day will be followed up by specially-developed resources to help attendees follow up with their own churches after the day itself, and these will be available to everyone soon - watch this space!

Other dioceses are interested in running similar days, so look here for more information on when and where these will be running.