Church and Community

Church and Community Support

Samuel Pedlar is our Community Church Building Support Officer, working in the Church Buildings Team. In his role as a buildings support officer, Samuel gives targeted support to individual churches - and those who love them, care for them, and use them. Samuel works alongside Holly Robinson, who focuses on fundraising and fabric, whereas Samuel works to support the PCCs to build their projects, and people resources so that they are sustainable, have the human resources to carry out projects, reach out to their community and make sure each church is well cared for and future proofed.

Samuel can be found to be:

  • Working with PCCs to do community consultation and engagement initiatives, including helping with questionnaires/surveys, meetings, and events.
  • Supporting PCCs to build organisational sustainability.
  • Helping PCCs to consider and implement new models of governance.
  • Supporting the creation of Friends/Action Groups.
  • Advising on projects and working alongside our HCBSO to help to build towards grant bids.
  • Connecting PCCs with experts and stakeholder in the Diocese, in their communities, and in partner organisations.  
  • Planning and running training events for PCCs and Friends Groups.
  • Working with partner organisations (e.g. the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust) to develop new projects.
  • Supporting the creation and running of our Church Building Management Partnership project.

The churches that Samuel usually works with are recommended by committees (e.g. the DAC and Church Uses Committee), the archdeacons and or rural deans, and Diocesan colleagues. This may be because they have a small PCC, problems with the fabric of their church, or generally would like help and advice. Samuel also always welcomes contact from individual churches, by emailing samuel.pedlar@elydiocese.org.


Church Buildings Support Network

Church Buildings Support Network - a new form of support for parishes, aimed to bring together people who are involved in looking after church buildings, to share experiences and resources and provide encouragement and support.

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Church Buildings Management Partnership

The Diocese of Ely has recently secured a grant from the Church of England’s Buildings for Mission project to launch a Church Buildings Management Partnership pilot program in the Leightonstones Benefices.

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Friends and Festival Churches

The Church Buildings Department and Association of Festival Churches jointly hosted the ‘Friends and Festival Church Conference’.

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Engagement and Consultation

Resources to help PCCs and Friends' Groups think about how to grow their relationships with their local community.

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Festival Fortnight

Festival Fortnight is project that seeks to bring together churches from across benefices to collaborate and engage with their local communities.

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Cambridgeshire Churches Trail on the Church Explorer App

The Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust and the Diocese of Ely present – Steeplechase: Cambridgeshire’s Civil War Churches.

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Technology and Church

Helpful links and summaries of various types of technology and software that enables churches to explain and interpret their church’s history and architecture in a new way

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