IT IS always good to hear that a new church needs to be built to serve a new community. Hampton, on the fringes of Peterborough, although in fact in the Ely diocese, is rapidly growing, and now has a population of 13,000, a respectably sized parish by any standards.

A new church, Christ the Servant King, seating 250 people, has been planned; it will have a smaller multi-purpose hall, a kitchen, an office, three other flexible rooms, and the usual facilities to offer courses, counselling, and marriage pre- paration. It will also provide a community café, and will be one of the distribution centres for the Peterborough food bank.

The first cut in the ground was made recently by the Bishop of Ely, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway (above, centre). He was joined by the Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Donald Allister; and members of the church congregation also brought their spades, trowels, and forks to dig with him. The Priest-in-Charge of Hampton, the Revd Sylvia Kinder, said that they had had "fantastic support" from members of the local community, who had given significant time, money, and encouragement to support the project.