Long Whatton, Longevity and Long lost friends.
By: Graham Doel, April 21st, 2008
Last weekend, Louise and I went back to Long Whatton where 10 years ago we were part of a team that restarted a Baptist Church there. I completed my ministerial training while I was there and when my training finished we moved up to Morecambe. The church is led now by two of my oldest Friends and it was great to see the church getting on with life. I am also really pleased that they were being creative in their approach to worship and mission.
During the 5 years I was part of Long Whatton, I spent a long time building up contacts and friendships with people who either had no part of any church or were on the fringes of church life. Sometimes my involvement in their lives was fairly insignificant, I’d meet and talk to them just about life, family and the weather. At other times the conversations were about faith or tragedy or illness. I was there as an Evangelist, I suppose, so my role was to build contacts, but I thought I got to know people for who they are and not just with my agenda as a Church Planter.
Some of the things I did while I was there:
- Personally visit every home twice.
- Arrange an ecumenical service drawing on the best of the three traditions (I got the impression this changed in character significantly after I had left).
- Offer an evangelistic video to every home.
- Walk the village and make myself as visible as possible.
- Involve myself in the life of the school (I wonder if that child is still having nightmares after my guitar case nearly knocked her out).
The team who are leading the church now had advertised the celebration well and their aim was to use the event to renew old contacts. I think I could have probably provided more than I did but, I didn’t keep good records at the time and people only started flooding back into my head, once I was there. The more the the meeting went on I became painfully aware that NOT ONE of those people outside of regular church life, that I had got to know had come.
It makes me wonder:
- If I had stayed would those relationships still be lost?
- Does the Evangelist in a rural setting need to be there for a decade or more?
- The Church in Long Whatton has had 3 significant changes in its leadership over 10 years. Is that bad for long term establishment of the village church?
4 Responses to “Long Whatton, Longevity and Long lost friends.”
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April 21st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I don’t have any answers to your questions, but this much I do know…
Out of Long Whatton have come (to my knowledge) two fantastic Baptist ministers (including you!) and another is soon to enter the melting pot (having preached at Dibley a couple of times as part of her testing of call…!).
Nothing is ever wasted (as the good book says) and I’m sure that you did make a difference to those people, wther they have yet appeared at anything churchy or not.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Flattery will get you everywhere!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
We ought not to judge, as we never truly KNOW how effective, or not, we are as evangelists. Only Our Lord can really know if we have gathered people to him, frightened them away or not even been recognised at all. Some things are for God to know and judge.
This being said, in rural ministry, or any ministry for that matter, it is much easier to see and be seen if you live where you work. It is much harder to be visible and to touch people’s lives if you are outside a community. You lived in the village, daily walked up and down the street, folks met you at the school, Post Office and bus stop you were accessible in the church office and around and abouts, you were present. Also living where you minister means you truly come to know the problems the residents face, you get to know the locals and they get to know you.
I agree that in a rural community it takes a very long time to have an impact ant to get known and accepted. Although Long Whatton now has a significant transient ‘suburban’ element it is not a rustic as it once was. I feel being in residence as a minister for an extended period may suit rural communities better, but being in one place for a long period can make you stale and boring. Being there may be more important than time.
Long Whatton has been blessed buy have two excellent training Baptist ministers. Both of whom shone in differing ways. What it lacks is a resident minister of any denomination. The resident “Vicar” was taken away years ago, the RC and Methodist ministers are remote and virtual. The Anglican ministers have been spread far too thin as to be present or really effective. Their time eaten up by admin and other duties, to be able to get to grips with pastoral care and evangelism on a local scale. Each village needs a full time resident minister. Not having one in a society where it is the normal for both partners in a marriage have to work, means in practice every member ministry become pushed beyond it’s limits, and church families through no fault of there own are not able to cover all the bases.
If it is not possible to put a minister in place, another possibility is plant two or three activity families, lock, stock and barrel into a village. Church members whose children are at the school, parents who take part in the social activities and events. Normal folks, who can be everyday witnesses as they go about their lives. If the pastor is an occasional visitor, who in effect is only there to preach, these planters would be present and constant members of the community, but this is a big step in faith, far too big for most it seems. Being community members at a distance is tough, yes you can hold people in prayer, yes you can travel to the village to visit the sick or troubled, yes you can go to the village fireworks etc. But, you will never be part of the rural village. You will remain part of the community of faith, which is the most important thing, a Christian, but not a villager. To be a villager you need to live in the village.
To illustrate; Last summer it really saddened me when a deacon of LWBC did not know who Eric S.P… was, this church member had worshiped in Long Whatton for nine years, and yet did not know who Eric was, despite him be one of the most colourful and high profile members of the village community.
But my opinion does not matter, it is Christ’s that matters and Christ looks with very different eyes than ours, we cannot pretend, or guess what he thinks. It is for him to measure our effectiveness. We are all sinners. I see my friends in LWBC as the best and most visible presence of Christ in Long Whatton at the present, it may not be as perfect as it ought to be, but look at the first apostles what a useless lot they appeared to be, they did not get it write a lot of the time, but the church has grown on their imperfect foundation through the grace of Christ who works through us all.
Your brother in Christ
Don
April 25th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
“Stale and Boring” hu… I’m glad I left then!