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Car-park praying

25 October 2013

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."

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