Items filtered by date: November 2025
The Bishop of Derby wishes to appoint a Canon for Worship and Music at Derby Cathedral.
A unique opportunity has arisen to join the team at Derby Cathedral where we are working towards ambitious and innovative plans to continue our development and growth, with the Chapter’s strategic development plan providing a framework for the future.
The Bishop of Derby wishes to appoint a Canon for Community Outreach and Social Justice at Derby Cathedral.
A unique opportunity has arisen to join the team at Derby Cathedral where we are working towards ambitious and innovative plans to continue our development and growth, with the Chapter’s strategic development plan providing a framework for the future.
Season of Creation: St Francis
In the church calendar early autumn brings with it the Season of Creation. It is a five-week period beginning on 1st September. Many churches throughout the diocese of Derby will have kept the season in some way, even if it was simply by keeping harvest festival.
The season ended on 4th October and this is the day the Church of England calendar commemorated St Francis of Assisi. The popularity of St Francis has grown. Not only did the late pope take the name Francis but many seek to follow St Francis’ example in the way that he relates to creation. He is the patron saint of the environment movement and influences many in the secular world who care deeply about global warming and its consequences.
St Francis grew up in Italy, in the later twelfth century, as part of wealthy, merchant family. At the age of twenty he was badly injured in a local war, and became seriously unwell. During this time, he gathered friends around him and began to live simply in community. He had a vision of Christ who was inviting him to ‘re-build my church’. At the time he saw a ruined church building in front of him but his vocation was not to restore the material fabric of damaged buildings but the restoration of the spiritual and human fabric of the church, so that it might advance and grow in different ways. May people across the world follow his example in the way that they set out to be disciples of Jesus, not least because of the attractiveness of his vision for God’s creation.
St Francis was a poet, and his most famous poem draws out how he sees the relationship between human beings and the created order. It begins:
O Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord God,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings…….
Praised be you my Lord with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun
Who is the day through whom You give us light
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars.
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious, and fair.
Praised be You, my Lord, through brothers Wind and Air……
Praised be you my Lord through sister water
So useful, humble, precious, and pure……
(from Catholic Online, 2022)
The key point is that Francis sees human beings in a kinship relationship with all creation. Later he refers to ‘our sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us’. It is a relationship of fellowship or community, a given mutual relationship that requires nurturing. To take care of nature is to create community including the relationship between human beings across the globe.
In his encyclical letter, Laudato Sí, named after the first Italian words of St Francis’ poem, the late Pope Francis taught the importance of ‘integral ecology’. This means that true environmental sustainability includes reconciliation and restored relationships between human beings. Fractured human community will mean the continuing of a broken world, the failure of care for the environment and the ongoing disruption of our biological ecology.
This insight links us to the most well-known part of St Francis’ life, that moment when two years before his death in 1224 he received the stigmata, the marks of crucifixion on his own hands, feet, and side. It was Francis’ wish to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified that appeared to take form on his body. Francis knew that it was only in and through the suffering of creation which includes the brokenness of human community that God in his Son Jesus would save the world.
May I commend St Francis to you, his poetry, his profound thinking on God’s creation and his conviction that in the sufferings of God we will find not only wisdom but also our redemption.
O God, you ever delight to reveal yourself
to the childlike and lowly of heart:
grant that, following the example of the blessed Francis,
we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness
and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Very Rev’d Peter Robinson
The Dean of Derby
The Diocese of Derby Disability Inclusion Action Group (DIAG) successfully launched their recognisable symbols project; all housed in one website – www.accessiblechurch.net.
The symbols enable churches to make a positive difference by openly displaying the accessibility available to support worshippers with all kinds of disabilities and neurodiversity.
As a result of this project, Helen James, Disability Project Manager for the Church of England confirmed that the symbols will be made available for all parishes throughout all dioceses to use and implement.
They will feature in a free national webinar on Tuesday, 4 November 2025.
As the diocesan lead on the project, Bishop Malcolm Macnaughton said “‘All people, including those with all kinds of disabilities and neurodiversity’s, are made in God’s image, and called to be disciples of Jesus, reflecting God’s glory by the way we live. Church communities want to be welcoming and inclusive to everyone, but we struggle to make everything equally accessible for all needs. These symbols make this easier by making it clear to everyone what is possible in a particular church building and what is not. My prayer is that churches will find that communicating clearly helps people with a range of needs feel at home in church, and able to play their part. ‘
Carl Veal, Chair of DIAG, said “The Disability Inclusion Action Group comprises clergy and lay people with a range of disabilities, from across the Diocese of Derby. Their aim is to see disability inclusion taken seriously in our churches and across the Diocese. Their work is focused around three key themes - Attitude, Access, and Agency.”
>> Book your free webinar place
Journeying together: a summary of Diocesan Synod, 18 October 2025
Diocesan finances and our Net Zero Carbon strategy were the focus of conversation at the Derby Diocesan Synod, as it met for its 147th session on Saturday, 18 October in St John’s Church, Walton.
This was a really active meeting and our thanks to everyone who attended and provided their input.
If you want to know more, read the summary of the meeting here.
Role Description & Person Specification
Specific Role Requirements
- In the Infinity Garden Village development.
- Oversee the identification and implementation of multiple new ways of doing church.
- Gather, empower, and equip others to participate in identifying, cultivating and growing New Worshipping Communities, whether lay or ordained.
- Establish effective lay ministries to enable NWC leadership sustainability.
St Peter's Church in Hartshorne is delighted to announce that we have been awarded a generous grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support essential repairs to our historic building and develop a hub for our local history. The restoration work is scheduled to begin next spring and will focus on preserving the church’s architectural integrity for future generations.
As part of the project, there will be opportunities for the local community to get involved. This includes educational activities and engagement sessions with our local schools and the village community, offering a chance to learn about heritage conservation and the church’s rich history.
Debbie Patrick, Churchwarden of St Peters Church. “We are very excited to get this project going; giving us the opportunity to do much needed repairs to our village church, which has stood on the hill in Hartshorne since the 15th century and has played a significant role in the life of our village for many generations; seeing the villagers through good times and bad, feasts and famines, peace time and wars. The restoration works, undertaken by ASBC of Melbourne - www.asbc.ltd - will be the beginning of ongoing work to ensure that our church remains a vital part of our community for many years to come; not to mention the fantastic opportunity this project gives us to explore and display the history for visitors and locals alike for years to come”.
We are grateful for the support of the The National Lottery Heritage Fund and look forward to working closely with the community throughout this exciting project.
We are seeking a compassionate and Jesus-centred leader, who will lead this growing and flourishing church in our faith journey and take us to the next stage of all that God is calling us to.
This will include work in residential and nursing homes and sheltered housing as well as supporting our Lunch Club, Dementia Service and our pastoral visiting programme. They would also inspire new work to reach out to older people with the love and truth of the Gospel, helping them rediscover their faith from younger years, or encounter Jesus for the first time.
They would also grow, train and manage a team of volunteer Anna Friends to support the chaplaincy work across the parish.
The successful applicant would also become part of the growing national network of Anna Chaplains with the Bible Reading Fellowship who can provide training.
To see a fuller picture of the BRF Anna Chaplains across the country, please visit www.annachaplaincy.org.uk and to find a fuller job description go to www.stpeterlittleover.org.uk/anna
It is an occupational requirement for the person appointed to be a professing and practising Christian, lay or ordained, in a church affiliated to the Council of Churches in England and Wales (Equality Act 2010).
Enhanced DBS and references will be required.
Please apply in writing.
Closing date for applications Friday 14 November 2025.
We are seeking a godly, engaging and collaborative leader who:
