SummaryIn 2015 when the Diocese published its strategy Ely 2025, one of the five Levers of Change addressed church buildings and their place in the mission of the church in the 21st century. In order to discover more about that, in 2018 the Diocese teamed up with the Cambridge Judge Business School to undertake the REACH Ely project, with support from the Allchurches Trust and Historic England. During 2019 the REACH Ely team gave presentations to every one of our deanery synods, explaining the work of the project and what it hoped to achieve. In the same period the Team has also visited a diverse group of more than 40 of our churches and compiled a detailed case study on each of them. You can learn more on the REACH Ely by visiting the Judge website here, or by emailing Geoffrey Hunter here. Case Study findingsThe findings of the case studies have been very illuminating, telling us a great deal about the wonderful work our churches are doing with and in their local communities, as well as the challenges they face and the lessons they have learned along the way. The case studies are available for anyone to view on the Cambridge Judge Business School website here. An Audit of church buildings and communitiesThe next stage in the project, fulfilling one of the key aims of the Diocesan Strategy, is an audit of church buildings and communities. This takes the form of a questionnaire whose questions have been shaped by the findings of the case studies. We are asking all churches in the Diocese to take part in this audit; the local knowledge that PCC's have about their buildings and their communities is hugely valuable in demonstrating the importance of church buildings, and the opportunities each has to become more embedded in its local community. As we seek to recover from the Covid pandemic, it has become even more important to understand this. The audit is being conducted via an online platform. The link to the audit form is below. To assist with filling it in, all churches will be sent a pdf copy of the survey questions to help them prepare. A paper version is also available on request. Before filling in the online survey form, please read the brief user guide which will help to make it a smooth and trouble-free process.Audit Link Steps to take and Supporting Information
Print out versions of the Audit Should you wish to print out the Audit, a PDF and MS Word version are available below.
Letters from Bishop Stephen and Archdeacon Hugh & Archdeacon AlexThe following letters are from Bishop Stephen and our Archdeacons and Head of the Church Buildings and Pastoral Department in support of the REACH Ely Audit.
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