Archbishops commit to ?listen to England? in research to launch twin projects. Ministry for birth and death receives five-year investment by Church of England.

03 January 2012

The Archbishops' Council has invested in two projects which will enhance the Church of England's national ministry at the moments of birth and death.

Like the successful Weddings Project, another idea of the Archbishops' Council, the new team will commission independent research to find out what people in England really want from a church service after a baby is born or when someone they love dies. The twin projects will run concurrently until 2016.

The work will be partly modelled on the Weddings Project, which exceeded all its aims over five years. The Weddings Project asked the public what they felt about a church wedding, bringing the findings to clergy in two pilot areas, Bradford and Oxford. Because of what churches said they needed, the Weddings Project built and tested a range of solutions, which it is has now offered to churches everywhere at a national roadshow.?

Solutions like the ceremony planner at www.yourchurchwedding.org, where half the couples who marry in the Church of England go to draft their marriage service, and cards and gifts for churches to send to couples until their first anniversary, supported by an online reminder system for churches. In participating churches, wedding bookings increased by between 10 per cent and 50 per cent as a result of taking part. The Weddings Project book will be published by Church House Publishing later this year.

To head up the new team, the Archbishops' Council has created a new post, Head of Projects and Development, and appointed Gillian Oliver, who led the Weddings Project team. Gillian has a background in television news and many years' experience of working in Church of England communications.

The Archbishops' Council will oversee this work; Council member Philip Fletcher will chair a group bringing together people with expertise from a number of essential disciplines (research, mission theology, communications etc). This group will give specialist advice over the life of the projects.

The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James, was part of the governance team of the Weddings Project and chairs the Ministry Division for the Church of England. He said: "By listening to England in this way, we have found that the Church's traditional ministry is still wanted and appreciated by people today. It has given churches a spring in their step, and helped them serve people better who come for a wedding. That we are about to do more of this work is good news for everyone."

Gillian Oliver said: "The Weddings Project travelled the length and breadth of England over the last two years, and there wasn't a single group of clergy we met who didn't ask for the same methodology to be applied to baptisms and funerals. What the project found out was so encouraging to churches, and the things that came with it made it easy to welcome more weddings."

Source: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2012/01/archbishops-commit-to-%E2%80%98listen-to-england%E2%80%99-in-research-to-launch-twin-projects-ministry-for-birth-and-death-receives-five-year-investment-by-church-of-england.aspx

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