Over 40 people from across the Diocese have received a certificate from Bishop Martin, marking the completion of a course designed to help them relate their Christian faith to their own life and locality.
The groups took the Bishop’s Certificate course over 12 months with the support of local tutors. It covered subjects such as Christian faith and the Creeds, the Old and New Testaments, Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, discipleship and living as Christians with people of other faiths.
Some of those being awarded their certificate completed their course in 2019 – 20 but were unable to be given their certificate last year due to Covid restrictions. There were also others who had completed the course during the last two years but were unable to be at the presentation evening due to other commitments. 
Bishop Martin offered congratulations to all those who had completed the course, saying: “What a joy and pleasure it is to be able to present these certificates – you should all feel very proud. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but for me it’s wonderful as it always leaves you wanting more. However long I spend studying the scripture, there is always something I discover for the first time. When God talks about knowledge, he means something very different than we do. In John’s Gospel, it says ‘this is eternal life, to know God and his son Jesus Christ.’ All the knowledge you need is to love God and know that he loves you.”
Anne and Mark Thomlinson from Pershore Abbey completed the course last year. They said: “We finished in extraordinary circumstances with the second half completed online. We had a good group and a real mixture of tutors and it felt special when we came together as a community.”
Jules and Elaine from St Stephen’s Church in Redditch and Amy from All Saints in Evesham completed the course over Zoom from September to July. They said: “It opened our eyes and gave us a thirst for both more knowledge and a willingness to learn. Even though we didn’t meet in person, we developed a real sense of fellowship, and we still regularly meet up as a group. It was a really good step on our journey of faith, giving us a much deeper understanding.”
Paul Latham from Christ Church, Quarry Bank completed the course both years, helping out as a tutor in the second year. He said: “I’ve never really read the bible before and after feeling a call to ordination, I knew that I needed to know more. I learnt something different each year and it’s given me a real thirst for more knowledge – I’ll be helping again on the course in the coming year!”
Karen Deane from Stoke Prior, Wychbold and Upton Warren completed the course last year as part of the Droitwich group. She said: “I completed the course after becoming an ALM worship leader and found it really interesting. Our group all hit it off really well – we were very honest in our sharing and there was no embarrassment about any lack of knowledge. There was also a real diversity of presenters. I’ve now moved on to completing the Growing Leaders course as I try to work out where God is calling me.”
Congratulations to all those who received their Bishop’s Certificate.
See more photos on our Facebook page (click on the Facebook logo to go straight to the post):
