The clergy of the Northern Diocese (together with two ordinands) met for a time of fellowship and planning at Emmanuel Church, Morecambe, on 12 September.
It was encouraging to see the advances made at Emmanuel, under Brett and Kat Murphy’s ministries, since our last meeting.
Dr Bob Stephen was present and brought everyone up to date with encouraging developments throughout the Free Church of England.
Those present reviewed the journey the Northern Diocese had taken pre-Covid, with a view to becoming a church planting Diocese. Brett Murphy and Matthew Firth reported on the Church Planting intensive in which they had taken part in Germany back in July. Much of the subsequent discussion was focussed on a map showing the location of existing FCE churches. We also looked at a list of Northern sites for potential FCE church plants drawn up before the pandemic. One of these (York) is now being actively pursued. Other possibilities were discussed.
As part of developing an overall strategy, those present agreed to take on various tasks.
The next meeting, DV, is planned for November, probably at Emmanuel Morecambe once more. There is much to praise God for, and much to pray about.