Over 1000 people attend church fun days
Over the past couple of weeks, a number of churches across the diocese have hosted community fun days, collectively welcoming over 1000 people from their parishes for a day of fun with bouncy castles, music, activities, stalls and free food.
St John’s with St Mary’s Mansfield
St John’s with St Mary’s in Mansfield hosted a Family Fun Day to celebrate a new name for the parish, ‘Christ the Light’. They had bouncy castles, crafts, games, music, a barbecue, cream teams – and over 400 people turned up to enjoy the fun. Revd. Chris Lee opened the event, thanking everyone for coming along and sharing the message behind the new name, ‘Christ the Light’, as the churches hope to be a beacon of light in the town of Mansfield.
St Paul’s Boundary Road
Each year, St Paul’s Boundary Road hosts a summer BBQ, and this year saw double the attendance compared to last year. The event aims to show the church’s generosity towards it’s community and build relationships with the people they serve. Much of what they offered on the day also came from the generosity of others, with a lot of the food being donated by local supermarkets and no-waste charities.
Revd. Tim Fox, from St Paul’s Boundary Road, shared, “We loved welcoming over 300 members of our community to our summer BBQ. This was a great opportunity to embody the generosity and love of God, and to invite people to experience, to explore, and engage with the gift of Christian spirituality. The feedback from the event was wonderful, and we were delighted to be able to offer our community a blessing from their local church!”
Holy Trinity Lenton
This year, Holy Trinity Lenton organised the annual Lenton Fun Day after the council was unable to fund it. They welcomed over 500 people from the community onto the Lenton Recreation Ground and into Holy Trinity for live music, free food provided by local businesses, bouncy castles, sports activities and more. The day was supported by the local councillors, as well as other local churches and organisations.
Revd. Garreth Frank shared, “When we heard that there was likely to be no Lenton Fun Day this year, as a church seeking the prosperity of our local community, it made sense for us step in and make it happen. In our context in Lenton it can be challenging for people to know who or where we are as a church. So this was a great opportunity to share that we are here, we love you, we want you to experience God’s love and ultimately find your home in the local church.”
Fun days and community events are a great way of encouraging generosity in the church. For some of those attending, it might also be the very start of their journey of faith. Please join us in praying for all the families and individuals that have attended, and the churches who have organised these great events.
If your church is hosting any community events this summer, we’d love to hear about them and share your stories! Please get in touch with the Comms Team here.