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JOURNAL OF BLACKBURN DIOCESE : THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN LANCASHIRE
THE
See MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY 2018
The See can also be found on the Diocesan Website: www.blackburn.anglican.org under News, or scan the ‘QR code’ on the back page
with your smartphone to be taken to the Diocese website page which contains the current and archive editions of The See.
An ambitious programme aimed at deprived urban estates in our Diocese has been singled out for funding as part of a huge drive to renew The Church of England.
Towards the end of 2017 it was announced that the programme will be one of eight across England to receive a share of £24.4 million in funding to support major work on growth and change.
A total of £1.54 million has been allocated for the programme in our Diocese to fund work in outer urban estates and parishes for a period of six years.
The focus of the work will be on training new leaders, both lay and ordained, with a view to providing a model for other dioceses. It will also strengthen mission in the areas where the work is located.
The Church of England’s Strategic Investment Board has agreed to make the awards for Lancashire and elsewhere in the Church of England as part of the Church’s Renewal and Reform programme.
A lead evangelist and a pioneer evangelist, based at Grange Park Church Army Centre of Mission in Blackpool, will work with the churches of St Mark’s, Layton and St Luke’s, Staining. The funding will enable the work of clergy and congregation on the estate to continue. A network will also be set up across Blackpool to help parishes support each other in mission and evangelism.
The award will also fund 20 young adults to take part in the ‘Blackpool Ministry Experience’ over the next six years. They will live on the Mereside Estate in Blackpool and work with Freedom Church on the estate alongside local residents, as well as in nearby deprived urban parishes in Blackpool.
The start of these two projects was featured extensively in the last edition of The See.
Meanwhile the third project - a ‘leadership hub’ in outer estates ministry for both lay and ordained training - will be created in the parishes of Lower/Over Darwen near Blackburn, led by St James’ Church.
Rev. Tim Horobin from the parishes, said: “I am thrilled at this news! This is great for the local communities here and will enable us to access resources to help in presenting the Gospel in culturally relevant ways.
“We will do this while working within the Diocese’s Vision 2026 mission to create healthy churches transforming communities.
“We will now move to set up a new training unit to help deliver fresh and innovative training to ordinands, produce urban leaders and develop alternative ways of working in and engaging with our communities to make disciples, be
witnesses and grow leaders for Jesus Christ.”
Bishop of Burnley, Rt Rev. Philip North, who writes more about the plans in the column on the right, said: “I believe passionately that if we are serious about the renewal of the Church we must commit ourselves afresh to proclaiming the Good News to the poor.
“This project will share the Good News with people living on our urban estates by planting a number of new congregations. However, it will also ensure that church life is sustainable over the long term in these areas by forming quality lay and ordained leaders both from and for our estates.”
The original bid for the new funding was drawn together by the Diocese of Blackburn’s Vision Coordinator, Dave Champness.
Dave said: "I'm delighted the Church Commissioners have supported this application. We have three very different, yet linked projects, to be resourced by enthusiastic individuals whose activities should have a lasting impact on the faith of those living in our more financially deprived communities, not only in Blackpool and Blackburn, but across the diocese and beyond.
“We ask people now to please pray that the right applicants will come forward for the project roles and the practicalities of setting up the projects such as appropriate accommodation will be implemented smoothly."
Bishop Philip (eighth from right) with clergy and laity from Blackburn Diocese estates parishes who gathered for a conference in 2017 signalling the importance of estates evangelism to the Diocese at St James' in Lower Darwen, and led by the Bishop. St James' is where the leadership hub part of the programme will be based.
£1.54m grant for exciting urban
estates ministry
Rev. Peter Lillicrap is joined by Rev. Hannah Boyd as they lead a recent litter picking initiative on the Grange Park Estate in Blackpool
Rev. Linda Tomkinson of Freedom Church, Mereside, preparing one of the many gift boxes left around the estate before Christmas – just one of the latest mission activities by the Mereside church
NEWS
I continue to be encouraged by fantastic initiatives at churches across the Diocese to support implementation of our Vision 2026 - Healthy Churches Transforming Communities, writes Dave Champness, Vision Coordinator.
Here’s a selection that have crossed my desk recently . . .
Soup and Prayer
At St John's in Leyland they are piloting a monthly ‘lunch and pray’ after the morning service.
The first week nearly half of the congregation stayed on after coffee for a simple soup and roll lunch followed by an hour of prayer.
The time of prayer was split into short sessions introduced by different members of the congregation, covering topics such as our children and young people’s groups, world events and Vision 2026. The diners prayed silently or aloud as they felt comfortable. One session used the image of a hand to guide the prayers.
The thumb – for something that is good and we can thank God for
The forefinger – for something that we want to point God's attention towards
The middle finger – for sharing with God the biggest issue facing us
The ring finger – for bringing to God those whom we love
The little finger – for praying for children/young people and those who work with them.
Youth focus
As Vision Champion for St Thomas' Garstang I started a Youth Group for 10-15 year olds about a year ago writes Kathryn Sperring.
This has been a very successful venture which has reached many families we were not in contact with and increased our profile amongst young people and their parents in the area.
As a result, we have new families in church, increased attendance by 'peripheral families' and new attendance at church events and groups. Friday Youth has gone from fortnightly to weekly, by popular demand and is easily self-funding.
We have a varied programme of events including film nights, dodge ball, traditional youth club and special events such as Nerf gun battles, mini Olympics and bingo!
The only Christian input during Youth club meetings is our 'respect and accept' agreement that all attendees have to sign (adults and teenagers).
I believe this 'low key' approach has been key to the success of the venture.
Friday Youth looks forward to continued growth and outreach in 2018.
Festival outreach
A great example of being witnesses in and with the
local community comes from St Michael’s Ashton with St Mark’s Preston, as well as St Michael’s Church in Croston, where Christmas Tree festivals were held.
At St Michael’s and St Mark’s it was the first time they had held such a festival. Local community groups joined with church organisations and for three days people poured in to see the decorated trees, wander around, talk to old friends and make new ones.
There was opportunity for prayer and quiet reflection in the chapel and refreshments in the Hall. Valuable pastoral contacts were made and children went home with a Christmas book from the Scripture Union.
Adults received a Hope for Christmas magazine and a leaflet with Christmas services. The event ended on Sunday with a short Songs of Praise and the congregations continue to pray that those who visited sensed something of the joy and wonder of the Incarnation, and will visit again in 2018.
Meanwhile, at St Michael’s in Croston, they have been holding a Christmas tree festival annually for a number of years; it has become a community event as well as a fundraiser because all the trees are provided by local groups and businesses.
This year visitors were also able to see the changes in the church carried out as part of recent restoration work, including ramp access and a toilet for the disabled.
Friends together
To celebrate our recent Patronal festival, we ran an amazing weekend of mission and witness at Christ Church Fulwood, writes Christine Hedley, Vision Champion.
The mission event was based on the theme of ‘friendship’. The idea was to encourage our church to reach out into the community and invite a friend to a range of ‘something for everyone’ events, starting with a production of ‘Brothers in Arms’ on the Friday evening.
This was followed on the Saturday morning by, a ‘Skills Café’ where we shared our skills and talents – everything from present wrapping to portrait photography.
In the afternoon we launched our Stained Glass Heritage Project supported by Archdeacon Michael and the evening saw a ‘Bring a Friend’ fireworks party, organised for and by our young people. On Sunday worship included all age, Messy Church and a prayer and praise service in the evening.
What were the best bits?
Working together as a church community and seeing people we have never seen in church before coming along and joining in
Having the Diocesan Evangelism Team, led by Rev. David Banbury, in full support, talking with everyone sharing their faith journeys and leading our worship
Bishop Phillip flying in from time to time and bringing his energy and enthusiasm for mission to our events
First impressions are that it is essential to do these things at no charge, including the hospitality, and we need to keep going with our mission to share the love of God, not just with big events but in everything we do every day.
East meets West
At Lancaster Priory the ‘East Meets West’ group has been bringing women together from different faiths and cultures for nearly 11 years now writes Hilary Hopwood, who is chair of the group.
Activities have included cooking, embroidery, parties, outings and swimming. Since the arrival of women asylum seekers in Lancaster we have also been supplying welcome boxes of groceries and toiletries and organising clothing events to help them access donated clothing.
Around 20-30 attend ‘East Meets West’ each week. The women volunteer to cook the lunch and in December we had a halal Christmas lunch and explained how Christmas is celebrated here in the UK. We have now started swimming together as many of the women are keen to learn how to swim.
East Meets West was started by Liz Bagley, a lay member of Lancaster Priory, together with Ruksana, a Muslim mother of five. It is now chaired by myself, Hilary Hopwood, also a lay member of the Priory, with Shaheda Susiwala.
It would be particularly helpful to meet others in the diocese who may be doing similar work to explore this.
Dave Champness adds: “I trust you are encouraged by the examples of outreach on these pages. Perhaps you could try to use or adapt them if you are looking for ideas? And don’t forget to let me know about your own local initiatives to encourage mission in your own parish by emailing me on [email protected]
The many ways
our parishes are
supporting . . .
A dodge ball session in full swing at St Thomas’ Garstang
The scene inside St Michael’s in Croston during their Christmas tree festival
A moment during the Friendship Festival at Christ Church Fulwood
PEOPLE AND PLACES
News and events
All parishes are receiving a new year ‘goodie bag’ from the Diocesan Parish Mission Support Team with a variety of mission-focussed materials, including a newly-produced ‘Being Witnesses’ DVD package. This is a five-session course, ideal for Lent, that has been created to help make faith sharing not just doable but also enjoyable. It includes a newly-produced DVD with short films for each session and a CD-ROM with leaders’ guides and members’ materials for downloading and printing. The goodie bag also contains a booklet with updated research from Talking Jesus, including some encouraging insights into faith sharing; the HOPE 2018 book - full of great ideas and resources for witness; the Whalley Abbey Spirituality Programme for 2018 and also some prayer cards featuring a newly-commissioned image of the altar canopy in the chapel at Whalley Abbey.
Further to the above information and in response to requests received from parishes, the Discipleship and Ministry Team is offering (just in time for Lent) training designed to help lay people to lead a Bible Study or discussion group. The morning session takes place on February 10, from 9 am to 1pm, at the Diocesan Offices, Walker Business Park, Blackburn, BB1 2QE. For more information contact Mandy Stanton at [email protected]
Without prayer, ministry and mission will come to nothing. A Diocesan Festival of Prayer is being held at Blackburn Cathedral on Saturday 3 February 2018. From 10.30am to 2.30pm. Many people struggle to pray and many are aware of the vast range of ways of praying. This all-age event will help and includes a choice of 10 fantastic workshops. All parishes across the Diocese are invited to attend and you can come and go during the event as you wish. The Eucharist celebrant is Bishop Philip and well-known broadcaster Canon Angela Tilby will give the keynote address. Messy Church will take place in the Cathedral Crypt. For further information and to book, contact Jean Duerden email: [email protected]
Arton Medd, key organiser of the annual Bishop’s Harvest Appeal thanks all who have contributed to the 2017 Bishop’s Harvest Appeal. The interim total is £21,177 including about £1,000 in Gift Aid. The account is still open and Arton encourages church treasurers and individuals who have further monies to send to do so as soon as possible.
The 11th Service Battalion (Accrington), The East Lancashire Regiment, The Accrington Pals Annual Memorial Service is being held at St John’s with St Augustine’s parish church, Accrington on Sunday 18 February 2018; 2.30pm for a 2.45pm service. The service is to commemorate the events which took place 103 years ago when the Pals Battalion held their Valedictory Service. For further information contact Shelley Whitehead, email [email protected] or telephone 01254 884583.
Archdeacon Mark leads the next Reading Day at Whalley Abbey on Wednesday 21 February. There is no charge for the day, but you need to book in before you come. To book please email Whalley Abbey at [email protected] and also please email the Archdeacon’s secretary, Kelly Quinn on [email protected]. org to advise of your attendance.
‘PCC Tonight’ Training Evening at St John’s Great Horton, Bradford BD7 4AB on Tuesday 20 March, 7.30-9.30pm (doors open at 7pm). Suitable for all PCC members across the North West, this is an
informative evening to clarify the purpose and place of PCC members and explore some common PCC dysfunctions. £12 for first booking, £3 for each additional PCC member. Discount to group bookings. For more information: www.cpas.org.uk/pcc
Friday Lunchtime Recital: Harp duo, Kathryn Mason and Alice Roberts at St George the Martyr, Lune Street, Preston PR1 2NP on 2 February 2018. Both are from the Royal Northern College of Music. Doors open 11am and recital starts at 12.30pm, lasts 50 minutes. Tickets on door £7, including refreshments beforehand.
At St Silas Parish Church, Preston New Road, Blackburn BB2 6JP a coffee morning with organ music takes place on Saturday 10 February 2018 from 10.30am. Hear Karen Au, former Organ Scholar at Blackburn Cathedral, play a half hour programme of music from 11am. Entrance £5, towards the cost of the recently restored Harrison organ. For further information contact Jean Brindle on 01772 312678 or 07935 498060.
For 2018 Lent in the Preston Minster, Church Street, Preston PR1 3BU ‘Travelling to God with a Suitcase’ is our theme. There are five Monday evening talks from Monday 19 February to Monday 19 March, 7.20pm to 9pm. Speakers and topics are: Rev Ed Saville on “A Suitcase … Full of Dreams”; Rev John Howard-Norman on “Pilgrimage”; Fiona Castle (Roy Castle’s widow) on “Uncluttering”; Anthony Finnerty on “With a Suitcase … But Going Nowhere” and Bishop
Julian on “With my Sins in a Suitcase”. Each evening will include updates from a local Christian action group. This is the 7th year of these ecumenical Lent evenings. Further details available via the Minster office on 01772 901313. Please note that Monday 5 March event is at Central Methodist Church PR1 2NL.
St Thomas’ Church Centre, Marton Street, Lancaster LA1 1XX plays host to former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron. ‘An Evening with Rt Hon Tim Farron MP - The Christian Faith in the Public Space’ takes place on Thursday 8 February at 7.30pm.
Situations vacant or wanted
Christ Church, Chatburn in the Ribble Valley, requires an organist to play on Sunday mornings at 11am as well as weddings and funerals as soon as possible. We use Hymns Old and New and have a five year old Allen Protégé two manual organ. Further details and remuneration can be discussed with Rev Andy Froud on 01200 423317 or with churchwardens, Daphne Porter on 01200 441690 or Valerie Mewis on 01200 440335.
Clergy updates
The Rev Dr Gary Bowness, who holds the Bishop’s Permission to Officiate in the Diocese, has been appointed Interim Vicar (part-time), of St Luke Skerton and was licensed by the Bishop of Burnley on 19 December 2017 at St Luke Skerton.
The Rev Hugh Scriven, Vicar of Edgbaston St Germain in the Diocese of Birmingham, has been appointed Priest-in-Charge of Accrington St John with Huncoat St Augustine.
The Rev Shaun Baldwin, Vicar of St John the Baptist Broughton and Area Dean of Preston, has been appointed Priest-in-Charge (half-time) of Ingol St Margaret and was licensed by the Bishop of Burnley on 8 January 2018 at Blackburn Cathedral. Shaun will remain Vicar of St John the Baptist Broughton and Area Dean of Preston.
The Rev Cherie (Rie) Pauline Walker, Assistant Curate at St John the Baptist Broughton has been appointed Assistant Curate (half-time) of Ingol St Margaret and was licensed by the Bishop of Burnley on 29 January 2018 at Ingol St Margaret. This appointment is in addition to Rie’s present post of Assistant Curate at St John the Baptist Broughton.
The Rev Andrew Brown, Vicar of Weaverham in the Diocese of Chester, has been appointed Vicar (half-time) of Shevington St Anne.
The Rev Jenny Brown, Curate at Weaverham in the Diocese of Chester, has been appointed Associate Vicar (half-time) of Shevington St Anne.
The Rev Christine Marjorie Morton, SSM Curate at Marton St Paul, has been appointed Vicar Designate of Treales Christ Church.
The Ven Michael John Everitt, Archdeacon of Lancaster, has been appointed Interim Vicar of Preston St John and St George the Martyr and was Instituted by the Bishop of Burnley on 14 January 2018. He remains Archdeacon of Lancaster and Chair of the Board of Education.
The Rev David Seymour, who was retired in the Diocese, died on 11 December 2017.
The Rev John Graham Slee and the Rev Dennis Eric Crook have been granted the Bishop’s Permission to Officiate in the Diocese.
The Yurch (Young Church) Group at Holy Trinity Church, Freckleton, participated in the Advent sleepout challenge just
before Christmas.
The youngsters all spent some time lying on cardboard in the churchyard and then had a discussion indoors about what it must be like to be homeless.
They also played various team games, played a photo recognition quiz and watched films before sleeping inside the church for the night. They raised more than £300 in sponsorship.
St Wilfrid’s Church in Ribchester had a very special visitor at their worship recently.
Oloni was staying as a
guest with Lord and Lady Alton.
Oloni is a traditional King from Nigeria who works tirelessly for peaceful solutions in a country facing persistent terror at the hands of Boko Haram against its Christian citizens.
He has been developing economic initiatives for his people based on ethical production of cocoa for chocolate. Oloni is a Christian from the Anglican tradition and wanted to worship at the local Anglican Church as part of his visit.
Rev Brian McConkey is pictured with Oloni and said: “We were honoured to have him with us for the morning and it was a joy to share lunch together and hear more of his story.”
NEWS / COMMENT: BISHOP PHILIP News? Feedback? [email protected]
Deadline
for
the
March
edition
is
February 3,
2017
Helpful information about 'The See'
Want to submit an article or event for inclusion in The See? Check the deadline on the left and email [email protected]
We'll always do our best to feature what we receive.
For the online archive; more information about deadlines and how to submit articles, visit the website www.blackburn.anglican.org (search 'The See') or just scan the QR code on the right.
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The See is edited by Diocesan Communications Manager Ronnie Semley.
For new orders of ‘The See; or to change delivery address or quantities received contact Karen Ashcroft on [email protected] or 01254 503070.
This month’s page 3 column by Bishop Philip has been written in response to the announcement of the £1.54m grant to our Diocese, as reported on pages 1 and 2 of this edition.
*****
Jill Duff, the Principal of St Mellitus Northwest, talks about Hildas and Caedmons. St Hilda was a royal princess and an abbess, a highly educated and well-connected woman who founded a monastery in Hartlepool (which had a less important sister house in Whitby).
However, she also discovered Caedmon, a local shepherd boy with no education but a great gift for music. She oversaw his education and set him free to sing the Gospel to the local people in a language they could understand.
Our programme in this Diocese is aimed at identifying and training up Caedmons, local leaders who can sing the Gospel in a language that connects with people’s lives.
The Diocese of Blackburn is a good example of the slow withdrawal that the Church of England has been making from our urban estates. In recent years we have closed churches in areas such as Mereside, Grange Park, Moor Nook and Shadsworth, while on other estates we have reduced clergy numbers or overseen mergers.
Our new programme will address this issue in two
ways. First it will allow for new congregations to be planted in a number of these estates; churches which will be diverse and contextually appropriate in terms of evangelistic approach and styles of leadership.
But that isn’t enough. The secret of long-term sustainability in estates ministry is calling and forming lay and ordained leaders and this is an area in which many estates churches struggle. We want to find an army of Caedmons so that we can renew the Church from the margins.
In Lower Darwen we will be setting up an estates-based Leadership College. This will be a place where ordinands can serve placements, but it will be so much more. Our aim is to provide a resource for urban churches across the Diocese to help with the tasks of identifying, calling and forming new lay and ordained leaders.
Similarly in Blackpool at Grange Park (where we will be setting up a Church Army Centre of Mission) and in Mereside (where we are working in partnership with the Church of England’s Ministry Experience Scheme) we will be equipping the Diocese and the wider church with clergy and lay leaders who are energised and excited by the challenges of evangelism on our estates.
Our aim is to find a new generation of Caedmons who can share good news in language that people can understand. We are so grateful to the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council
whose provision of Strategic Development Funding has enabled a pipedream to become a reality.
Bishop Philip
Finding a new
generation of
Caedmons
Rev. Tim Horobin, right, of St James' Church which is where the leadership hub part of the £1.54m programme will be based; with Bishop Philip.
Bishop Julian and Bishop Philip have both recorded new year messages for the Diocese. The messages can be read in the news section of the Diocesan website (www. blackburn.anglican.org) and can be viewed in video format on the Diocesan YouTube channel (search online for YouTube and Blackburn
Diocese). In his message Bishop Julian urges people across Lancashire to count their blessings, citing the misery being suffered by many people in troubled parts of the world,
including the civil war in Yemen. Meanwhile Bishop Philip uses recent successes for Burnley FC to illustrate how much can be gained if we make a greater effort to achieve our full potential.
Just before the recent Diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land an ecumenical pilgrimage also took place involving Churches Together in Thornton, writes Ann Hearnshaw, from Christ Church Thornton who was also this Pilgrimage’s Administrator.
And what a joy it was to view Bishop Philip’s vlog of his Pilgrimage which took place a week or so after ours and to read the account in the last edition of The See!
The experience for us was also truly amazing, and we were often overwhelmed by the fact we were in the places Our Lord Jesus had been; experiencing the same weather, viewing the same mountains and sailing on the same Sea of Galilee.
There were 25 of us, Anglicans and Methodists across seven churches. These included Christ Church Thornton and All Saints Anchorsholme; Methodist churches in Thornton, Bispham, Poulton and Blackpool and even two group members from churches in Scotland!
The group quickly gelled and we were especially blessed with the most wonderful fellowship and friendships that developed during the Pilgrimage.
Special places and moments for us included the hustle and bustle of the Via Dolorosa and Shrine of The Holy Sepulchre; experiencing the calm and tranquillity of The Garden Tomb, another possible site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection; Eucharist in the quiet of The Church of The Shepherds Fields overlooking Bethlehem; being in Capernaum and sailing on The Sea of Galilee singing modern hymns under a glorious red sunset.
Other special moments were times of prayer, scripture and reflection with our leaders Rev. Damian Platt from Christ Church Thornton, and Rev. Stephen Dunn from Thornton Methodist Church.
We all agreed that scripture now has an extra dimension for us as we witnessed and visited the places where events
happened, and we felt privileged to join with and see other Christian pilgrims from all over the world.
Reflections on an ecumenical journey to Israel
The ecumenical group together at The Mount of Olives including people from Anglican churches in Thornton.
