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.