Items filtered by date: June 2025
One of the newest choirs in the Diocese of Derby has been practising hard for a Remembrance Sunday performance – the group’s first public outing.
Signs from the Peaks started when Buxton Team Rector Liz England got together with a group of other people who were keen to start a signing choir.
Liz has a Level 1 in British Sign Language (BSL). She joined forces with Steph Bennett, a BSL teacher, Elaine Hill, who works with the deaf community, and Liv Lazarus, also BSL qualified, to form Signs from the Peaks – a now 20-strong ensemble.
And after around six weeks of rehearsing, Liz decided to invite the choir to perform at the church’s Remembrance service.
That in itself is a milestone for some of the choristers who have never before attended a church service.
Liz said: “I love the inclusivity of it. Not only do we have people who use sign language regularly, but also members of the community who have never signed before.
“The choir is open to anyone, whether they have experience in signing or not.
“The aim of this amazing choir is to get people involved who are passionate about being creative and like a bit of tea and biscuits too!
“And one of our founding members, Ana Mankiewicz, runs Grapevine Wellbeing Centre, a mental health charity in Buxton - so she invites people who feel isolated to join in. This is a win-win for all concerned.”
Signs from the Peaks meets on Tuesday evenings at 6pm at St Mary’s Church, Dale Road, Buxton.
See them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/704810786658751/ or contact Liz England on 01298 212667.
Each year, the nation prepares to remember the fallen.
And each year, an army of volunteers heads out into the Diocese to help sell those poppies and raise vital funds to support today's Armed Forces community – and to help ensure we never forget.
In the village of Hulland Ward, not far from Ashbourne, one such volunteer has been committed to selling poppies for a staggering 75 years!
James Milwain: ordained deacon on 30 June 2019
"It has been wonderful... to proclaim the Gospel, to preach regularly and to serve at the altar."
Hello, I’m the Reverend James Milwain and I am in many ways returning home to the Diocese, having grown up close to the city of Derby.
The village of Eyam has been recreated in fruit cake!
Baker Lynn Nolan's model took three months to make and the tasty model is on display in St Laurence's church until the end of November 2019.
Lynn used a total of 65 cakes, which are held together with skewers and covered in icing.
You can see the model at Eyam Church from 10.00am to 4pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and on Sundays from 1.30pm to 4.00pm.
One of the great things about going to school is that you get fed!
And whilst not every child relishes the thought of having a school dinner, at least those that do don’t go hungry.
But what happens during the school holidays? If parents are struggling to make ends meet there is a real possibility that some children can start the new term malnourished.
Breakfast and lunch clubs during school holidays have proved to be part of the solution for some areas.
Our Diocesan Vision is that the Kingdom of God is good news for all, and that fundamentally includes Children, Young People and Families.
A key priority of our Parish Support Team strategy is to support and enable parishes to Grow Active Young Disciples. The Growing Younger team has been put together around this priority and a lot of our work is based around the national Church of England movement that is Growing Faith.
Growing Faith is the movement that exists to change the culture of the Church of England, so that everyone instinctively puts children, young people and families at the heart of all the ministry and mission of the Church.
Growing Faith involves churches, schools and households working together to help children, young people and families have life in all its fullness.
As a diocese we are adopting Growing Faith as the basis for our strategic plans to grow younger.
Big news!!
We are launching our Growing a Younger Church newsletter.
We are so excited to be launching our seasonal newsletter. It will be packed full of creative ideas and resources for you to use in your Parishes; whether you are starting out with a dream to build something new with your children and young people or whether you have an established group and are looking for fresh ideas.. We've got you. We are also going to be sharing stories from accross the Diocese of ways that churches are ministrering to their children and young people so do send in your stories that we can share with others.
We will be sending the mailing out every couple of months.. all you need to do is sign up and you will receive the mailing direct to your In-Box.
Sign up for our mailing by following this link
- 1
RECOGNISE (7-13 July) is a national week of recognition for everyone involved in ministry with children, young people, and their families (CYPF).
Sunday 13 July is a day for churches nationwide to celebrate and thank those involved in this vital ministry.
The 30k Project want to RECOGNISE all the hard work of those serving in CYPF Ministry. There are so many individuals giving tirelessly to nurture the faith of the emerging generations. Help create a wave of appreciation and echo their heartfelt thanks across the Church.
Click this LINK to find out how to register.
Meet the Growing Younger Team
-
Strategic Lead for Youth MinistryRevd Aidan Watson 01332 278144 aidan.watson@derby.anglican.org Aidan Watson (Strategic Youth Lead) oversees our efforts to Grow Younger active disciples and Growing Faith. -
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)Debbie Patrick 01332 388665 debbie.patrick@derby.anglican.org Debbie works on a Monday and Wednesday -
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)Rowan Rankin 01332 401726 rowan.rankin@derby.anglican.org Rowan works on a Monday and Wednesday
- 1
The Revd Louise Petheram, Priest-in-Charge of Youlgreave, Middleton, Stanton-in-Peak and Birchover, has been appointed House for Duty Priest-in-Charge of Hope, Castleton and Bradwell in the same Diocese. Mrs Petheram hopes to take up her new post in 2020.
The Revd Sarah Watson, Assistant Curate in the Walbrook Epiphany Team Ministry, will transfer her curacy and become Assistant Curate of the Derwent Oak BMO (including St Philip’s Church Plant) and of Spondon in the same diocese with effect from 1 November 2019.
The Revd Peter Green, Vicar of Old Brampton and Great Barlow and Priest-in-Charge of Loundsley Green LEP, has been appointed Vicar of the benefice of The Abbey Group of Parishes, Diocese of Lincoln.
The Revd Richard Benson, Vicar of the White Peak Group, retired with effect from 31 August 2019. Mr Benson will move away from the Diocese after retirement.
We are aware of some suspicious emails that appear to be from clergy and even from Bishop Libby. Responding to the emails will result in requests for money or gift cards.
Please DO NOT reply to the emails.
We are not currently aware how many may be affected; however, it is important that we are all aware and be vigilant to protect our online safety and security.
We are not aware of any system security breach and are in the process of compiling some website best practice guidelines so that our churches can take action to greater protect themselves.
Steps to take if you receive a suspicious email
- DO NOT reply to the email.
- Check the email address of the sender – is it the same email address as usual?
- If in doubt, type in the usual email address of the clergy, rather than just hit reply. Better still, talk to them and check if they have sent this email.
- Run a complete anti-virus scan of your computer.
- If you have sent any money as a direct result of the email, please contact the Police to report the matter.
Steps to take if you are the named sender of a suspicious email
- Reassure any recipients that you have not sent the email and verify your correct email address.
- As a safety procedure, reset your email password and any clergy portal passwords.
- Run a complete anti-virus scan of your computer.
- If you receive any reports of money being sent as a direct result of the email, please contact the Police to report the matter.
When I was a teenager my ambition was to be a missionary, taking the gospel to the indigenous people of the Amazon on a jet ski! While it’s not been quite that exciting, my faith journey has taken me through some interesting experiences, both here and abroad.
Since those early days I have remained interested in how God calls people to service; following their journey as they discern the voice of God calling them to service in the church, both lay and ordained.
I am committed to helping the church to be more inclusive in its selection of clergy. Being one of very few Black priests I think I may be particularly helpful to those from ethnic minority backgrounds, but I would be privileged to work with anyone who came to me.
