Stibbard Methodist Church: Case Study - 20.01.11

• Listen to the Stibbard Radio Interview with BBC Radio Nofolk


Author of Study: Mrs Pippa Cook, Secretary, Stibbard Methodist Church Centre, Norfolk

Website Address: www.stibbardmethodists.org.uk

The idea of having a website for our Church had been floating around for some time. Then Malcolm was given Daniel’s name by the Rector of Fakenham Parish Church, and he made contact. It would be very easy for us to say it wasn’t worth having a website for just four members, and even easier to expect Daniel to do the same. However he didn’t, and was very enthusiastic about the project!

He came and met us at the Church. He talked to us and asked us what we wanted, made suggestions based on our replies and set us to work. He asked us to think individually about our own Faith Journeys, how we had grown and developed as Christians over the years. He asked us to think together about the Church, where it was in its Spiritual journey, what we hoped for the future and what was possible. And then he cajoled and nagged until it was committed to paper – electronically speaking, anyway.

Daniel brought his fiancée to the Church and shared in our worship, discreetly taking photographs to use. He shared a meal with us and talked to others who came to share. We felt that he really came to know us as fellow Christians and as friends. And all the time he was questioning, and encouraging us to question, the reasoning behind our desire for a website. And that was quite difficult. It seemed a good idea, but for no particular reason. Gradually we were encouraged to see further than our own four walls, further than our Circuit and District, and realise that this was reaching the four corners of the world and therefore had to be the best we could make it, not just for ourselves, or for The Church Website Design Project, but for God.

It was difficult to believe, in one of the smaller villages of rural North Norfolk, that there were people in other parts of the country, and indeed the world, who would log on to find us, but we know, from prayer requests that we have received, that they do. It has opened our eyes to some of the problems Christians face in other parts of the world.

However pleased we are with the website we are not just left with a ‘finished product’, we have our part to play, constantly. The day to day upkeep of the site is in the hands of The Church Website Design Project, but only with material that we supply, so there is a commitment to maintain the momentum. We need to remember to record services, update diary dates, send copies of newsletters and Pauses for Thought, and honour prayer requests.  

We were very pleased and just a little proud, to be selected as a finalist for the Premier Radio Award for Best Small Church Website. We didn’t win the award, but we give credit to Daniel for a website that came close!

Mrs Pippa Cook – Secretary, Stibbard Methodist Church Centre, Norfolk