By John Cole

Discovering our own localities

The task now is to try to discover as much as possible about the individual local situation round any particular church. Only then can we face questions about why the church is there and how it should be doing the job that God requires of it.

A good way to start would be by noting down the ways in which your local situation differs from the stereotypes set out in 'Do you recognise your neighbourhood?'.

But there are several other exercises that are worth attempting - and one of the most fascinating of these is the Map:

Introducing Bardney

BARDNEY is a relatively undiscovered place (Click on the picture for a closer view). It can be found almost exactly in the middle of Lincolnshire. Tourists don’t visit it, although it is pleasant enough and has the remains of a mediaeval abbey. It is not a place one ever travels through on the way to anywhere else.

According to the 1988 Register of Electors, 1408 adults live in Bardney. Quite a lot of new ‘in-fill’ housing means that the population is growing.

At least in Lincolnshire terms, therefore, it is quite a large village - perhaps even a small town - for it has two large industrial complexes: canning and sugar beet processing.

The unforgettable smell from the sugar beet factory lingers on the autumn air during the ‘campaign’ season (September to January), and the roads are crowded with queues of lorries and tractors and trailers loaded with beet - all carefully scheduled to ensure continuous production!

During Lent one year a group of church members (Anglican and Methodist) from Bardney took a look at their locality with the aid of a map. The picture that emerged was fascinating and they found there were quite a few lessons to be learned.