Bishop Libby and Bishop Malcolm are inviting all those engaged with and/or concerned for youth and children’s ministry across the diocese together on Zoom to pray for our children and young people as they face these challenging times, as well as for our churches and schools as places of worship, welcome, and belonging. 

We will host this Zoom prayer gathering on Tuesday, 11th January, 7.30pm. 

We will send the Zoom link to any who get in touch before that date via Bishop Malcolm’s office, bishopofrepton@derby.anglican.org.

How to use Amazing GRACE

The website is designed to support those facilitating or leading the Amazing GRACE course.

Here you can access and download all the resources you need:

course booklet, prayers, videos and transcriptions, etc..

Each week we also tell you what you need to prepare in advance of the following week's session.

Read the welcome from Bishops Libby, John and Malcolm.

Get started

If you plan to lead this course in your context, get started by downloading the Leaders' Introduction Manual. 

Or first read through some of the information below.

Information + all the resources for the six weekly sessions

At the heart of Christmas

Last year, many of the familiar experiences that bring Christmas to life for all of us were lost because of the terrifying spread of the deadly Coronavirus throughout the population.

School nativities, office parties, carol singing, pantomimes, family gatherings for Christmas dinner, and much more that brings joy to so many, were often cancelled.

This year, the emergence of the new, highly-transmissible Omicron variant means the infection rate is, once again, rising alarmingly.

Despite the incredible effort being made to supply booster vaccines to all adults by the end of December, our celebrations again feel threatened and fragile.

That has focused my mind on what really matters.

At the heart of Christmas is the good news of God’s saving love revealed in the birth of Jesus.

What matters to me therefore, is echoing that generous love of God.

This year, I am determined to ensure that generosity to others lies at the heart of my Christmas.

That means I have given especially careful thought and attention to the gifts I buy for family, friends and colleagues this year but without forgetting that generosity is so much more than the material things we give to one another.

Generosity is about being available to others, making time for them and doing the things that matter to them rather than just the things I want to do.

It means stepping up to help with all the mundane but essential practical jobs at home like washing-up and taking out the recycling and rubbish for collection.

It means listening, paying proper attention and allowing others to disturb me, even when I want some peace and quiet.

It means looking beyond myself and my own family - to those who will be without shelter, food or care this Christmas and asking myself 'what generosity can I show them whether financially, through my attitude, or with my time'?

That first Christmas, Mary was overwhelmed by the generosity of the innkeeper offering shelter, the shepherds who left their flock to the mercy of the hillside, the wise men who travelled from afar to bring precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

She treasured these amazing things in her heart and pondered on them, wondering what those extraordinary events of the first Christmas might mean for her and her family then and in the years ahead.

As we reflect upon the generosity of God’s love for us, and see it reflected in the behaviour of those around us, may we too treasure the real gift of Christmas and take its spirit forwards into what will almost certainly be a very challenging 2022.

God’s love is not just something to be unwrapped for Christmas, shared for a few days and then put away for another year.

It is something we can draw on each and every day.

We can all commit ourselves to living a life that shows, in real and practical ways, that whatever else is cancelled in the months ahead, whoever we are and whatever our circumstances, God’s love is always available and ready to be shared generously with those around us.

Merry Christmas

Bishop Libby Lane

Bishop of Derby

This course has been designed for Readers and Clergy who hold Permission to Officiate (PtO) who are not heavily involved in ministry. 

In Person

There are currently no dates available for this type of training

Online via Zoom

PTO/26D1 - Monday 29th June - 9.30 - 12.15 - Zoom - Book Here

Please email safeguardingtraining@derby.anglican.org if you require any further assistance.

November 2021 saw our first-ever Diocesan Churchwarden Network events.

Churchwardens from across the Diocese made the journey to Danesmoor and Chellaston, one even coming all the way from the north of the Peak Deanery by train and taxi.

The aim of these events was to say thank you and acknowledge the huge contribution that our churchwardens make.

It was also to provide wardens with the opportunity to tell us what they felt we needed to hear and, more importantly, for us to listen.

Following opening worship and a personal thank you from the archdeacons, our partners from Ecclesiastical Insurance undertook a listening exercise where they asked the wardens:

• What is church like post-pandemic?
• What do you think the future of the church will look like?
• What can Ecclesiastical Insurance Group (EIG) do to help best support your parishes?

 https://www.ecclesiastical.com/

https://www.ecclesiastical.com/church/church-insurance-consultants/lynne-ingham/

Ecclesiatical's Lynne Ingham leads a listening session

We then went on to begin the conversation around how the diocese can help when your church is in vacancy and to look at some of the challenges and opportunities about being in vacancy.

We finished the morning by sharing lunch together.

Being present at these two events only increased our admiration for all that the wardens do.

The level of expertise and knowledge in the room was overwhelming and it was a joy to be told from churchwardens who had arrived with queries about things to do with their own churches, that they had found answers in the guidance and advice given by other churchwardens present, who had experienced similar situations.

What has happened since

Those of us from the diocese and Ecclesiastical came away with a list of things to action and feedback.

A request was made for the equivalent of a ‘supply list’ of priests and readers who would be available to take services for churches in vacancy. This is being followed up.

We had hoped this would be a quick and simple task, but we are checking with our legal colleagues that to produce such a list is compliant with GDPR.

Communication difficulties were identified as being a major point of contention with the complexities of the current Church House telephone system being singled out for particular mention. This has been passed on to Senior Management.

The national churchwarden Facebook group was advertised https://www.facebook.com/groups/churchwardens and between our first and second events, our Comms team have created our a Facebook group specifically for churchwardens in the Diocese of Derby: https://www.facebook.com/groups/derbyshirechurchwardens

Questions were asked about finding reputable tradespeople when church repairs need doing and a good starting point is National Churches Trust maintenance booker:

https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/Maintenancebooker

Environmental Questions were asked and the link below offers some helpful suggestions

https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare/net-zero-carbon-church

Other suggestions and requests are being looked at.

Over 92% of those present said that they’d be extremely likely to attend another event, so please hold Thursday, 30 June 2022 in your diary.

There will be a follow-up letter in the New Year with more details and other information from the two events.

Discussion time at the Chellaston networking event

Saints of Derbyshire, the book by Revd Simon Taylor and Josephine Simister, is now available to buy.

The illustrated book tells the stories of more than 50 saints associated with Derbyshire and is published by Derby Cathedral, which will also receive all profits from the sale of the book.

At the launch of the book, Simon, formerly area dean of Derby City Deanery, revealed that the idea for the book came during a family trip to Repton.

He said: "We were looking around the parish church there and there are loads of saints associated with Repton, with this magnificent crypt for St Wystan and nowhere could I find enough information about the saints.

"And after that I just started collecting the stories, not just for Repton but for the whole of the county.

"It tells the stories of the saints. I remember some years ago reading a dictionary of saints that said 'the stories of this saint are legendary' and feeling that wasn't very helpful, I wanted to know what the stories were, however legendary and far-fetched because, they're fun and I wanted to know what made the story come alive. 

"So we've kept in the monsters and the far-fetched and the supernatural because that's the funa and the joy of these stories.

"It's also a book that we hope people will take out into Derbyshire and go and visit some places and find the saints associated with places.

"And, yes, there are prayers and it is a book that, through the lives of the saints, will connect folk to God - the god that the saints in their very different ways were all trying to find."

The book is also laden with beautiful lino-print illustrations, lovingly created by Jo Simister, deanery administrator for Derby City Deanery.

Jo said: "I think the most lovely thing about this project was that it got me back in touch with my art teaching roots from 40 years ago.

"Just doing the refresher workshop to produce the Repton crypt print was such a joy that I really couldn't resist thinking that maybe I could do one lino print for each of the chapters - not realsiing that there would be 20 chapters!

"I loved doing the research for the different subjects, so for example when it came to doing the design for the hermit who lived in Deepdale and Cratcliffe, I decided to see what the local museums had in the way of cooking pots from that era and I also had a Tudor herbal at home and I scanned some of the photos from that - simple, primitive pictures of daisies and clover that I used in the design.

"And then there were others that were really quite obvious."

Among the church artefacts that are included are the Wirksworth Stone (the lid of a stone vault found buried in Wirksworth Church in 1820), which was used for one of the chapters, and the Saxon font at Ilam, used for the story about Bertrand and the monsters eating his wife!

An exhibition of Jo's lino prints is in Derby Cathedral (until 20 December 2021) and the book, priced £12.50 (plus 4.50 p&p if required) can be ordered by emailing office@derbycathedral.org

What are the Parish Dashboards?

As we enter Advent, we look for the coming of Christ and of his kingdom, and the hope that gives us. 

Between 29 November 2021 and 23 December 2021, Bishops Libby and Malcolm invite you to join them each week on zoom for 45 minutes of prayer and reflection together, based upon seasonal Bible passages.   

Advent Hope is open to all and will be held on Monday morning from 7:30-8:15am and repeated on Thursday evening from 7:30-8:15 pm.

Both sessions will be on Zoom. 

Do pass this invitation on.

Please email reply@bishopofderby.org  for the access link.

Bishop Malcolm writes:

In Covid times we have had to learn to be fleet of foot, and ready to change plans at the drop of a hat.

Those of you who attended the clergy conference back in September will remember that Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy was unable to join us on the Wednesday as he had succumbed to Covid.

I am now pleased to say Lusa has fully recovered, and that he has agreed to give us an Advent address, on Zoom, on Monday, 6 December from 7 pm to 7.45pm, followed by a discussion in breakout groups, a Q&A session with Lusa - leading up to Night Prayer.  

This is now opento anyone in the diocese, lay and ordained, but please do book in via this link. 

Lusa will be speaking to the title, ‘Threads of hope’, with an Advent theme.

The Revd. Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy is BAME Mission and Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of Leicester.

He recently served on the Archbishops’ Anti Racism Task Force, which produced the report, ‘From Lament to Action’.

He is also a Trustee of Initiatives of Change, a global organisation working to inspire, equip and connect people to play their part in building a better society.  

I realise this is rather short notice for such a significant talk, but it is offered in the hope that it may be an encouragement and inspiration during the Advent season.

Please book in right away if you possibly can.  

Janice and Sarah, who were involved in this venture in Hathersage, write:

Hathersage held its first Repair Cafe on a Saturday morning which was very well received and well supported.

From the initial trepidation of ‘will anyone come’, we moved to an excited buzz with customers arriving at 9.45am even though we didn’t open until 10am!

Our experts were kept busy throughout the morning as the attached photos show, and tackled a range of requests which they met with skill, expertise and good humour.

A steady request for bacon butties kept Paul and Lucy busy in the kitchen, although they still managed to pop out from time to time to socialise.

Not everyone needed the assistance of our experts and it was lovely to see friends who had popped in for a coffee and a natter, ably overseen by Charlotte, our curate and chief natterer!

Our thanks to those who gave their time and talents so willingly and to all those who came along, with or without an item needing repair.

We hope to repeat the Repair Cafe in the new year and we will publicise it when details have been finalised.