Diocese of Worcester - Open Church Web Links

Open Church recommended internet resources

The Diocesan Visitor Strategy Task Group has identified four sources of information that they think will be particularly useful to parishes considering opening their churches for visitors or wanting to develop further their ministry of welcome:

1. Open to All from the Diocese of Gloucester is an audit to help churches develop their ministry and mission through reviewing the welcome they provide. It covers a wide spectrum and can be used to get parishes thinking and reflecting on their priorities.

2. The Diocese of St Davids has a very useful toolkit to help churches look at their welcome procedures, called You are Welcome, it can be downloaded from http://www.stdavidsdiocese.org.uk/tourism/resources/

Each sheet in the toolkit concentrates on a particular aspect of preparing for or welcoming visitors and lists points to be considered. They could be copied for group use. The aspects covered are shown in italics below:

Preparing for Visitors - Promotion of the Church
Leaflet - Website - Signage - Churchyard - Church
Welcoming Visitors - Arrival of Visitors
The Welcome - Access -Atmosphere
Enhancing the Experience of the Visitor - The Visit
Care for the visitor - What's special about your church? - Feedback from visitors

3. The Church Tourism Association is useful for finding out what others have been doing and there are plenty of resources for churches available for download. Click on Document Library and then Resources for Churches to find more description or to download. The following are likely to be of particular interest:

Open Churches: ‘Why and How to Open your Church daily or regularly'. Gives suggestions in a checklist which will be relevant to many churches.
Mission: Visitors - a guide suitable for churches already welcoming visitors but wanting to raise their tourism profile and reach new visitors.
Ministry of Welcome - a very easy-to-use tool-kit of resources and best practice for churches produced for the Diocese of Carlisle.
Encouraging Visitors on a Spiritual Journey
A short guide with practical and simple suggestions for church congregations

4. Divine Inspiration

This site about unlocking churches in Coventry and Warwickshire offers useful guidance that could be used by churches in Worcestershire and Dudley. The following are like to be of particular interest:

TOOLKIT 1 - Ten Top Tips for Welcoming Visitors to your Church (236.1 KB)
Ten things you need to consider when improving your welcome to visitors to your building.
TOOLKIT 2 - Producing Better Resources for your Visitors (253.6 KB)
Some ideas and tips to help you to write better leaflets, trails and guides to tell your story more effectively to those who make visits to your building.
TOOLKIT 3 - Opening with Confidence (110.1 KB)
Produced in collaboration with Nick Tolson from Churchwatch, this information sheet provides some sound advice and useful suggestions about security issues associated with opening church buildings.
TOOLKIT 4 - Getting Noticed! (305.8 KB)
Some suggestions of what to consider when planning notice-boards