The Church of the Good Shepherd in the East Hampshire village of Four Marks will be opening its doors for a special centenary exhibition running from 1 to 6 December, and plans to welcome in over half of the 4000-strong local population.
The week-long exhibition follows a thanksgiving service on Sunday 30 November, which will see the Anglican congregation give thanks to God for 100 years of blessing. The Bishop of Basingstoke, the Rt Revd Trevor Wilmott will be speak at the service and look forward to the next hundred years.
The Four Marks church is celebrating its 100th birthday, having arrived as a tin hut on the back of a tractor from the neighbouring village of Ropley in 1908. The centenary exhibition charts the history of the village church over the last hundred years, as well as reflecting other historical events in the period - local, national and international. Pupils from the Church of England Primary School in the village have been delving into the records too, and have devised a vivid and creative 100 years timeline which will be one of the centrepieces of the exhibition.
But keen to ensure that the celebrations are not introspective, as well as welcoming locals in, the church has been sending its regular attendees out. Since January, more than 100 of the congregation have been despatched across the room, across the road and across the world to demonstrate that the Christian faith is practical and relevant.
Teams of church members have been working on a range of local community projects, including a monthly litter-pick around the village. Initiatives have also involved helping with gardening and maintenance work at the primary school, as well as running holiday clubs for local children and helping nearby village churches develop youth and children's work and enhance their contemporary worship. Further afield, volunteers have been assisting at the Winchester churches night shelter for homeless people, and visiting inmates at Winchester Prison.
The international dimension of the 'centenary send-out' began in February, with teacher Ali Beckett travelling to Peru to help a Christian organisation which works amongst deprived street children. In March, Four Marks couple David and Sarah Giles spent five weeks in South East Asia using their professional skills to assist local charities with publicity and promotional material to highlight their work amongst deaf, disabled and orphaned children, ethnic hill-tribe and Burmese refugees and those suffering from HIV/Aids.
