Bishop Hugh’s first Monday as Bishop of Worcester saw him spending time with two schools. He presented Broadheath CE Primary School and Lower Broadheath Church with a silver Church and…
He presented Broadheath CE Primary School and Lower Broadheath Church with a silver Church and School Partnership Award before visiting Wolverley CE Secondary School in Kidderminster where he met with some of the pupils.
The Silver Church and School Partnership Award was presented as part of collective worship in Christ Church, Lower Broadheath, on the edge of Worcester. Some of the children talked about what church meant to them, took part in an Open the Book presentation and led prayers before Bishop Hugh presented both the school and the church with their silver award.
Henry said that he likes church “because he feels love from Jesus”, while Karolina said that she enjoyed reflecting on God’s miracles. Sam said: “If I’m annoyed or stressed out, I like coming into church because it’s calm.”
An exhibition in church highlighted more of the children’s thoughts about church and one class had painted portraits of Bishop Hugh! The children also talked about their experience of planting trees in the churchyard as part of the church and school ‘Amazing Broadheath Churchyard Diversity Explosion’ (ABCDE) Project when it was apparently very rainy! During the service, other children asked Bishop Hugh questions including why he wanted to become a Bishop, why come to Worcester and what his plans are for his first year!
Rector Kalantha Brewis spoke to the school saying: “It is thanks to all of you that this award has been possible. This is your church and it will always be your church as you grow up. We love having you here as part of our community.”
Headteacher, Julia Randall said: “We’ve had a longstanding partnership with the church which supports us in living out our school vision. We use the church for both the curriculum and services, and church members come into school regularly. The children have written some lovely comments about what church means to them – it’s an informal, friendly relationship.”
School Governor and church member Ian Craigan led the collective worship. He said: “We are fortunate to have Broadheath School so close to the church. The school values align with the church’s vision, and we have a collaborative teamwork approach to working together as we build church and community here in Broadheath.”
After presenting the Church and School Partnership Award in Broadheath, Bishop Hugh travelled to Wolverley CE Secondary School, on the edge of Kidderminster with Diocesan Director of Education, Tim Reid. There they met with some of the school’s student leadership along with Headteacher, Mark Turner and our diocesan Education Adviser, Duncan Hutchison who spends one day every fortnight offering chaplaincy and other support in the school.
The group had an informal chat over lunch with discussion around limiting social media usage for children and favourite Tesco Meal Deals, before the students had a chance to ask Bishop Hugh some other questions in a more formal setting.
Bishop Hugh said: “I was so impressed with the questions, which covered everything from the role churches should play in their communities, through the importance of inclusivity to how faith is viewed in politics. We also talked about the process of becoming Bishop of Worcester and difficult times on my faith journey. It was great for me to be able to ask the students themselves how they felt about attending a Church School, and what they felt that I should be doing as Bishop.”
He continued: “It was brilliant to get out and meet with two local schools so early in my time with the Diocese as hearing the voices of young people is really important. I’m looking forward to being able to meet with many more children and young people over the coming months.”
At the recent Clergy Conference, the diocesan stewardship team launched a Boomerang offering, to help activate generosity across the Diocese. Each person was given a £5 note to take home, pray with and see what act of generosity God was calling them towards. We also asked them to share their stories of how the money was used.
Many of our churches hosted ‘light parties’ at the end of October as a popular alternative to Halloween. Some of our renewal churches hosted the biggest celebrations.
Our diocese has been awarded £3.6 million to continue to support churches as part of phase two of our programme to ensure our churches are healthy and sustainable for the future.
Kelly Gordon is a member of Wordsley Parish in Greater Dudley Deanery. She has recently been selected as one of only three people in the UK to be part of the Leaders Europe programme within the Obama Foundation.
St Peter’s CE Academy and St Peter’s Church in the Saltway Team have been awarded a silver Church and School Partnership Award recognising the close relationship between the church, school and local community.
Bishop Hugh's address at the latest Diocesan Synod focussed on Artificial Intelligence. Read it below.
This year’s Church of England Advent and Christmas theme focuses on the first and greatest Christmas gift of all: the gift of God being born as one of us in Jesus Christ.
An article from Archdeacon Mark for December editions of parish magazines.
The Muslim-Christian dialogue group in Lye, Stourbridge, arranged a litter pick on 31 October to clear up two local streets.
A new singing group for children will launch at St Peter’s Centre at Pedmore Church on 15 November, 10 years after Singing Angels originally began at St Andrew’s Church on the Straits.
