At St Edward’s, Stow-on-the-Wold, a diocesan Mission Grant Scheme award has helped the church create a more welcoming and engaging space for visitors, families and anyone curious about faith.
With the grant’s support, St Edward’s has brought together a children’s activity table, a refreshed prayer table and prayer tree, and a generous supply of free prayer resources.
The children’s activity table includes Bible-themed colouring sheets, crayons, family prayer cards and children’s and youth Bibles.
“We have found that families explore the church, while the children use the table. Parents look around the church, and several children and adults have walked over to the area where we keep our Bibles and start flicking through the pages,” said the Revd Karen Wellman, Priest-in-Charge at St Edward’s. “It prompted us to start leaving children and youth Bible editions on the table by the colouring sheets. Around 20 sheep-themed colouring sheets are being used each week, and adults have been enjoying the more detailed Bible colouring designs.”
The strengthened prayer tree and prayer table has allowed visitors to engage at their own pace, with free prayer cards and booklets displayed beside them.
“Over the summer, more than 650 prayer booklets and cards were given away, while more than 1,000 prayers were left on the prayer tree,” Karen said.
The church has also provided free resources that are placed in different parts of the church, from beside the visitors’ book to the pews. The resources include Try Praying booklets, Explore prayer cards, diocesan Pocket Prayer guides, and Alpha’s Why Jesus? in Japanese.
The response has been encouraging. A visitor said, “Stow is not particularly child-friendly. There are no obvious playgrounds. So the colouring table is very much welcomed by tired families in need of a sit-down and some child-friendly activities.”
Karen said: “This summer has been an opportunity to teach and encourage the congregation and visitors in prayer. For some there has been the encouragement to start praying. For others it has been the encouragement to take prayer beyond the beginnings.”
St Edward’s hopes to build on the success of the project in the months ahead, developing new ways to welcome and engage visitors as the seasons change.
“We want to continue monitoring uptake of colouring sheets and prayer materials to identify which resources are most valued. We’re also hoping to create an age-appropriate St Edward’s Trail, with a treasure hunt flyer and colouring sheets for children.
“Looking ahead to Advent and Christmas, we’ll be discerning which resources to offer, including activity and colouring sheets from the Church of England. We also hope to build on this missional approach to visitor engagement through a larger grant application to the Sylvanus Lysons charity.”
News Hub
