All over the country you can find Church buildings turned into art centres, music venues, carpet warehouses…the list goes on.The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene has stood in its present location since shortly after the Norman Conquest and you can see the long list of Rectors on the side of the organ as you walk into the building on your right. The Parish Church continues to be open most days as a place of reflection, prayer and rest for all. If you haven’t been in recently, you are most welcome, the walls seem to reflect the ages and the memories of the thousands of Worshippers over the years, visitors often say how much of a sense of peace they get when they walk through the door.Our vision is to ensure St Mary Magdalene Church does not die. Our vision is that the church continues to be a beautiful gateway into the delightful village of Warboys. Our decisions and actions today enable us to build a legacy which will benefit generations to come. Part of this vison began in earnest over 15 years ago when the pews were removed, the organ was relocated to open up the front of the building, movable and comfortable chairs werepurchased, carpets laid, and central heating installed. It transformed the way the building is used, from Christian rock concerts, 10 years of JUMP (remember that) where 100local primary children came from Warboys Primary School to have summer fun and learn about the Christian story. JUMP would never have happened if the space inside the Churchbuilding was as immovable as it had been, carpets made sitting on the floor possible and comfortable.In recent years the Brownies & Rainbows have made use of the building every Wednesday night, on a Monday morning the space is once again transformed into a welcoming time for the under 5s and their parents or carers for “Together”, we regularly get 20-30 children who bring their adults with them.Leading up to Covid we hosted “Solo” lunches once a month for those on their own in the village, we hope to restart those at some point. The raised platform that was installed during the first phase of reordering has allowed concerts to be held at all times of the year, summer meals, dancing, Alpha Groups - watch out for the next one in the New Year - the list goes on.But have you noticed how busy Church Road is? How difficult it is to park?As the building gets more use through the week, not to mention Sundays, weddings and funerals, Church Road gets more and more clogged up with cars and trying to cross the road with young children and elderly folk is a real hazard. And we don’t want it to be.To build a legacy for future generations means we need to ensure the church is accessible for all in order for this lovely Church to flourish and to be relevant to the Village for today and for generations to come. That means we have to address the issue of car parking.Work has been on-going for a few years, jumping through various hoops to justify and gain permission to make a parking area just to the South of the Church building. If anyone has ever tried to get work done in or around a grade 1 listed building in a conservation area and indeed a building with old disused burial plots surrounding it, well, you can imagine! So far, we have spent over £20k on architects, surveys, trenches and the like and still the old and the young struggle to cross the road.With the full support of Warboys Parish Council though, we have the go ahead and a contractor identified. Parking will be on honeycomb footings filled with hardcore, a new pathway to link to the building and gated access that is widened to allow you to see what’s coming along Church Road as you enter/exit the new car parking spaces.It is a real expression of love and care to all who use the building now and generations to come that we just make getting into this lovely place easier and less fraught with danger.The total cost will be a little over £100k of which we have £45k already earmarked. This leaves roughly £60k to raise to complete the project. We are exploring grants available locally but like in 2007 we will also hold a community “giving day” in the Autumn where we trust to raise the final amount needed to fund theproject.Local folk and businesses were so very generous then as we moved through the first phase of reordering and our prayer and hope is that the community will once again pull together and help us this time.Building a legacy for future generations means we will be able to continue to love and serve the community of Warboys which we are privileged to be part of and which we love and value so much.We will be holding a week of prayer from Sunday 17 th September to Sunday 24 th September and our giving days will be on Saturday 30 th September and Sunday 1 st October. If you would like more details on how you can support this the contact details are below.Every blessingGarryRev Garry Dawson-Jones rector@4parishes.org 07976 382681Rev Maureen Dean maureendean1@btinternet.com 01487 822391
