Faith

Spixworth church, alongside Horsham St Faiths and Crostwick parishes, are quickly gaining a reputation of doing things that certainly seem 'out of the norm'.

Flower festivals and coffee mornings are of course on the agenda, but how about African theatre groups and children's Bat Night to encourage greater community outreach?

Making worship fun

Reverend Andrew Beane has been rector of the parish at Spixworth since November 2005, but also undertakes praise at nearby Horsham St Faiths and Crostwick churches in Norwich.

Past events under Andrew's reign in the diocese have included Creation Celebration, a three day event in May 2007, that brought together children's activities, a display tent, a flower festival, country walks and worship with an environmental theme.

"We gave away energy saving light bulbs, went pond dipping and encouraged the community to go green - I even dyed my hair green to promote the weekend, which made the headline on Radio 1!" said Andrew.

In addition, a pet blessing service, inspired by the Vicar of Dibley, and Bat Night have proved very popular in the past 12 months. 

"Like many churches we have bats, so we decided to put a positive spin on what is sometimes seen as a negative situation and created Bat Night," said Andrew. 

Bat Night proved a popular event

"This was an activity evening for children (over 60 came along) and it enabled them to discover more about the life of bats through crafts and games. We finished the evening with a bat watch," he added.

Upcoming events include a fair-trade fashion show, promoting the use of ethical clothing, and another appearance by Grassroots, a Zimbabwean theatre company that encompasses music, dance and drama towards empowering local communities.

"The African Theatre Company came to us through a contact at a local school and for one evening the Church is transformed into a little corner of Africa. We also hold this during Black History Month and at the end of our Harvest celebrations to remind people of our global harvest," said Andrew.

Keeping the church bells ringing

The fun and games all have a purpose - to bond the community within Norwich and to encourage people to embrace the values of Christianity.

"We are working to take the church into the heart of the community," said Andrew.

"I came to Spixworth just under three years ago. The church was already doing lots of traditional events such as fetes, coffee mornings, lunches and raffles and we continue to do many of these, but we are now trying to give them a fresh and modern twist," he added.

How do these events raise a further awareness of God?  Are they simply modern techniques of getting people to go to church?

"I believe they raise awareness of God through just 'being'. Showing the church not as some old fashioned dusty museum but as a living, vibrant and loving community is very important," stated Andrew.

The Reverend Andrew Beane of Spixworth

"In the end, church isn't just a building, it's the people in it!" he added.

With all these inventive and extravagant events, has the parish seen a rise in congregation numbers?

"We are seeing a growth - not massive increases, we are only a small and ordinary church, but in percentage terms it must be between 10 and 20%," said Andrew.

"What is also important is that we have seen more fringe members become involved. Most Sundays we see people between 0 and 90 years old - a truly intergenerational experience".

"Where else do you see that now, teenagers worshipping alongside 90 year olds?" he added.

For more information about events in the local community and worship where you live, see the links below.