Statistics Awards Church Micro Day Challenges History Trackables Miscellaneous
Many hundreds of cachers have helped the series become what it is (see the top section of the Statistics page for the current exact figure). You are very welcome to add one, few or many caches to the series but you do need to follow the guideline set out below. Note: If this is your first cache hide then you you should start by reading the Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines.
Firstly, this series is aimed as much as possible at taking you to current, interesting & accessible churches and not just any place of prayer or meeting place of which there are many. I’m getting requests for all sorts nowadays so please bear this in mind when requesting a number to ensure that it complies with this criteria.
If it's a Traditional or Mystery cache can you please place the cache as near to the church as is allowable and possible. If there is nowhere close (within 0.1 mile, 528ft) then it will need be a Multi with a visit to the church required first. The final cache can then be a bit further but please try and keep this within 0.3 miles.
Any type of Christian church in England, Scotland & Wales.
Synagogues & Mosques are not eligible.
While a couple of Friends Meeting Houses have sneaked into the series, it is very unlikely that any further ones will be sanctioned. However, if you come across one with an impressive building, of architectual significance and with an fascinating history, feel free to put it forward. No promises though.
Church ruins, on the other hand, provided there is enough of the original church remaining, worthy of a visit and you can supply some interesting history, are acceptable.
The series can also include chapels, provided they are of sufficient interest for a cacher to visit.
Cemeteries are not acceptable.
Although a few Northern Ireland churches have sneaked into the series, the decision has been taken to allow no new ones.
Churches that have since been converted to a business or private residence are not eligible.
Once you have completed your initial preparation (i.e. you have identified your church, a hiding place and found out a little of its history) you need to contact sadexploration using the request form at www.churchmicro.co.uk. He will need to know the name of the town/village where the church is, the county it’s in and the name of the church and its coordinates along with your geocaching name.
SadEx will perform a few checks and get back to you as soon as he can. Remember, he's a busy man and, like the rest of us, does take the occasional holiday. All being well he will supply you with a number and the cache name to be used. More on this later.
A number, once it's been allocated to a church, remains with that church forever more. There have been some exceptions to this prior to 2013 (which are slowly being sorted out) but the rule will be adhered to going forward.
The cache should be straightforward and achievable to most cachers.
Permission will definitely be needed if placed within or on the church boundary.
The cache can be as large as you like, the bigger the better.
While Traditionals and Multis (particularly the simple offset Multi) predominate, it is acceptable to have Unknowns (but no difficult puzzles, please), Letterbox Hybrids, Wherigos and Earthcaches (provided you can make them completely relevant).
It is not acceptable for a Church Micro cache to also be
a challenge cache.
However, feel free to set challenge caches based on the Church Micro series to add to
the existing growing list.
The cache must be named in the format supplied.
If at all possible, please provide some information about the church and its history.
The cache page should be ready to submit for review within a couple of weeks of allocating the number.
A paragraph about the Church Micro series must be included. Depending on whether you are using html or not in the cache web page please use the appropriate text from one of the two options below.
Option 1: If the "</> Source" button has a green background
please copy and paste the following:-
It should display something like this:-
Option 2: If the "</> Source" button has a white background
please copy and paste the following:-
Provided you have adhered to the cache name provided by SadEx, the cache should be automatically added to the relevant bookmark list within two weeks of publication. It it has not been added after this period then please contact Andy33.
When this series was conceived we had no idea that it would be so appreciated and grow to the size it has. Inevitably, the above guidelines have evolved over time (and will continue to evolve) and, as a consequence, there are a small number of caches in the series that do not meet the above guidelines. These cache were acceptable at the time they were set and will remain in the series.
It is inevitable that Church Micro caches will get archived sooner or later, for all the reasons that any other cache gets archived. When this happens it is hoped that a new cacher will come forward and place a new cache for the church. To facilitate the Church Micro Unresurrected list is updated weekly at the same time as the statisics are produced.
Please, please, please step forward to chip away at that list! As above, you need to contact sadexploration using the request form at www.churchmicro.co.uk. He will need to know the name of the town/village where the church is, the county it’s in and the name of the church and its coordinates along with your geocaching name. Additionally you should mention (in the 'Additional information' box) the name and GC code of the cache you are resurrecting. Reasons for this are:-
The cache name should be exactly the same as the cache it is replacing (unless sadexploration decides otherwise, though this is very unlikely). The other listing requirements are as above, though it would be nice to include a link to the cache being replaced.