(Church Times) Changemakers conference in Norfolk explores ‘reimagining rural churches

Success had hinged on the churchwarden at the time — Nigel Boldero, an “absolute force of nature” with a background in project delivery, Mr Whitehead said. There was now a “greater expectation of professionalism” from the Lottery, he said, which could pose challenges — given skills shortages in some areas.

Mr Whitehead said that the Community Changemarkers conference had conveyed “a real sense of optimism, of hope”. He continued: “I feel really strongly that there is value in the small, value in these rural places, which might not be measurable in terms of numbers of people in church on a Sunday, but is measurable in the depth of commitment people have to tending their churchyards, to giving money to restoring the tower or the clock, or whatever it might be.”

There was, he said, a tendency to look down on, or make fun of, the rural. “We get Dibleyfied, basically,” he said. “I think there is life in the rural church, and I think, where you can find it and you can spread it, that that kind of thing is infectious.”

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The hundred visitors who descended on St Peter’s, Haveringland, in Norfolk, last month were far more than it usually has in a day. It is known locally as “the church in the fields” and stands in isolation on a former Second World War airfield #ruralchurchhttps://t.co/SL4mjEQ6xa

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 3, 2026