Items filtered by date: August 2025
The Church Building Support Officer is currently refreshing the content for this page
In the meantime, if you need any advice or support in the management and or development of the church building for whioch you are responsible, please contact gareth.greenwood@derby.anglican.org
Are you a highly organised, empathetic, and proactive professional looking for a role that blends administrative excellence with purpose-driven work? The Diocese of Derby is seeking a dedicated Personal Assistant and Archdeaconry Administrator to support the Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales.
Salary: £30,900 per annum depending on experience
Working hours: 35 hours per week (some remote working possible, as agreed with line manager. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required, for which time off in lieu (TOIL) would be agreed.
Duration: Permanent
Closing date: 12 noon, 5 September 2025
Interviews: 12 September 2025.
14 August
The Revd Lisa Taylor will be licensed as part-time Priest-in-Charge of the benefice of Wilne and Draycott with Breaston, Diocese of Derby, on Tuesday 30th September at 7 pm at St Chad’s Wilne by the Bishop of Repton assisted by the Acting Archdeacon of East Derbyshire.
7 August
Amendment
The Revd David Ridley will be licensed as Priest-in-Charge of the benefice of Hadfield and of the benefice of Glossop, Diocese of Derby, on Saturday 27th September at 3 pm at All Saints Glossop, by the Bishop of Derby assisted by the Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales, subject to all legal and safeguarding requirements being fulfilled.
Help shape the future of our communications
We are conducting a survey to find out what you think about how we share messages, our website and social media. We would like to hear from everyone connected to the church in Derbyshire: whether you attend services or events, hold a leadership or voluntary role, or maybe only have a casual connection to the church. The responses we get will help us shape how we communicate with you allowing us to share the Good News more effectively.
How can you help us?
We want you to be as honest as you can about what you like and don't like, about the types of messages and content we share and the channels we use to do so. This information will help us develop and shape how we communicate with you. You can take part in a number of ways:
- by taking ten minutes to complete the survey yourself
- by encouraging your friends and family to complete it too
- by sharing the link to it with your church congregation
- by following the Diocese of Derby Facebook and Instagram pages and sharing our messages
Follow this link to complete the survey. It should only take ten minutes of your time.
The Cathedral & Church Buildings Department’s expanded £5million conservation grants programme is now open for applications on our website Conservation Grants | The Church of England.
If you have a conservation project in mind relating to bells and bell frames, books and manuscripts, church plate, churchyard structures, clocks, monumental brasses and decorative metalwork, monuments, organs, paintings and wall paintings. stained glass, textiles or wooden objects, you can now include related fabric repairs up to a maximum of £25k.
An example might be a PCC looking to conserve an alabaster sculpture in a niche where there is existing water ingress due to a building defect adversely affecting the area. As part of the application for money to conserve the sculpture, a request for additional monies to rectify that defect can now be considered.
You will be familiar with our conservation grants programme (long funded by The Pilgrim Trust, the Radcliffe Trust and other funders) to support the conservation of special features in church, including bells, clocks, organs, stained glass, wall paintings and monuments. All this remains, with additional funding to help more churches. The expanded programme allows us to make grants towards building repairs of up to £25,000 that are linked to the conservation of an object.
Bids for specialist surveys and help for existing recipients’ conservation projects to reach completion will be considered for funding as well.
For further information, please contact colleagues in CCB via conservationgrants@churchofengland.org
2025
Conservation Reports
rolling deadline - 2 week response time
Monuments, Textiles, Wooden Objects, Books & Manuscripts, Church Plate, Curchyard Sytructures, Monumental Brasses and Decorative Metalwork
13th October - decision by 28th November
Organs and organ cases
6th October - decision by 28th November
2026
Paintings & Wall Paintings
5th January - Decision by 20th February
Bells and Bell Frames
26th January - Decision by 13th March
Stained Glass
23rd February - Decision by 10th April
Clocks
16th March - Deceision by 1st May
Justin Thacker was ordained at a special ordination service at Holy Trinity and Christ Church, Chesterfield, in July. He writes:
"I’ve done quite a lot of different things in my life. My first career was as a medical doctor. I trained in paediatrics and worked in East Africa for a time. While in Kenya, I sensed God calling me to leave medicine and become an academic theologian. Apart from some stints working for global justice charities, that is what I have mainly done since then.
"Most recently, I’ve been working in an Anglican theological college training, amongst others, Church of England ordinands. It was somewhat of a surprise then when I sensed another call in my life – this time to ordination myself. I had always felt that my strengths were in academic theology and teaching, especially around issues of ethics and justice. But God, as he so often does, had other plans. I’m now incredibly excited about what the future holds.
"Following ordination, I will be working half-time as a curate in Holy Trinity and Christ Church, Chesterfield, and half-time continuing in my academic role for St Hild College. Fundamentally, what made me make this leap was God’s call. It was just a niggle that wouldn’t go away. Through various gentle prompts, I just sensed that God had one more big adventure for me and parish ministry was it. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what my ministry will look like. I’ve learnt that there is little point in second-guessing God and I suspect he often laughs at the plans we construct.
"I hope that my ministry will involve some work with those who are marginalised, especially the homeless and those with addiction issues (as that is where my recent experience and passion lies), but the truth is I just want to serve God in whatever way God wants. He, after all, know how best I can serve the kingdom, and I’d be a fool to do anything else.
Justin's ordination follows the ordination of four other deacons earlier this month. You can see photos of both ordination services on our Flickr pages.
Is God stirring something in you?
All of us are invited to follow Jesus and to serve God faithfully in our everyday lives. To discover more about what this might mean for you, please see our Everyday Faith page. Alongside our everyday faith, some people are called to serve God in a specific ministry. You can find out more about that on our vocations page.
‘And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations’ Revelation 22: 2
We are launching our Harvest appeal for this year in time for harvest season between September and October, and invite you to join us as we return to Bujumbura in Burundi to help fund Trees for Peace, supporting integrated environmental restoration and community peacebuilding.
New resources will appear here during August and early September, so please do check back soon!
The story so far
In 2023 the dioceses Derby and Bujumbura worked together in a ‘Trees for Life’ programme helping local people in the hills round Bujumbura city plant trees to protect their local homesteads from mudslide damage caused by climate change related flooding.
The work was transformative – 240 people were trained in agroforestry, nearly 65000 seedlings were planted along the hills’ contour lines, 16 self help groups were set up, which provided training in group governance, financial literacy, and savings mechanisms. And the hillsides are already more stable than they were. But important lessons have been learned, and there is more to do.
What now?
Whilst tree planting was primarily to prevent floodwaters from washing away huge ravines in the farmland, this shared enterprise also saw former enemies begin to make friends.
Burundi is a country where ethnic and political differences have often spilled over into violence. There is particular concern at the present time. The church, gifted in Christ with the ministry of reconciliation, now seeks to emphasise standing with local communities in sowing seeds of peace and reconciliation through practical, local community service – known as Ibikorwa Rusangi.
The value of working together for climate resilience is all the greater as strong bonds are built locally between people who never previously spoke to each other. Memories of trauma and violence are recent – there are those who would exploit this to turn people against one another again, especially at times of elections. But there is much that can be done.
Young people who have learned to make a living by setting up small businesses selling and planting trees are less likely to be recruited into gangs or be exploited for political violence. Older people have seen enough poverty, violence, and environmental damage in their time to make them eager to support the church’s work in bringing people together to improve life chances for families living in Bujumbura Rural. Mothers with children to bring up are motivated to organise in self help groups to set up small businesses geared both towards creating incomes and improving agriculture. They don’t want to see their children fall prey to those seeking to manipulate the young.
Planting trees together is planting for the future, and for peace. This focus on environmental restoration, economic empowerment, and peacebuilding is good news for the people of these communities of Gisovu, Nyamaboko, Buhina, and Kabumba
What do we hope to fund?
Actions to be funded by the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal 2025:
Environmental Restoration:
- Climate and land degradation awareness training
- Eight nurseries for producing native agroforestry tree saplings
- 4,000m of contour lines dug prepared for planting
Economic Empowerment:
- More self-help groups – to engage 400 members
- Training in financial literacy, savings, and leadership
- Microloan systems set up to support income generating
Peacebuilding:
- Intergenerational dialogue groups
- Memory and Hope trauma-sharing workshops
- Tree planting and soil restoration as tools for reconciliation
- A Community Peace Committee established for each hill
- Training for community leaders in conflict mediation, de-escalation, and early warning systems
- Disseminate peace messaging in run up to electoral period
- Train and deploy two ‘Youth Peace Brigades’ -
- To host debates, art competitions promoting peaceful coexistence
- To Develop radio programs on youth and peace
- Facilitate dialogue circles for women in self-help groups
- Ensure women are to the fore in Community Peace Committees
- Offer workshops on inclusive governance and women’s civic engagement.
Why us?
Since the Lambeth Conference, Bishop’s Libby and Malcolm have met with Bishop Eraste of Bujumbura to share and pray about each other’s ministry. As followers of Jesus, we seek to promote peace with God and with one another. As children of a creator, we seek to care for God’s beautiful and precious world. This project connects so closely with what we are trying to do in our diocese, our desired outcomes and priorities – especially around service, justice, and ‘going greener’. Centred on Jesus, who offered his life on a tree for the salvation of us all, this project demonstrates the love of God in practical action.
What can I do?
- First – please speak to others about the programme, and decide what your church or community can do to get involved.
- Check out the creative resources that will be appearing for schools and churches.
- Plan symbolically to plant a tree somewhere locally to symbolise our support for this initiative, showing that trees both here and there address climate change. Think how supporting this tree planting initiative reduces your own carbon footprint.
- Join in local initiatives where you live that integrate building community with protecting the environment.
- Give via our Give a Little account or directly to the Diocese of Derby - by cheque or bank transfer (please indicate that this is for the Harvest appeal with your donation)
- Pray for the churches on the hills around Bujumbura – as well as in the hills, valleys, and plains of Derbyshire, that in what we do the good news of the Kingdom of God will transform lives, grow church, and build community.
