How to arrange a street party

One of the problems of Christian witness to inner-city communities is that there is no 'community' to witness to, instead there is a large collection of anonymous individuals who don't really know each other.

In this situation the church is faced with the challenge of actively 'making' community. We need to break this mould if we are going to reach people for Christ, people need to know us and get involved with us. This is an account of one Christian couple's attempts to do just that in urban Brighton.

On September 6 2003, Shaftesbury Road, Brighton was transformed. Some time last February, I applied to become a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator with my deputy living at the other end of a very long and densely populated street.

This move meant more contact with neighbours. I delivered the NW bi-monthly newsletter and was able to chat to people about local issues like parking, noise, etc.

Bright idea

I hit on the idea of a Street Party having heard about other streets organising them. Why shouldn't we? My deputy was enthusiastic. We started in May though we had to put in most of the work before August as everyone is on holiday then.

1. May. Send round letter asking residents whether they would like a Street Party. Receive replies back indicating general consensus.

2. June. Contact Traffic Control to ask for permission to close part of street (need to be persistent).

3. June. Now for a bit of leg work. Go round houses, get signatures of majority of residents to send to Traffic Control indicating that most people have no objection to closure of street and to moving their cars for the afternoon. Organise local band(s) to play at Street Party.

4. July. Send round letter informing all residents that Street Party is going ahead. Ask residents to bring a dish of food. Ask for help to put up bunting, balloons, arrange food, etc. Ask residents to bring their own garden tables, chairs, cutlery and crockery and drinks. The council discourage people from having alcoholic drink on the tables as this attracts would-be trouble-making gatecrashers.

5. August. Go on holiday. Forget about it all.

6. Early September. Contact Events department of council. Ask for road closure barriers and signs. They may or may not have some - get barriers from commercial company. Put up notices on lamp posts and trees indicating event coming up. Make these as bright and as visible as possible as people generally ignore them. Try to book a band for some music. It's in hand. One week to go - no band. Two days to go - local youngsters agree to play.

Party time

On the morning of Street Party, put out street closure signs indicating the times street will be closed. Again, people drive past signs and park intending to leave cars all day. We ask them if they saw signs: Yes, but took no notice!

7. 2 pm on September 6. Balloon blowers and bunting assemblers already busy. Put up tables for food. (Bring-and-share seemed the easiest option though another time barbecue may be considered).

8. Bring out tables. Put out plastic forks and knives, and drinks for those who forget to bring their own, also napkins.

9. Set up PA system and CD player. Band set up their equipment.

10. Party starts with game of rounders to include all ages. Successful, but in future we need to arrange more by way of games to occupy people. Set the band going - relief, they can actually play in time and hold a melody. Most people seem happy to chat and enjoy the music.

Our party went on until 7.00 pm when we started to clear away, and children played on the road until 8.00 pm.

So a big thank you to the 'New Life Community Church', Moulsecoomb, for lending us the PA system, and to Brighton and Hove Council events department for making possible the road-closure and informing the emergency services etc.

The responses?

There was a very positive response. Despite the threat of rain, through earnest prayer, the weather kept fine, though a bit windy. People were happy to meet their neighbours and chat. Some people said it was refreshing to be able to experience the space that was created once the cars were removed, even if only for a short time. Several residents said they would like to help organise next year's event.

One resident thanked us and said: 'You really made a difference'.

The lady with children at one end of the road said that they had got to know others with similar-aged children at the other end of the road - they were now able to play together on the street. The parents of one little girl asked about sending her to the church's children's group. One lady said: 'I've lived on this street for nearly 30 years, I've had countless leaflets through the door from your church, but I've never done anything about it. What is it you do down there anyway?...'

One of our neighbours is a man with black hair, black jeans and a black tee-shirt with a rude word on it and a fair amount of black stubble. We'd never talked to him. But he and his flat-mates were persuaded to come and sit down and join in with the others. Next week we actually stood on the doorstep and chatted for nearly an hour. 'Unfriendly place, Brighton, isn't it? he said.

There was no 'Christian' aspect to this exercise, only a human one. When we become Christians, we should become more human and help others to do so. Wholesome social events can lead to openness on the part of non-Christians to the gospel.

What next?

We have since had more conversations and contact with neighbours. One suggestion was: 'Why don't we organise a street-carol-sing at Christmas? That would be nice'. Who knows where this may lead?

Maria is a busy housewife and mother of three teenage children, and has lived in Brighton for nearly 30 years.