Based in a pleasant seaside town, Sheringham's Salvation Army fellowship offers much to its community, including a welcome worth investigating. Claire Anderson reports

It works for us...

The initiative
SHERINGHAM is a traditional seaside holiday town that - according to the Mayor (Councillor Peter Cox) - offers ‘a friendly welcome for people from all walks of life'. Corps officer Major Adrian Maddern claims this inclusiveness extends to the corps fellowship. He says: ‘Everyone enjoys being part of Sheringham Corps. It's warm and welcoming and people feel at home very quickly.'

Having enjoyed such a welcome for themselves, corps members are enthusiastic to reach out and include others. In particular they do this through open-air outreach and a Christian counselling service.

Though the fellowship is based in an area known for retirement, few in the corps are thinking of retiring. ‘Sheringham is a hard-working corps,' says Adrian. ‘People here want to be engaged in ministry and mission and actively encourage each other to take part.'

What's on offer?
THE fellowship is very much a part of the community and believes in getting away from the hall and engaging with people where they are. During the summer they hold open-air worship in town before the 11 am meeting and the 6 pm meeting - attracting around 30 to 40 people - and on the seafront after the evening meeting, attracting around 200 people.

These open-air meetings feature testimonies, drama and singing, and corps folk chat to anyone stood listening. Leaflets are distributed to let people know what's happening at the corps, particularly highlighting meeting times.

Another important outreach into the community is the Confidential Christian Counselling service, which began after the corps discovered that the overburdened health service needed trained counsellors to provide a listening ear to help people with mental health issues. At the time Adrian was studying for a diploma in counselling and had hoped he would be able to use it.

The corps organised a team of nine counsellors, including some from other churches, to provide a listening ear to the community. The service provides a warm welcome to people struggling with mental health issues. Clients are aware of counsellors' beliefs and, though counsellors won't express them freely, clients are at liberty to ask about their Christian faith.

The corps also runs a thriving charity shop - through which people have been invited to the corps - as well as busy luncheon clubs, Alpha and Network (spiritual gift) courses, a flourishing Sunday school, home league, a mother-and-toddler group and corps music sections.

How it's working
‘PEOPLE from all parts of the community are drawn to our open-air meetings,' Adrian confirms. ‘Members of other churches often come to the later open-air witness; others have come from as far as a village in Norfork to attend what they call their "church", along with holidaymakers who are visiting the seafront. Children sit on the wall to listen and people enjoying a drink in The Two Lifeboats public house can't really help but hear us, so it is great that we are able to take the gospel to them and provide a real witness.'

Open-air witness is one way in which the corps can provide people with a halfway point to church, and they have been able to invite friends, family and neighbours to the Army as a result.

This Salvation Army presence is very much ingrained into community life, evidenced by the work of artists Martin Sexton and Brian Lewis who often feature the corps in their paintings.

After its first year in operation the Christian counselling service is busy. Adrian says: ‘Many of the problems we are dealing with are cases of depression, relationship issues and, sometimes, financial problems. There are often deep-rooted psychological issues that have been with clients for many years.'

Counselling is client-led so isn't an evangelistic tool. However, says Adrian, if asked about their Christian beliefs, counsellors can explore faith with their clients. ‘It's important to remember that these people are seeking help and are vulnerable and although we would ideally want them to know about Jesus, we always seek to respect their position and witness through loving and accepting them,' says Adrian.

In providing a welcome to all people the corps programme caters to a wide range of needs and is actively driven by the fellowship. ‘They're fired up and want to see people reached for the Lord,' Adrian explains.

New initiatives are often suggested by corps members, who are willing to head them up. Leonard Perrott, a recently enrolled soldier, having read about the Army's outreach history, asked if he could start a public-house ministry. Leonard started his ministry and steadily built up contacts in the community. He is now preparing to invite people to the seafront open-air meetings as a next step in pointing them to Christ.

‘Because people enjoy being part of Sheringham Corps, and like what they have seen in the fellowship, they have shown that they want to commit to the corps and its mission,' Adrian explains. Following on from a soldiership and adherency awareness course 18 months ago 16 people have decided to commit themselves to God through soldiership and 10 through adherency. The Sunday school welcomes between 40 and 50 children each week and a number of the young people have become junior soldiers.

‘The leaders present a fun and interesting programme but it's their dedication that really makes a difference,' says Adrian. ‘The leaders love the kids and make them feel special and valued. The material they use is no different to that in other corps but the children enjoy it, tell their friends and bring others with them.'

Children are starting to attend because they are hearing and responding to the message of God's love and not just for the fun events. Parents have also attended, and at Christmas around 400 people came to the hall for the children's Christmas item.

Future plans
THE corps is currently working hard for its building scheme. Adrian shares: ‘We hope to continue our current efforts in the future. Our situation is not perfect by any means but we're working hard towards reaching people for Christ.

‘There has been such giving of time and money towards our building scheme that we hope we will soon be able to match the corps vision and programme with premises that will facilitate them better.'