Former Church Estates Commissioner Sir Tony Baldry and Bernard Taylor, Chair of the 2017 Review of the Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals, will be among the speakers at an Oxfordshire event that will look at how to ‘future-proof’ places of worship.

Churches for Mission and the Community is being held at Dorchester Abbey on Saturday, 28th September (10am-3.30pm) and will examine how people can make sure that their churches are suitable resources for the modern world.

Sir Tony Baldry, the former MP for Banbury, will talk about the importance of Friends of churches groups, while Bernard Taylor will take part in a panel discussion on all topics covered during the event.

Also speaking will be Dr David Knight, Senior Church Buildings Officer at the Church of England, who will address issues surrounding the sustainability of places of worship.

Nigel Mills, Church Support Officer for the National Churches Trust (NCT), will also attend and will talk about the work of the NCT.

The event has been organised by the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust (OHCT) and Dorchester Abbey.

OHCT’s chairman, Stephen Goss, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from and debate with people with world-class levels of expertise.

“As well as the talks and the panel discussion, there will be a number of workshops covering topics such as setting up Friends organisations, major project planning, fundraising and reaching out to schools and the public.”

The event is open to people of all denominations. Tickets include lunch and are £10. They can be purchased here.