We have heard from yet another member of the diocese who has taken their £10 talent from Bishop Stephen, and seen it grow and have impact on their community. The Revd Canon Simon Evans, Vicar of Ensbury Park and Lead Chaplain to Dorset Police, got his whole church involved – here he shares more:
When I received the Golden Envelope during the service my initial thought was “chairs!” as we had only that week received a Faculty for the removal of pews and introduction of chairs in our church. But then I had second thoughts as we already have ideas on how we might raise that money.
I took the envelope home and consulted with our Churchwardens and other key members, and we prayed. Then, I took the gold envelope with its contents to church. At both our morning services I showed the envelope with your £10 and my note matching it, and I challenged both congregations to match or part-match the ’talents’, or to offer their talents of time.
The cash and time is to be used to re-launch our Community Breakfast, which closed due to the pandemic. This will open once a week to provide a simple breakfast for families on their way to our local primary school, or to our own pre-school, and for anyone in our community who might be experiencing flood-poverty. It will also run on through the morning providing another opportunity for people encountering social isolation and loneliness, whatever their age-group or situation, to meet with others over a cuppa and have a chat.
The immediate response from our congregation was that the original talent was matched ten-times over, with many others saying they would contribute during the week or on the next Sunday they will be present, and there and then four people offered their talent of time to help run it.
The cash will pay for the initial purchase of provisions, and for the publicity to let the community know what we are offering.
The fund has since risen to over £200, with an anonymous offer to purchase some equipment, as well as six offers of time. There has also been a suggestion, with a matching offer of time, to run an additional Saturday breakfast once a month on top of the weekly week-day breakfast.
This week, Dean Nick has also used his talent to make chutney and raise money for the Sudan Link. You can read the original story here.
