The joy of volunteering
"One of the most profound weeks I have experienced!"
12 February 2025
There are thousands of Methodist communities dotted across the United Kingdom many meeting regularly in our church buildings, others in pioneering new spaces, gathering as a community in new and creative ways.
But did you know that over the summer, a number of new temporary communities pop up at various festivals and events across the country and often in weird and wonderful ways?
Over the past few years, the Methodist Church has been going along to events in fields and fairs, conventions and concerts, from the RHS Tatton Flower show to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and even the MCM Comic Con. Our friendly team creates welcoming spaces for people to gather together, building relationships and exploring matters of faith in safe, creative and spiritual ways.
Festivals and events give us a great opportunity as Christians to be present in non-religious spaces. Being in these places is about being a blessing; loving and listening; and unashamedly as a group of Christians witnessing to our faith.
One festival we’ve attended for a number of years now is the Edinburgh Fringe, a wonderful, creative, joyful space, but also a space which can seem overwhelming, fast paced and even lonely. In 2022 a small team attended the festival to explore what The Methodist Church might be able to bring to the Fringe which welcomes over 2.5 million people and is a busy and noisy event.
2026 will be our fourth time at the Fringe and our third time hosting an space for people to visit. For the past two years we have offered two different spaces. In the morning we can be found on the Royal Mile with a sofa offering space to pause and chat in the afternoon and evening we are at Nicolson Square Gardens hosting an immersive space for people to explore spirituality in new and wonderful ways, at their own pace, in the midst of the bustling city.
“The space we provided gave people a chance to connect again and open up and share. Most of the conversations I had involved talking naturally about faith and spirituality; it seemed to me that spirituality sat very close to the surface. I believe Jesus was very much alive in all these conversations - I would say it was one of the most profound weeks I have experienced in a long time!”
Rob Wylie, volunteer at the Edinburgh FringeThe Edinburgh Fringe is just one of the fabulous festivals and events the Methodist Church is present at throughout the year.
Does this sound like something you could get involved with? We’d love you to consider applying to join one of our teams.