When Christ Church, Higher Bebington discovered that local financial cutbacks by the council meant that there wasn't going to be an organised bonfire night for the community, they got all fired up, sparked some ideas around, and decided to have a blast in the church garden.
In the video below, the Revd Mike Loach gives a brief tour of their Community Bonfire and Fireworks event, which was held on 5th November. It was a huge success, with over 400 tickets sold, which were just £1 each.
The whole thing was arranged by the Christ Church outreach committee and Mike attributes a lot of the credit to Vicki Roberts, one of the PCC memebrs, who did much of the organising. The church has run a low-key bonfire previously for five years, this year being the sixth, which was scaled up to accommodate the increase in the number of people wanting to attend.
"We were only able to consider hosting the event because we're lucky enough to have a church with a substantial garden." Says Mike. "It was a real team and community effort, with fireworks donated by church members and wood donated by local businesses. The bonfire and fireworks event provides us with a great opportunity to connect with parishioners and generates a lot of good will towards our church. Alongside other outreach events, it often leads to people engaging with the church in other ways."