Helping Churches Be Alive

“We help maintain beautiful buildings but also fund new facilities to help churches stay as living communities.”

Charles Graham grew up in a churchgoing home and with boarding school chapel. At university he realised faith was about a living relationship with Christ, more than a set of beliefs.

“I studied modern languages and went into teaching as a vocation, informed by my faith. I spent five years at Cheltenham College, then thirty at Marlborough. I was Chapel Warden there for many years and helped run the school’s Christian Forum.

“In a boarding school it’s a seven days a week job, so it was only when I retired in 2003 that I found the time to get involved in a parish church, St. George’s, Preshute, where I have been Warden, Secretary and Treasurer

“I love the opportunities to share my faith provided by the Open the Book team at Preshute Primary and Songs of Praise in a care home every month.

“A big part of my Christian activity in retirement has been co-ordinating Ride+Stride for Wiltshire for the past eight years. This is a sponsored walking and cycling event every September.

“It raises money for Historic Churches Trusts across the country. We raised over £50,000 in Wiltshire alone last year. My job involves promoting the event to churches and counting the money after! It isn’t glamorous, but it makes a huge difference to churches

“It is time for me to move on to other things, but if you think you could succeed me, please contact me on ctg100@hotmail.com.”

For more information on Ride+Stride, visit www.rideandstrideuk.org or the websites of the county historic churches trusts in Dorset, Wiltshire or Hampshire. This year’s event takes place on Saturday 8 September.

New Dean Appointed

Canon Nick Papadopulos, currently Canon Treasurer at Canterbury, has been announced as the 81st Dean of Salisbury. He knows this area, having served as Senior Chaplain and Press Officer to the then Bishop from 2002 to 2007. He will be installed at Evensong on Sunday, 9 September.

Canon Nick said, “Salisbury Cathedral shaped my early ministry and taught me the immeasurable value of a shared life of prayer and the extraordinary power of worship. Returning as Dean is an awesome privilege.”

Bishop Nicholas added, ““Nick Papadopulos will be coming back to a place he loves. He has a commitment to the Cathedral as a house of prayer in service to the wider community. We look forward to welcoming him.”

Read a full version of this story here.

Church Spy Case Response

The Church continues to respond to events in Salisbury after Russian spy Sergei Skripal’s poisoning in March.

St Thomas’s Church, just metres from the scene, has been in the front line. On Sunday 15 April, it held a service of Celebration of the Community Life of Salisbury to “symbolically reclaim the city for the common good”.

It was followed by a procession to The Maltings area where the Skripals were found. The Revd Kelvin Inglis, Rector, performed an act of cleansing.

Bishop Nicholas preached at the service, saying, “Christians assert, because of the resurrection of Christ, that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger than death. In Eastertide we look forward to new life.”

Photos of the service are available on Flickr (no sign-in required) and Facebook. The announcement of the service is available here. Bishop Nicholas’ sermon can be read here.

Bishop Nicholas was interviewed on this subject on ITV Meridian (read a report or watch the interview). This was also a significant theme of his sermons in the Cathedral at Maundy Thursday’s Chrism Eucharist (report, full sermon) and Easter Day (report, full sermon).

Bishop Nicholas also made a public appeal for the community to gather in churches during Holy Week as a ‘hopeful act’ in the aftermath of the attack; this was backed by a Facebook advertising campaign.

Bishop’s Letter

The Rt Revd Karen Gorham, Bishop of Sherborne

One thing is for certain, Christians are never stationary! In fact as followers of ‘The Way’ we are all Pilgrim People, moving through life with Christ and being changed and challenged as we go.

As Easter gives way to Ascension and Pentecost in May, we are reminded of the change in the first disciples, as they were invited to wait for God’s power to come upon them and then gradually move out to be Christ’s witnesses, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and to the end of the earth as they shared what they had experienced with others.

We are being invited during this season to pray for those who have not yet experienced the changing power of God in their lives.

It is also a great time of movement in the diocese as we seek a new Bishop of Ramsbury and say goodbye to the Archdeacon of Sherborne. Please join me too in praying that God will be preparing the right people to take up those roles. We pray also for the new Dean as he joins us in September.

The parish congregations are heavily involved in the local communities, as well as raising funds for South Sudan, Christian Aid, the Children’s Society, Macmillan Cancer and much much more.

With significant people leaving and arriving, the story of the diocese will change, building on what has gone before. God will lead us into new ventures.

The stories of our lives too are important and if we are going to be witnesses in Wiltshire, Dorset, and to the ends of the earth, we are called to share what God has done with others.

My pilgrimages which take place soon are aimed at helping us do just that - as we follow the stories of the saints who have gone before, and in the paths of many pilgrims of old, sharing what God has done with friend and stranger. This will not only connect us to the past, but give us confidence for the future, renewing our hope as a pilgrim people.

Wherever you are going remember God is with you, and that your story of God’s love and hope may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Two short pilgrimages will take place at St Aldhelm’s Chapel near Worth Matravers on 25 May; and at Whitchurch Canonicorum on 1 June. These will follow on from a longer pilgrimage from Cerne Abbas to Milton Abbey on 5 May. Full details on how to join are at bit.ly/dorsetpilgrimages and a news story is here.

Join With Heaven

“Worship has been a life-giving thing.”

Paul Kingsley-Smith is Worship Pastor at St Paul’s in Salisbury and his first EP, [Join With] Heaven will be released in a few weeks’ time.

“I grew up in a musical vicarage family. Sixty years ago, my grandad recorded an EP of hymns. My mother was a professional singer, as was my father before ordination. I also went to New Wine regularly, experiencing life-changing Charismatic worship.

“Aged 14, I first felt a call from God to worship ministry and learned guitar. By 18 I was writing songs, but then I had a prodigal son experience, dropping out of both university and churchgoing.

“When my gran was dying a year later I had a profound encounter with God’s presence, which was a wake up call, and I began to take more seriously my faith, and leading worship.

“I met my wife, Laura at New Wine and we spent 3 wonderful years living in New Zealand, where I was worship pastor in a large Anglican church. We then spent a year in Canada where our second daughter was born 14 weeks early and our lives fell apart personally, spiritually, and professionally.

“We came back to England in 2009 with no money. I got a job stacking shelves at Waitrose, and struggled with church.

“By 2013, however, I knew God was calling me back to ministry. In 2014, I started working for Youth for Christ and came to St Paul’s two years later. I experienced such healing here, and this gave me a fresh burst of creativity.

“Disenchanted with the worship music scene’s commercialism, I felt no desire to record. Yet I felt God pushing me. Last year I had a vision of an album title and image. I knew I had to try to raise the money to record, and when it flowed in I knew this was a real call.

“The album title is because the worship of God goes on for ever. We don’t start it, we just join in. People can find out how to order at www.spsworship.org.”

[Join With] Heaven will be released on 12 May.

SHORTS

Lots of photos from services over the past few weeks are available; from Bishop Edward’s farewell service at St John’s, Devizes, on Sunday evening - his very last engagement before retiring. Have a look on Flickr (no sign-in required) and Facebook. Also from the wonderful Chrism Eucharist in the Cathedral on Maundy Thursday (Flickr, Facebook) and from the Churches Together in Salisbury Walk of Witness on Good Friday (Flickr, Facebook).

Thy Kingdom Come is Archbishop Justin’s prayer initiative between Ascension and Pentecost to pray for the renewal of the church. There will be two major beacon events in the Diocese, both on Pentecost Sunday, 20 May: in Salisbury Cathedral at 7.30 pm - join over 500 people who have booked for free already; and in St Mary, Longfleet, Poole at 6.30 p.m. Find out how you can support Thy Kingdom Come as a parish or an individual here.

On Maundy Thursday, four dedicated church volunteers enjoyed an extra-special day at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle where they received specially minted coins from Her Majesty at the annual Maundy service. Read more here.

The Revd Richard Kirlew, Team Vicar in the Three Valleys Benefice, has just been appointed the Diocese’s new Rural Officer for Dorset, succeeding the Rev’d Jean Coates. Read an announcement here.

The Revd Caroline Titley, Curate in Wilton, has just been appointed a Trustee of the Church of England Pensions Board on the strength of her management experience from her previous career. Find out more here.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Revd Tessa Nisbet as she leads the Diocese’s first church graft; as well as those who have gone with her and those who will receive them. A group of parishioners who had previously worshipped with Tessa at St Mary’s, Longfleet have now moved to St Michael’s and St Gabriel’s in Hamworthy, where she is now Rector. Tessa and her grafting team were commissioned by Bishop Karen and St Mary’s vicar Andy Perry on Sunday evening. This is in part a response to a rapidly growing population in Central Poole.

St Mary’s Church in Puddletown raised money to improve recreation facilities for young people in the village during Lent by cycling hundreds of miles – without leaving the building! – on a static bike situated in the church. News story here.

Youth for Christ helped young people from the Potterne Youth Centre engage with the democratic process by arraging a visit from the Rt Hon Claire Perry, MP for Devizes, as part of her advice surgeries. Read more here.

The first ever Church Times Festival of Poetry, with Sarum College, will be held in Salisbury on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May 2018. More details are here. The festival also has a Twitter account at @CTpoetryfest and is using the hashtag #CTpoetry18.

Two photo exhibitions, one in Poole and one in Salisbury, as well as a spectacular Poole multi-media concert, will allow local people to engage with Christian Aid’s work in protecting and uplifting some of the world’s most vulnerable people. More details here.

Speaking as Church of England lead on the environment, Bishop Nicholas welcomed Her Majesty the Queen’s hope expressed to David Attenborough that her Commonwealth forest initiative might help undo climate change (news story here). He also welcomed government proposals for a partial ban on single-use plastic and to put the UK in the lead among major industrialised economised in cutting carbon emissions (news story here).

After 18 months of researching, planning and rehearsing, St Osmund’s Middle School in Dorchester recently staged a spectacular and moving WW1 drama, When the Men Marched Away. A report and photographs are here.

Could you serve on Diocesan Synod? You need no special qualifications, just to be over 16, on the electoral roll of a church in the Diocese, and to care about the future of the Church and the Lord it serves. More information here.