'A hall to be proud of'

Saturday 9 October was a big day in Dulwich! After seven years of hard work, planning and fundraising, St. Stephen's, South Dulwich, officially opened its Millennium church hall with a service of thanksgiving and dedication.

Colin Buchanan, Bishop of Woolwich, preached and the service was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Southwark. Friends, supporters and representatives of local organisations joined in the thanksgiving and rejoicing. The choir sang Parry's "I was glad" which summed up the feeling of the day. The old hall, built 50 years ago to last for 20 years, held fond memories of good times, but eventually facts had to be faced and plans for a new hall grew.

The process towards completion was by no means smooth, but under the direction of the current vicar, the Rev. Peter Vannozzi, with expert support from congregation member architect John Perry, October 1999 saw the opening of the new hall. Neil McFadyen, the architect who designed it, promised it would be a 'hall of which the parish could be proud' and all reports say they are!

'Bayeux' Tapestry in Charlton

It was a labour of love. After three and a half years of dedicated work by St. Luke's, Charlton, Millennium Group, a 'Bayeux' type tapestry (15ft by 5 ft and containing more than 4 million stitches) is at last ready to hang in the Baptistry of St. Luke's church where it will be on permanent view.

The idea of a tapestry originated because of Charlton's connection with Bishop Odo who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry and used local people in the stitching of it. The tapestry depicts in pictorial form religious, secular and local events of the last 2000 years, from the birth of Christ to the erection of the Millennium Dome, all inter-twined and with the river running through the whole theme. The project has been such a success both socially and educationally, with its members from all sections of the community, that the group wishes to continue into the new millennium making new items and expanding into other areas of needlework.

What on earth does it mean to be The Church?

Church has been very different for the people of Immanuel & St. Andrew, Streatham Common over the past two months.

They have been exploring some of the challenges that face Christians in living as a community and witnessing to Christ in today's culture. Instead of their normal Parish Communion Service, they have spent time in seminars for 45 minutes before a short celebration of the Eucharist. These have been planned by Immanuel's Vicar, Rev. Simon Butler and Reader, Janice Price, who is also the Evangelism Secretary to the Church of England's Board of Mission.

They have been exploring questions like 'How do I tell my own faith story?' and 'Being church in our culture'. Simon Butler said: "Very often we just carry on doing the same things we've always done and telling newcomers either to take it or leave it.

"This course is helping us to let go of things that should be allowed to die off; but giving us masses of new challenges to face up to. We are praying God will show us how to be a missionary congregation for the people who live around Streatham Common."

Simon and Janice are wondering whether to publish their six-week course. If you would like to know what they did, contact Simon on 020-8764 5103.