Three villages churches; one community
Westerfield, Tuddenham and Witnesham are ancient villages, and each has a medieval church. Farming is still an important part of rural life, as are the local pubs, and a host of local organisations such as the WI. While many of these clubs and organisations operate on a village basis, the churches manage to work both individually and collectively. We share a Vicar and a ministry team, and through some creative timetabling, we manage to hold a service in each of our three churches every Sunday.
We also do other things together; our upcoming service for pets is a great example, as is our Thanksgiving for Life service where we remember our departed loved ones. But it's not just services, sometimes we organise a joint Lent Challenge, joint christmas sing-alongs, and joint awaydays. The fabulous Inspiring Ipswich project, which aims to grow exisiting congregations as well as create new ones, has been enthusiastically embraced by our churches. We've got a team drawn from all three congregations who are working really well together and have already produced some great new material to help publicise our churches and encourage more people to join us.
Summer is village fete season. And the church community is right in there, helping to make all three a great success each year - even when we've had downpours of bibilical proportions!
This website, our page in the local magazine 'In Touch' (click the Westerfield edition), Pew News, and our social media channels are all joint efforts with volunteers from all three parishes helping out.
And you'll find many of the people in the congregations involved in all sorts of village life - from pantomimes to choirs.
