Category: Latest News

The text of his address is HERE

Bishop Richard is to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from the Diocese in Lent 2016, 20^th-28^th February 2016. . The journey gives you the opportunity to visit the place of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, following the final journey of Jesus in Jerusalem and visiting the place of the Annunciation in Nazareth. This being organised by Lightline Pilgrimages with details of the intinerary on their website

Saturday 24 October 10 – 3pm   The Forbury Chapel, Leominster   (along the road from Leominster Priory)

A day on one of the strong themes emerging from the Follow! conversations – how to grow in confidence in sharing our faith as followers of Jesus today. On this relaxed and informal day we will discover ways each one of us can accompany the people around us on journeys to faith and journeys in faith – simply and naturally. Hosted by Lay Development and led by staff of The Ugly Duckling Company – authors of the Puzzling Questions course and Table Talk cards.

Booking essential (places limited): contact Lay Development on grow@hereford.anglican.org or 01584 871086. Cost: £5 payable on the day. Tea and coffee provided

Email from Anni Holden, Director of Communications, dated 14 September 2015 reproduced in full below:

Dear All,

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Bishop Richard has asked me to write to you to inform you of the Diocesan response to the Refugee Crisis. Chrissie Pepler, Community Link Development Officer, Karilyn Collins, World Development Officer and I, as your Director of Communications, met with both Bishops and the Archdeacon to discuss how we might respond if some of the government’s planned 4000 Syrian refugees each year were directed to Herefordshire and Shropshire. We also discussed how we might respond to other questions and needs.

The arrival of refugees was split between the two major counties. Shropshire Council is already on top of planning, with an officer already in post to lead a planning group. Chrissie Pepler and Bishop Alistair will concentrate on Shropshire and be in direct contact with the Council to see what it may require the people of the Diocese to do. We all agreed it was essential that we work with the local authorities wherever possible, so the welcome for desperate people can be organised together rather than having individuals ‘doing their own thing’.

Herefordshire Council is still deciding what to do. Councillor Johnson has been designated as the Lead member and will be pulling together a planning group. Karilyn Collins has been in touch with him already. Following our meeting, she will contact with him again, to offer The Great Hall at The Palace, for a meeting of the essential statutory and volunteer organisations, who will be invited to get involved.

In the meantime we are asking you, all the people and parishes of the Diocese of Hereford, to consider whether you, or someone you know, may volunteer for one or more of the following roles:

• Befrienders – We will need people to ‘be there’ for anyone arriving from Syria, whether families or single and people of all ages. Be realistic in offering to do this as it will mean a commitment of time and flexibility.
• Accommodation – Can we identify empty houses or flats, vacant holiday accommodation or suitable room in your home. A list of potential space would be very useful.
• Arabic Speaker – If you can speak Arabic that would be very useful and we would love to know who you are.
• School Spaces – It would be helpful to know where our schools have space for new children.
• Support Workers – We will need people who have experience in working with families and traumatised people. We need medical volunteers and those with expertise we have not identified but which you think might be useful.

If you can, please share this e-mail as widely as possible in the parishes, both within and outside the church. We are asking volunteers to let me know a.holden@hereford.anglican.org what you can offer, under which heading, as soon as possible. Please be as generous as you can. We expect to get some weeks notice of potential arrivals.

We are also asking all parishes to pray about this terrible situation. You may choose to hold a special service, a vigil or just to use the Church of England prayer for Refugees which you will find on the front page of the Diocesan website www.hereford.anglican.org. We would like the prayer used widely and we will provide a sheet for reproduction and distribution in the immediate future. I will email it to you as the most efficient way of reaching all parts of our very large Diocese and suggest you photocopy onto a heavier coloured paper if possible. Just do your best!

You may wish to donate money which we suggest you direct to the agencies working on the ground in the Middle East and in Europe. We suggest Christian Aid, Tearfund, The Red Cross and Save the Children.

Anni Holden

Anni Holden
Director of Communications
The Palace, Hereford HR4 9BL
01432 373342 or 07889 186316
a.holden@hereford.anglican.org
www.hereford.anglican.org

This year we will be supporting two farming charities this Harvest.

Farm Crisis Network
Helping Farming People through difficult times.
F.C.N. provides pastoral and practical support to farming people during periods of anxiety, stress and problems relating to both the farm household and the farm business.

The Addington Fund
The Addington Fund provides homes for farming families having to leave the industry and emergency grants in times of hardship.

 

 

Here are details of our Harvest Festival Services – All welcome, please come and join the celebration!

Don’t miss your opportunity to join the ‘Follow!’ conversations this September to help see and shape our next steps together,  with Bishop Richard and Bishop Alistair, as a diocese, as churches, as followers if Jesus today.

We are joining with a 2000 year old conversation and journey… And sharing in the calling to pass on the faith in our generation.  Lots of events – more info – follow the link from the front page of the diocesan website.

Help us plan by letting us know which event(s) you are coming to – and who you hope to be bringing with you. Reply to follow@Hereford.Anglican.org

Do Download the colourful flyer and invitations and display on your Noticeboards…they make a delightful picture.

It is Jesus who says, ‘Follow me’

Please find below information about a couple of learning coach tours organised by the Festival of Churches group. They are good days out with lots to see and get ideas from. It is not too late to book and it would be good to see as many of you as possible aboard.

Mike Teague (01746 789592) has the booking form and you can choose either (or both!) trip. The cost is £25 which includes coach travel, all entrance fees coffee/tea and lunch and the sessions at each venue.

You will see that our main speakers are experts and each tour will be led by Tim Bridges, another expert, based locally. Numbers are restricted only when the coach is full, so share this information in the parish too.

 How do we ‘manage’ tourism and tourists through our churches? What can we do to make our visitors happy? How much information do we need to give them? Are there practical things we can do in our buildings? We have arranged 2 days to look at these questions and hopefully provide some answers. We will be boarding a coach and getting hands on ideas from other organisations heavily involved in the tourism ‘industry’, the fastest growing in the world! We will learn how others manage tourism, to get practical ideas to implement at local level – especially around local ‘stories’ and to share ideas on improved visitor welcome. And how do we look after volunteers? All knowledge is on our coaches!

Tour 1 – 8^th September 2015

10.00 meet at Berrington Hall, coffee on arrival  HR6 0DW

10.30 Talk by Tony Berry

12.00 noon leave Berrington Hall

12.20 arrive Yarpole church

12.50 Talk at Yarpole

1pm Lunch

1.45 leave Yarpole

2.00 Croft church

2.45 leave Croft church

3.10 arrive Stretford church

3.45 leave Stretford church

4.15 Berrington Hall car park HR6 0DW

Tour 2 – 1^st October 2015

9.45 leave Church Stretton Railway station  SY6 6PG

10.30 arrive at Museum of Iron,  Coalbrookdale – coffee on arrival

10.45 Talk and tour

11.45 leave Museum of Iron

12.00 arrive Coalbrookdale Church

12.40 leave Coalbrookdale Church

1pm lunch at Wroxeter Hotel

2.25 Wroxeter church

3.00 leave Wroxeter Church

3.10 Atcham Church – tea & coffee

4.00 leave Atcham

4.30 Church Stretton SY6 6PG

 

Parking is available at Berrington Hall and in Church Stretton at the Railway Station or in the town close by. The days have been arranged in Shropshire and Herefordshire but you may choose which one you wish to join. The cost is £25 per person which covers entry to venues, refreshments, lunch, coach and learning

 

Booking deadline:

Friday, 21^st August 2015 & Friday, 11^th September 2015 respectively

 

The experts you will meet

 

Tony Berry has been with the National Trust since the early 1990s, working regionally and nationally in PR, marketing, commercial development and learning. As Visitor Experience Director, he’s now responsible for the way in which the Trust welcomes visitors and brings its properties to life. He’s been closely involved in some of the Trust’s most original and eyebrow-raising projects – including the acquisition and opening of Sir Paul McCartney’s childhood home, creating the award-winning visitor experience at the Back to Backs in Birmingham and – more recently – the ‘Bringing Places to Life’ strategy that is transforming the way the Trust presents its properties. (Tour 1) 

 

Paul Gossage studied history at St David’s University College Lampeter and went on to do a post graduate diploma in Hospitality Management at Blackpool College, subsequently he has spent his entire career in the tourism industry. Initially working within the hotel sector he worked for Queens Moat House Hotels in a variety of sales and marketing roles and then was part of the opening team at Coombe Abbey Hotel in Coventry. At Warwick Castle he helped develop the Castle’s domestic groups and education business and since joining the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust 14 years ago he has masterminded the Trust’s marketing strategy. (Tour 2)