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It is not always easy to integrate newcomers into the life of a community. With a new housing development on the edge of the village this is how people in Crick went about it.Crick has a population of about 1500 souls, from approximately 550 houses, and is situated close to junction 18 of the M1 motorway.The village is expanding now with 50 new houses being built adjacent to St Margaret's and the school. Further development is planned in the future, to infill between a forthcoming by-pass and the existing village perimeter. We were anxious to encourage the newcomers to our village to integrate into the existing society of the village and to make them feel welcome. St Margaret's has delivered "Welcome Packs" to all village newcomers for several years. The pack gives not only church information but general village information as well. However 50 houses being occupied in fairly quick succession was quite a challenge. We have so far kept up with the personal delivery of the welcome packs thanks partly to the co-operation of the site manager who let us know when the next houses were due to be occupied. This small gesture of welcome from us seemed to be appreciated and from this the idea of a "Welcome to Crick" evening gradually.The United Reform Church and St Margaret's C of E Church decided to give an informal cheese and wine evening in the village hall which is large enough to accommodate 60 or more people and is on neutral ground. Letters were sent to all village organisations inviting them to take part by sending one or two representatives to the evening with a display or information about themselves. This met with a very positive response. We also invited the village shops and pubs to take part. They mostly sent menus or business cards but one pub sent a welcome cost donation to help offset expenses. The date was set for when we expected about ¾ of the houses to be occupied, several families having moved in a couple of months previously. In fact only about ½ of the houses were occupied 3 weeks before the event when the invitations were issued. The response was good but we decided to send reminders 1 week before, which also enabled us to include the latest arrivals. The village hall was opened in good time and displays were set out. The school sent a video and computer program about the village that the children had made across the previous term. Wine and nibbles were ready. Exactly on time the first family arrived rapidly followed by many more. Everyone was given a label to help with names. Not only did we meet the new comers and they us, but they also met each other. The evening was a success. The village, we hope, will enjoy having new people joining in with all that goes on and they, we think, were made to feel welcome. Our hope is that when the next batch of houses are occupied the welcome will be passed on to them as well.There were many comments from village organisations as to why the churches had made this effort. We wanted to let the new people know that they were welcome both in the village and of course in our churches. St Margaret's congregation gained two new faces the next morning and we have hopes of increasing our Junior Church members, of finding at least one new bell ringer and another musician for the music group. This is in addition to more families coming to our "Little Saints" pre-school services. Marion Davis Parish Evangelist |
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