A TESCO car park is not the most holy of spaces, but the
churches of Congleton, in Chester diocese, chose
to hold their joint harvest festival in one as "one big
celebration" on 6 October. Heather Kemball, the team evangelist,
explained that, rather than being in church, unseen by the wider
community, they decided "to be outside and visible as part of
Christ's Church in Congleton".
All the churches - St Stephen's, St Peter's, Holy Trinity, in
Mossley, and St John the Evangelist, in Buglawton - support the
local charity Storehouse Foodbank, set up a few years ago and
co-ordinated by the New Life Church. It distributes food to people
in need; so the organisers thought that "as part of our harvest
service we would give both church members and shoppers the
opportunity to purchase an extra item and donate it beforehand, or
bring it to the service in the Tesco car park."
They had a rolling programme of 20-minute services so that
people could come and go, and at one time there was a congregation
of about 120 people. The staff at Tesco were wonderful, Ms Kemball
says, and even provided hot drinks and bacon butties for those
setting up the gazebos and sound system. "We had a fantastic time.
The weather was warm and sunny, and all the arrangements went
well."