EVERYBODY’S WELCOME by Patricia Hegarty is a short book, aimed at three- to five-year-olds. A “little mouse” dreams of the future “in a great big happy house”. As the mouse begins to build, other animals join in, each with their own tale of woe: a frog whose pond has dried up, birds whose tree has been chopped down, a bear who frightens everyone with his size.

They are all invited to join in the construction, “and the news will soon spread for miles around, of what we are building — a home safe and sound”. When the house is complete, it will be “filled with song, and everybody in it will feel they belong”. As a vision for a church building, it could hardly be bettered: all the lost and lonely, the broken and bewildered, joining together to create something harmonious and practical, safe and joyous.

The animals’ forest home is filled with bunting and paper lanterns, with open windows surrounded by greenery, the interior and exterior blending together. It is “placemaking” at its most fundamental: a diverse group of individuals gathering together to create a shared space for the benefit of all.

The principles of “placemaking” have been around since the 1960s, but have become more and more significant in recent years in the planning of public spaces. “Placemaking” is a method of transforming public spaces which involves “serving, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work, and play in a particular space in order to understand their needs and aspirations for that space and for their community as a whole”.

As a process for exploring how we view and use the external environment of church buildings, this can be transformative. It is admittedly time-consuming, as the opinions of the church community must be gathered. It is undoubtedly labour-intensive, as agreement must be reached and each step must be examined to ensure that any changes proposed align with the community vision for the church.

It should result, however, in an external space that meshes with the values of the community, encourages passers-by to enter the building, and gives all those involved a feeling of investment in the space and belonging to the place. In other words, the feeling that “everybody’s welcome and all can play a part.”

CALL your community together, inviting everyone to contribute to a vision of how the external space might look. Remember that churchgoers are not the only stakeholders: others may be dog walkers, families, historians, prayer warriors, passers-by, “no matter who you are”. Don’t be afraid to dream big, but do make sure that you have the architect and the diocese on board. Be intentional about the space — what and whom should it be for — and make sure that you plan for refurbishments and improvements.

Placemaking projects can be huge — changing an entrance area into a café and meeting place; installing a labyrinth in the grounds — but small changes also can nudge a building into a more welcome appearance, encouraging passers-by to enter. Relatively quick and simple changes can be made that should serve to blur the boundaries and extend the welcome, encouraging and enthusing the irregular visitor and committed church tourist alike.

It is easy to focus all the attention on the inside of a church building, forgetting that people have to get to the threshold before they cross it. Too often, the first information that a visitor is given about a church is that its roof is protected from theft by SmartWater. A friendly, welcoming noticeboard, with the times of the services and “everybody welcome” — ideally visible if one is driving past — is just the beginning. If services times are too complicated to fit on one panel, consider simplifying your service pattern, traumatic though this might be.

• If you have a lychgate, reflect on how that might be used to encourage people to enter: bunting or balloons for a family service, or a banner with the type and time of service. Providing it doesn’t damage or deface a historical monument, you can be as imaginative as you like.
• If your church path is also a pedestrian thoroughfare — rejoice! Employ different ways to encourage users of the path to linger, such as information panels sited along the way, or a churchyard prayer path.
• Consider whether you can celebrate the liturgical seasons in your external environment — ideally in an interactive way: a wooden cross that invites passers-by to tie ribbons as tokens of prayers; a place for prayer-cairns; a large Easter tomb with the stone rolled away.
• Place benches in open spaces with invitations to sit and rest, although you might want to situate them with clear sight lines to discourage nefarious night-time activities.
• Make it clear which is the main door to the church. Most churches have more than one doorway, and I have often circled a building more than once looking for the way in. A simple A-frame noticeboard positioned outside shows the visitor the way from the churchyard and can indicate what visitors might expect on entering the building.
• Extend your flower arrangements beyond the interior: during the pandemic, one church’s path was lined with glorious flower arrangements, so well received that this was repeated in subsequent years.

Porches are designed to be liminal places, easing the transition between “in” and “out”, but they can easily become gloomy and depressing. Apart from the obvious steps (such as ensuring that all notices are up to date), try to cluster statutory information such as safeguarding and insurance in one place and devote the rest of the space to event publicity and “who’s who”. An image of a friendly, possibly familiar face will encourage people to step over the threshold.

Try to think through how your church exterior can promote your vision: in what ways are you hoping to engage with your community? and how can the churchyard or surroundings promote this?

The Revd Dr Sally Welch is the Vicar of the Kington Group in the diocese of Hereford.