St Christopher's
Church
Round Green, Luton
The Bishop's Order of Church Builders
The Right Reverend Michael Bolton Furse, Bishop of the Diocese, introduced the scheme in 1931, saying that 'the children themselves would build a church in some rapidly expanding district, served at that time by a makeshift of a hall' (i.e. St John's). The children were to build the church with their own half-pennies or pennies; not with their mum's or dad's, as it was thought their offerings would have greater value this way. They were to give regularly so that the realisation of their objective would not be long delayed and would be a “living testimony of their own faith to them”. The idea was born of a ‘Children’s Church’, dedicated to St. Christopher, who was said to have carried the Christ child across a river.
Soon after this a Central Committee was formed in the Diocese of St.Albans. The success of the scheme was due to the energy and tireless effort of the St. Christopher’s Church Committee, who organised the children of the Diocese into ‘The Bishop's Order of Church Builders’.
Adults were eligible for membership of the Order too, but the children had titles of chivalry conferred on them as a reward for their efforts in collecting the pennies and halfpennies. The ‘Maids’, ‘Pages’, ‘Esquires’, ‘Ladies’ and ‘Knights’ were invited as frequently as possible to central gatherings, some of which were held in the Cathedral.
The
money collected by each family was put, like the children's of the diocese,
in a box the shape of a church, and this was recorded on a “New
Church” thermometer.
By July 1936 the mark had reached £100
The idea of bringing children into close touch with Christian work was imaginative. In the dioceses of Chichester and Liverpool such schemes were already under way, and in June 1936 a report outlining the scheme appeared in the Church Assembly News.
This report was by the Honourable Ian Lawson-Johnson, lay reader, and prominent layman in the St. Albans Diocese and Chairman of the Children’s Church Committee. “This scheme”, he said, “was not merely a way of raising funds, but a means of building the Church into the lives of the young workers themselves.” Each of the plans in the three dioceses was based on the child’s instinct for action.
The members wore the ‘Builders Badge’ and the people of St Christopher's were inspired by their priest to give more in money and find ways of earning extra money by their own efforts. Some collected silver paper, worth 3d a pound at the time; some dug the ground behind the St Christopher's Hall and turned it into an allotment, selling the produce; One went round with a cart on Saturday afternoons to “get his bit for the cause” (precisely what was in the cart is not recorded in the Magazine of May 1936). This issue emphasised that it was essential in all this practical effort to meet week by week in St. Christopher’s “to worship and pray together and to grow in comradeship”..
UP TO THE MARK
The Revd. Gerald Hawker and children of St. Christopher's Church Round Green, dancing round the thermometer when the £200 mark was reached.
Badges
were awarded to those doing particularly well, and were proudly worn by
the children; a blue badge for 2s/6d collected; a green badge and certificate
for £1 collected by a group; a red badge and certificate for £5.
Considerable sums in those days, and remember the Bishop said the pennies
and halfpennies were to be the children’s' own.
Bricks and walls
The Bishops Order of Church Builders was organised, by a Diocesan Central Committee. The children were to present their pennies and halfpennies to the representative in their own Parish or School. This money purchased ‘bricks’, in the form of paper stamps. Threepence bought a ‘brick’ and ten ‘bricks’ made a ‘wall’. It was realised that this might take some time for a child to fill, so a wall was allocated to a school or a group of children, such as a Guide Company or Cub or Brownie Pack.
© Luton St Christopher 2008