Bishop Jane and Archdeacon Catherine hosted the online session to share ideas with clergy, laity and volunteers to highlight current issues and encouraging stories from rural churches.
There will be more sessions based on chapters from the book taking place once a month on different dates through 2023. Each meeting takes place between 6-7pm, and the next proposed dates are 1 March, 29 March, 26 April, 31 May, 28 June, 19 July, 27 September, 18 October, 29 November.
To join, you will need the zoom details here: Join ‘How Village Churches Thrive’ call
- Meeting ID: 880 0173 8378
- Passcode: 625288
Bishop Jane would love to be joined by clergy, PCC members, churchwardens, AWAs and anyone supporting the rural church.
The first session included talks from Revd Laura Purnell in Shipdham, part of the Dereham ministry team. Revd Laura talked about the Breckland Council food bus and how the church opens on Wednesdays to provide a warm space, refreshments and company to people waiting to receive their food parcels. The second speaker was Tricia from St Nicholas Church in Blakeney, who has helped to organise the Blakeney lunch for several years, which often attracts up to 80 people and has excellent links with the local school.
If you missed the first session which took place on 25 January and you would like to watch it back, please email news@dioceseofnorwich.org for the signing in details.
The discussions are based on chapters of the book, ‘How Village Churches Thrive’ which you can buy from Church House publishing here.
To find out more about the book, watch the actor and church enthusiast Hugh Dennis introduce it in this short video below.