Great Expectations
A word from the Centre Manager
The Centre at St Paul’s has a new website. And a good thing too. Many were complimentary about the old one. It gave them the information they needed. It was clear and logical and easy to use. But it also had a “fifties feel”. It looked old fashioned. In an age of constant technological progress, a website dates more quickly than the folks who consult it. It has to be constantly updated. No-one wants information that’s out of date or a website that looks like a relic from the past. As in most areas of modern life, appearance is all. So there comes a time when a complete makeover is the only way forward. Whether we’re talking about a website, a person, a kitchen or a voluntary organisation like the Centre at St Paul’s.
The Centre is a voluntary organisation that grew out of a church - in the same way that woman was created from Adam’s rib, according to one version of human history. It is housed in St Paul’s church. It was created by the vicar and the congregation. But increasingly, in its ten years of existence, it has taken on a separate identity. To some it will always be part of the ministry of the church, half of a duopoly whose “mystery” can only be compared to that of the trinity. To others it’s a community centre – whatever that means - which simply happens to be based in a church. But whatever claims the Centre makes, some critics argue it will never be a fully-fledged community facility precisely because it’s based in the church. Members of the public who might consider using it will always have mixed feelings simply because the Centre is housed in the church building.
(In answer to the to the last point, I can only say we’ll never know. Unless we succeed in conducting a particularly efficient survey and having managed to reach people with such opinions, also elicit an articulated response. A survey to find out the views of users past and present on this and other points is currently being prepared by one of our marketing experts. Watch this space.)
The Centre also has a new logo. Some critics, including members of St Paul’s PCC and the Centre’s own management group, thought the old website was too “churchy”. The same criticism applied to the Centre’s old logo, a rather forbidding black and white image of the church tower. In their view the website ought to reflect the Centre’s separate identity. The opposing view is that both website and logo need to specify the Centre’s location inside the church building. The tower logo was a simple visual reference to the Centre’s physical home. This latter view has not prevailed. That’s why as well as having a new website, the Centre at St Paul’s also has a new logo.
The Centre Management Group is responsible for determining policy and defining the Centre’s identity. Its members have varied backgrounds; not all of them are Christians or even believers in religion. In other words, the Centre’s governing body reflects the diversity befitting an organisation that seeks to serve the community. The church prides itself on “inclusiveness” according to Michael Beckett. But as far as the Centre is concerned, is that just a case of the church allowing the Centre to be inclusive as long as it complies with the church’s concept of inclusiveness? What if the Centre were to decide to go its own way, in keeping with the views of its management group and staff? When a local architect recently gave the PCC a presentation of plans to remodel the Centre’s antiquated kitchen, he stunned his audience by starting with a question: “Does the Centre at St Paul’s have to be based in the church building?”, he asked. “Why not look at buying or building premises elsewhere in the community? Or knock down the church and redevelop the site with a custom-built Centre and a smaller worship area as an adjunct? The Centre is a success, but the job is only half done. The biggest single area in the church/centre complex is the worship area. And though it’s used intermittently, it’s literally a waste of valuable space. There’s no way it can be adapted without spending a fortune. Why not start from scratch and do the job properly?”
A recent visitor from another church with plans for a “community centre” posed the same question in slightly different terms: “Why is the Centre at St Paul’s in the church?” Answer: because the building was already there. Much of this discussion is entirely hypothetical. But if nothing else, it highlights the constant need to redefine the Centre’s identity, why it exists, what it represents and what it seeks to achieve. The new website and logo are integral parts of this ongoing discussion.
12 September 2006
In October 2001, I applied for the job of manager of the Centre at St Paul's and the Management Group invited me to attend an interview. As part of the process, they asked me to prepare a short presentation explaining what I understood by "community". To help me in my thinking, they enclosed a photocopy of a chapter from a book entitled "Beyong the Good Samaritan".
One of the passages which struck me as being highly significant at the time - and which I have come back to some 5 years later - reads as follows:
"Authenticity has become an important watchword in a culture where people assemble the components of their faith from personal experience, intuition and observation. This is a stark contrast to the traditiona reliance on "authorities" in relation to the transmission of belief and faith. In the not too distant past, telling people what to believe was often sufficient to bring about belief. Now people are more likely to be motivated by the desire to be "authentic" and are impressed when they see it in the action of others."
To be continued. Please join in the discussion by posting your comment below.
From Michael Beckett, vicar of St Paul's
Friday 15 September
When I came to St Paul’s in January 1993, my predecessor and the congregation had devised an ambitious plan to sell the church institute in Coronation Street and incorporate the facilities into the church building on Hills Road. They had reached plan ‘F’. By the time of building in 1995, we had reached plan ‘J’! I particularly remember the commissioning of the refurbished building in September 1996 because the Bishop of Ely challenged all those present with some words from Saint Paul. “You may have a brand new building, you may have a great vision, you may even have great commitment and you most certainly have worked very hard fund raising,” he said, “but if you do not have love, it doesn’t amount to a row of beans”! So whatever takes place in the Centre, it is appropriate that we apply the litmus paper of love in order to determine the activity’s worth.
Once the centre was opened we were fortunate to have Shirley Golding as centre manager She incarnated the challenge for she welcomed absolutely everybody unconditionally and established the tradition that has been carried on by her successors of acceptance of all, whatever their background, ability, language or belief.
We initially struggled with our mission statement until one of our staff Sarah Roseblade, articulated it for us. As the mission statement says, our aim is to be a place which enables people to make connections, within themselves, with other people and with God. And the proof of the pudding is always in the eating. Only those who come through the doors week by week can say whether we are fulfilling our mission statement or not. They include members of Bodywork Dance Studios, foreign language students, members of U3A, local residents groups, yoga, dance, art, and drama classes, as well as parents and toddlers, people attending community lunches and many more. We hope that a rich variety of users will not only enjoy the premises, but also their ‘brush’ with other users, as well as the community ethos of mutual respect, value and care that we seek to foster.
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