The parish of St. James, Mangotsfield, which includes Mangotsfield and a large section of the new estate of Emerson's Green, made history last weekend by hosting the first "Bishop's Mission Weekend" in the Diocese. Our strap-line for the publicity was "because you're worth it!" which we unashamedly filched from a well-known cosmetics company, because we thought our parishioners definitely were worth it. 

Bishop Lee joined us for a series of events that had been planned to appeal to a wide range of people in the community. The weekend kicked off on Friday afternoon with a cream tea for older folk, organised jointly by the Mother's Union and the Women's Institute (the first time they had worked together on such a project). In the evening, there was a wine-tasting quiz at the church school, devised and led by the inimitable Rev. Paul Rush. Again, this was organised jointly, this time by the church (the Incumbent, Rev. Steve Abbott, chose the wine!) and the school PTA.

Saturday saw a group from St. James, with Paul Rush and Bishop Lee, giving out free fair-trade caffetiere coffee outside Emerson's Green Library; many people were contacted as a result. The Bishop then moved to the local skate-park, where he met a group of teenage skateboarders and even tried his hand at skateboarding. Lunch followed with the St. James Ramblers at one of the local pubs. The climax of the day was the church Harvest Supper, which ended with an ear-splitting and dazzling firework display. To round off the weekend, the church was packed for a special all-age Harvest Festival service on Sunday morning. 

Those involved in the organisation felt that the weekend was a great success. Each event was well attended, and we succeeded in our objective of building bridges into the community. We have made contact with a large number of new people, which we were keen to do. Having Bishop Lee with us gave an enormous boost to the success of the weekend. He spoke very effectively at almost all the events, and people appreciated the opportunity to meet him. One big spin-off from the weekend was the impetus it gave us to plan carefully, work together effectively, and use each person's gifts and ideas. The challenge to us as a church now is how to continue the momentum of the weekend. 

From this experience, we would commend a Bishop's Mission Weekend as a very effective tool for outreach into your local community.