THE vicar of Christ Church, Great Ayton, has reaped a great reward - by asking his congregation to enact the biblical parable of talents.

One Sunday in March, the Rev Paul Peverell offered everyone a £5 note and asked them to go forth and multiply the money in aid of a millennium overseas project appeal.

A target of £9,000 was set for harvest festival. Last Sunday, the congregation turned up each with the original stake plus profit.

"Unlike the biblical master, I did not find anyone who dug the talents into a hole in the ground, and thankfully did not have to try to cast anyone into outer darkness," said Mr Peverell.

The church appears to have exceeded the target. "The generosity of the people of Great Ayton staggers me and I am thankful they can see the results of their hard work," said the vicar. The money will go towards helping Syrian Christians.

Novel projects and humour marked the fundraising. One parishioner, who already kept hens, used the money to buy a few more. During the summer, his original hens died, but by then there was such a demand for free range eggs, his own family had to eat the shop-bought variety while continuing to sell "talented" hens' eggs.

There were coffee mornings, a barbecue with screen TV during the Wimbledon finals, desserts, a treasure hunt, afternoon teas and a cheese and wine evening. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Many items were made and sold, such as fresh bread and cakes, flower arrangements, herbs, hand-crafted gift cards, decorated vases, hand-made sterling silver jewellery, eggs, lemon curd and raffling a hand made toy. Services provided ranged from car washing, enlarging photographs to hair dressing. There was even a sponsored slim.

Open gardens and an art exhibition and sale were organised. Donations were generously given.

The village is also raising money for the Barnabas Fund which gives aid to Christians living in countries indifferent or hostile to their faith.

The £9,000-plus will go towards building a meeting house for children and parents, together with three or four classrooms which could be used for work with children during the week. The church in Syria has only limited facilities to carry out work in a very poor area.