A Journey towards Reawakening

By Andrew Fearn

I started to mentally prepare this blog yesterday whilst I was out walking, as practice for a pilgrimage. Later this month, Peter Hill and I are undertaking one of the Camino walks to Santiago de Compostela and I need to be fitter! They always say that such pilgrimages are more about the journey rather than the destination and I am sure that this will be proved to be true. As I walked, I began to realise that the Reawakening journey has very distinct comparisons to a pilgrimage.

Andrew inspecting work on the project as part of a project progress meeting

Our journey started in 2018/9 when I was asked to look at the possibility of a Lottery application to, initially, repair the south roof as it had started to leak. Our status as a potential Resourcing Church had already prompted an application the Church of England’s Strategic Development Fund for a grant to be applied to some internal re-ordering which had a distinct missional focus. We quickly realised that we would need professional help with an application to the Lottery and we were recommended to Dr Alix Slater, an independent heritage consultant who knew the area as she had worked on projects at Southwell Minster as well as Lincoln Castle.

Alix advised us to produce what she described as a “shopping list”; effectively a schedule of required repairs and renovations. We then had this costed and started to put together an Expression of Interest which is the essential first step in the Lottery process. As part of this, Alix, herself, came up with the title of Reawakening. It has proved to be an inspirational choice as it encapsulates many facets of our project.

Just as we had obtained approval of our Expression of Interest, the Covid pandemic intervened and everything was put on hold. When the Lottery “re-opened", the criteria had changed and we had to resubmit our application whilst taking into account the revised landscape. Happily, this was also approved and we moved on to Phase 2, the Development stage during which we had to submit detailed and costed proposals with a huge amount of accompanying information. Our newly-appointed professional team really came into their own and helped to guide us towards a credible and deliverable project. By this time, it was so much more than repairing and re-ordering the fabric of the church although, of course, this was a major and central component.

The difference was a comprehensive and imaginative Activity Plan with which we received considerable help, once again, from Alix Slater. The importance of the Plan was emphasised when it became apparent that the Lottery was holding it up as an exemplar in a national context and we have received a number of queries from similar projects asking for information. As a result of the approval of our Phase 2 application, we have been able to appoint Anna Herbert and Chrissie Van Mierlo to their present roles and their work in driving the delivery of the Plan objectives is well documented. The building work has also progressed and anyone who visits the church will find it “protected” by 3 metre high hoardings and scaffolding which has been described as an artwork in its own right.

Work is continuing apace and, at the moment, a finish in December 2025 is on schedule. Hopefully the weather in the autumn and early winter will be kind to us.

Work on high level masonry repairs is moving quickly

All this is very much a thumbnail sketch of the Reawakening journey and I could literally write a book. Maybe I will do that one day! There have been so many unseen moments; times of celebration and then despair. The term “rollercoaster” is an overused cliche but it pretty much fits our experience. None of our parish team on the Project Board have any background of participation in such a vast and complex project and certainly leadership in this context is completely new. It has been a rich learning opportunity for us all;  frustration and elation have been emotions with which we have walked hand in hand. Hopefully, you can see why I compare this journey to a pilgrimage. On our last day of the walk in Spain, Peter and I will see our destination of the cathedral in the city of Santiago de Compostela. Similarly, the Reawakening destination is becoming clearer by the day.

Andrew Fearn