Mark Badger, Rector of Kempsey & Severn Stoke w Croome d'Abitot has set in place a number of different initiatives to continue to support the local community while the church building is closed.
Here he describes some of the things he’s been doing to help keep people connected.
“Before we went into lockdown I was able to call a meeting with our local councillors to propose a support network. This started to put things in motion and also opened the door for them to help our plans with a bit of grant funding. We produced a card which was delivered (when we were still allowed to do that) to around 3,000 homes in our benefice. On the card were details of who to contact if help was needed, with both the vicarage number and a dedicated mobile listed.
“We’ve had around 200 requests since delivering the cards. We’ve been on prescription runs, walked dogs, helped with emergency plumbing repairs and taken people to and from hospital, as well as lots of shopping. We started with a small group of volunteers, which has grown to around 115 people, largely between the ages of 18 – 55 with a few more older people carrying out admin tasks.
“Our parish team has also set up a system of welfare calls, with eight of us making around 250 calls each week. This includes everyone on the electoral roll as well as others we’ve identified as vulnerable – for example those who came to our church coffee mornings and people who have been bereaved. Others have been referred to us by their families - the list continues to grow each week.
“A relationship with Morrisons has enabled us to deliver around 700 food parcels (so far) to those who are self-isolating and who are vulnerable. I’ve been incredibly lucky that one of parishioners, retired Army Colonel Richard Head, joined the team early on.Dickie, who had a job in resilience while in the army, has been key to negotiations with Morrisons, Fair Share, and local authority organisations.We have become a bit of a double act spending many hours on the phone or at either end of the Rectory driveway organising volunteer support.
“We’re delivering the food parcels once a week while maintaining social distancing standards. Everyone has been so grateful that there are people who care. We’re now getting pubs and restaurants on board to start to produce cooked and frozen meals and we’ve also been keeping the foodbank at Kempsey school topped up.
“As a result of all we’re doing, there’s definitely been a real warmth of feeling towards the church and how we’ve responded. We’ve built on pastoral networks which already existed and tried to be at the heart of our community, putting loving our neighbours into action.
“Our online services have also been going amazingly with around 150 people watching our Sunday service (double our usual congregation) and almost the same number of views for our kids’ service. Alongside these services, we’ve been producing three-minute weekly meditations through Facebook and YouTube which have averaged around 400 views each time!
“For those who can’t access the internet, we’ve signed up to Webex from Cisco, which is free to set up. It allows people to ring in and listen to the service at the same time as it’s being broadcast online, simply for the price of a phone call. All of these things have helped to ensure that our church congregation still feel part of what’s going on.”
