Cherry Willingham
near Lincoln UK
near Lincoln UK
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Cherry Willingham
near Lincoln UK |
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| The Church Without a Church! by Ted Coleman |
 Well,
without a church building, anyway. But that is how we are known in the Lincoln
North Methodist Circuit. We closed and sold our small single-room 19th century
village chapel in the autumn of 1998 because a thriving Sunday school meant
we had finally outgrown it. But the Church is its people, not its housing.
We are still a small congregation but now our services are held in a spacious
modern building with central heating, comfortable seating, good lighting,
cloakroom and toilet facilities, a big carpark and plenty of room for expansion.
The sort of church that congregations used to get after years of money-raising
and making-do, in fact — while we got it overnight and in a nearby
part of our village. Now our “church furniture” is fully portable
and includes a modern keyboard, sound system and overhead projector. We
can set up anywhere . . . . .
Our Sunday morning service is held in the local Community School, hired by the hour. Our many other activities eg prayer groups, Bible Study, management meetings and social get-togethers are held in the homes of members. We find venues further afield for group-activities such as a Quiet Day or Families Weekend, a summer outing to the seaside or tenpin bowling, all of which we have enjoyed as a Church Family; and we participate fully in community affairs. We have excellent relations with our Anglican friends in the village and do a number of things together. We share a young, energetic, outward-looking minister; are served by a splendid panel of Local Preachers; and regularly mount our own services under the Methodist tradition of “Own Arrangement”. If you are not already attached to
a church, come and |