Church team celebrates a decade of Bible storytelling

A local group is celebrating ten years of bringing Bible stories to life for Westbury schoolchildren. 

Westbury’s Open Book team is made up of church members from Westbury and Dilton Marsh, who present dramatised stories from the Bible in local schools. 

The group was formed in 2013 by Jean Jane and Rev Sue Miles from All Saints’ Church and performed their first play, Joseph the Dreamer, in 2014. 

A tea party to mark the group’s 10th anniversary was held last month at Holy Trinity Church and was attended by ex-members, clergy and those who had supported the group. 

Group leaders Jean Jane and Jocelyn Short assembled a display of photos taken of the plays performed and the Bibles, handbooks and tabards.  

Jean thanked Enid Holbrow, who had made the tabards for the schoolchildren to wear when they took part in the plays, and Westbury Area Churches Together, which had supported the team by funding the new Bibles and handbooks. 

“Guests enjoyed meeting again and sharing their news and experiences,” said the churchwarden at Holy Trinity Church, Garth Brocksopp.  

There was a special tribute to Daphne Goodwin, a lay reader at All Saints’ Church, who died in 2016 and was a staunch member. Reverend Caroline Husband expressed gratitude to Jean, Jocelyn, and the entire team for their dedication over the past decade and their ongoing commitment to the initiative.