Introducing Julie Okundaye
Archdeacon Ian Bishop introduces us to Julie Okundaye, the new Chair of the diocesan Race and Ethnicity Forum.
Julie lives in Stockport and worships at St Matthew's, Edgeley and says her formative years were spent in Nigeria.
In this short video interview she talks about her background, the role of Chair, and why she believes the Church can be pivotal in shaping a more diverse and inclusive society.
She also looks ahead to Black History Month in October, an event held across the UK in recognition of the contribution and achievements made by people from African or Caribbean heritage. Liturgical resources from the Church of England for use by all churches during Black History Month can be downloaded here.
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Queen's Christian discipleship honoured at deanery event
In the week the nation mourned, the Everyday Faith team made some changes to its planned deanery event in Elworth to honour the example of Christian discipleship set by Queen Elizabeth.
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Church administrator's art exhibition launch
Charmaine Maw will this weekend launch an art exhibition at her local church with other local artists after one of her pieces was shortlisted for the Royal Academy exhibition. The exhibition runs from 26 September in Ellesmere Port
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Autumnal maintenance of church buildings
Autumn is a season that brings with it certain weather conditions that can cause damage to church buildings. There are resources to help you plan maintenance tasks this autumn and Church House officers are happy to support you too.
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Called to Serve confirmed for February 2023
Plans are afoot! Here's the diocesan Director of Vocations the Revd Sarah Fenby recently meeting with vocation advisers Revd Calum Piper and Revd Ric Whaite to plan the upcoming Called to Serve day. Is God calling you or someone you know?
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National Harvest Service at Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral has been chosen as the venue for this year’s National Harvest Service and Farmer's Market which is due to take place coming Sunday 25 September.
The National Harvest Service is organised by Love British Food and was first held in Westminster Abbey in 2013. Since then, it has been held in a different part of the country each year and this year’s honour of hosting the event falls to Chester.
To mark the handover to Chester, a Harvest Torch was given to the city and it will act as custodians until it passes on to the next hosting location.
On Saturday 24 September the Harvest Torch will visit the following places:
• The Apple Barn, Dunham Massey, WA14 53J at 11.30am.
• Great Budworth Ice Cream Farm, New Westage Farm, CW9 6ND at 12.30pm.
• Chestnut Meats, Nantwich, CW5 8NF at 1.45pm.
• Reaseheath College, Nantwich, CW5 6DF at 2.30pm.
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Ministry hardship fund remains open to applicants
The ministry hardship fund has reopened for a second round of applications. If you are experiencing hardship as a result of the cost of living and would like to be considered for a grant, please complete and submit an application no later than 07 October. The funding is part of a national scheme provided by the Archbishops' Council.
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Generosity and Thankfulness Conference
The Diocese of Manchester is holding its annual online conference on generosity and giving on Saturday 24 September. While much of the input is of particular relevance to parishes in their diocese, there is a very interesting and wide range of seminars. There may well be something that will help you with fundraising, digital giving, giving strategies or making the most of your church building.
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Webinar to introduce the Vision process
Bishop Mark is inviting diocesan clergy to attend a short webinar on 04 October at 11am. It will be an opportunity for Bishop Mark and Harriet Roberts, the diocesan Director of Development, to introduce the vision process and field any questions you might have at the outset. A Zoom link will be circulated via the next E-Bulletin. You can read a bit more about the process and a recent pilot event here.
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LLF responses gathered into new report
Over 6,000 responses to the church-wide engagement with the Living in Love and Faith resources have been gathered into a report entitled Listening with Love and Faith. This is accompanied by a more detailed technical report and a reflective essay, Friendship and the Body of Christ. You can read these here. Please do continue to hold these conversations, complete the course if you haven’t done so already, and pray about the issues it raises, as the Church of England seeks to discern a way forward.
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Leading Evangelism Learning Hub for churches open to expressions of interest
This is an exciting chance to develop the culture of evangelism in your church. The Learning Hub will help you and a small team of between two and five others, to explore how you might develop a culture of evangelism appropriate to your context. Running over four terms, the Learning Hub will help you work out how to embed four key culture shifts in your congregation, focussing on one each term. We provide the input and challenge, but you work out how it should look in your situation. Follow-up sessions will assess how things are going. Sound good? This is a significant opportunity open to all churches, but we are only able to take a limited number of churches this time round. To discuss the possibility of your church getting involved, please contact Peter Froggatt or John Hellewell at Church House.
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Free youth and children’s work resources
Church House has a number of books and resources looking for a new home. There are praise and play ideas, Godly play equipment, assembly ideas and loads more. If you would like to come and have a browse and take some away with you contact Hannah Jones who will arrange a time for you to visit. The resources will be recycled in the week beginning 17 October, so make sure you come before then.
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Growing Faith Newsletter
Growing Faith is about schools, churches and homes working together to support children in their Christian faith journey and relationship with God. The national team behind the project has recently launched its newsletter service which you can subscribe to.
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Heritage Discovery Day at Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is getting ready to run its second annual Heritage Discovery Day, with this year’s set to be bigger and better than ever! Join the Cathedral’s very own heritage professionals – the Works Department – and friends on Saturday 22 October in a free event bringing to life the medieval heritage of Chester’s most iconic historic church.
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Online Bible Talk Lecture Series
Chester Cathedral is hosting a series of online Bible talks for the Autumn season. Each will be presented on Zoom from 1.10pm - 2pm on Wednesdays. The theme is The Word Made Flesh. The next speaker is the Archdeacon of Macclesfield, Ian Bishop who will talk about how Christians can understand care for the environment. You can view the complete progamme here.
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Transforming Lives Together summer update
The summer report includes information about some new initiatives, a couple of events that you are invited to attend and news on the ways TLT is planning to respond to the cost-of-living crisis.
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Bishop Mark joins other leaders to pay tribute in Cheshire Life Mag
Bishop Mark joined others in Cheshire to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth in Cheshire Life Magazine. Writing alongside civic leaders, business owners, charity workers, teachers, community workers, doctors and emergency service personnel, Bishop Mark said: “She has been a tireless servant of the Church of England as our Supreme Governor, but she would be the first to say her faith has strengthened her more than she could ever strengthen others. She was a rock, and she herself stood on the rock who is her Lord and ours: Jesus Christ.” Read Cheshire Life’s tributes and memories of the Queen’s visit to our diocese.
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Clergy Moves
The latest Clergy Moves page of the diocesan website has been updated. It includes a list of recent appointments, resignations, retirements, and deaths that have occurred across the diocese.
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You can list your church event on our website by filling in a simple form. Once approved, it will be published on our Event calendar page for all to see. You might also wish to list it on A Church Near You so people in your community can easily find local service information.
Here are some recently added events
02 October 2022 - Service to mark the beginning of a new legal service - Chester Cathedral
27 September 2022 - Humbler church Bigger God conference - Roundhay, Leeds
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25 September 2022
The Service is the culmination of a series of events celebrating the production of local food. This service is open to all. If you are Clergy or Readers then you are invited to robe.
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Art – Opening our Minds to Encountering God
30 September 2022
Foxhill Enjoy a retreat from everyday life and return feeling refreshed and renewed to continue hearing the "still small voice of calm". This Day Retreat seeks to help Christians encounter the living God expressed through art and images in our time.
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06 October 2022 - Foxhill, Frodsham
In this training session, we’ll be looking at some useful hints and tips that will help you to produce good quality videos for use on your church website, YouTube and social media channels.
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06 October 2022 - Helsby
An evening event to learn more about how the local church can encourage people to live out their faith in everyday life. This session is aimed particularly at the parishes in Frodsham and Wirral South.
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09 October 2022 - Stretton
Bishop Sam will join us at this service to talk about Mental Health. It has been a particularly challenging couple of years and this gives us chance to pray together and look towards the future.
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10 October 2022 - Online
We will explore how to make financial reports more engaging, relevant, clear, and easier to interpret. This event will look at the different reports that are available and those that are necessary and most relevant. It will look at different methods of presenting reports making them easy to understand and ways to keep the reader interested and engaged.
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13 October 2022 - Foxhill, Frodsham
This event is for anyone who longs to discover more of God's voice through creation. It is an opportunity to slow down, rest, and notice trees, flowers, birds and other creatures. As we wonder at the beauty and complexity, we open ourselves up to God's abundant love for us and all God has made.
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15 October 2022
What do our bodies tell us about God? This year's conference focuses on the “subjugated knowledges” of women; truths about God, faith, and life that have traditionally been controlled by others.
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16 October at 3pm - Chester Cathedral
This is a first for the Cathedral as all are welcome to come and celebrate stories from Christians. From different backgrounds including – Deaf, LGBTQI, Elderly and Youth are included. Music comes from Proud Mary’s (LGBTI Choir) and Dee Sign Choir. Bishop Julie will be leading the service with the Revd Nick Bundock, Vicar of Emmanuel Didsbury preaching. Hear his moving story on what it means to be an Open Inclusive Church.
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Parish Vacancies
If your parish has a vacancy, please let us know so that we can advertise the role on our website. Just email your vacancy to stephen.freeman@chester.anglican.org. Please remember to include all relevant information about the role, such as contact details and closing date.
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Eccleston and Pulford, near Chester
We are seeking an incumbent for this small semi-rural parish (population 800). There are strong links with the church school. The patronage is held by the Duke of Westminster, and the Eaton Estate provides the housing for the rector, in Eccleston.
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Christ Church Willaston
We are seeking a part-time priest-in-charge offering Sunday duties plus three days per week for this small benefice (population 2,600) in an attractive part of the Wirral. Overall, the church tradition is fairly central, although the incoming priest-in-charge will be someone who can relate well to a breadth of traditions.
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Rostherne with Bollington
We are currently looking for a part time Incumbent for the parish of Rostherne with Bollington who will also be Priest in Charge for the parish of Over Tabley. The post will be for 2.5 days plus Sunday and attract a Stipend of £6,772.50. All churches have faithful congregations who work hard to keep the buildings in good condition.
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Mottram, Broadbottom and Hattersley
To seek the resurrected Christ within the community, with specific focus on Children and Families. This role will develop according to the gifts and skills of the successful applicant and the needs of the community that arise.
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Holy Trinity Church, Blacon
Are you a people person? Are you able to offer a good welcome to all-comers? Then perhaps you are the person to join our team! We are looking for someone to join the successful Outreach Project at Holy Trinity Church, who can ensure the smooth running of our Place of Warmth, and to help make connections with the various people who come.
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Norley C of E Primary School
Due to the retirement of our current bursar, the Governing Body of this friendly Church of England Primary School are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and committed person to join our dedicated office team.
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Church House
The Bishop of Chester is seeking to appoint a new Chair to lead the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) to support its members and the DAC office in supporting parishes in their development and care of churches in the Diocese of Chester.
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Mission in the Economy Executive Director
Merseyside
MitE is an Ecumenical charitable company which works alongside local businesses, churches of all denominations, town & city councils and more to provide chaplaincy services and work & wellbeing resources to business public and voluntary communities around the Northwest.
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