WAKEFIELD CATHEDRAL NAMED IN CHURCH GROWTH REPORT Wakefield Cathedral is named “as a relaxed place to worship, with positive contemplative atmosphere, and friendly and supportive staff” in the latest report on church growth in the Church of England. The report finds that cathedrals have seen growth across the board but highlights Wakefield as a shining example with a 20 per cent increase in the last five years and highlights its refurbishment, fresh expressions of church, warmth of ministry and welcome and wide-reaching education programme as contributory factors. A survey of worshippers in 2013 also revealed a warm appreciation for a developing cathedral life. Last night the Dean of Wakefield, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener said: “The cathedral has been working hard in recent years to reach out to new people, and it is great that this has been recognized by the wider Church. Our aim is always to offer a wide variety of high quality worship and music, a warm welcome, thoughtful preaching, and the opportunity for everyone who comes through our doors to be prayerful and reflective, as they seek to spend time in the presence of God.” And while research teams for the Church of England have just completed an 18-month research project exploring some of the factors which might influence church growth in the Church of England, they accept there is no single recipe but lots of common ingredients including good leadership, a clear mission and purpose and willingness to self reflect and change. Canon missioner, the Revd Tony Macpherson said: “2013 was a good year for Mission and Evangelism at Wakefield Cathedral. The work of our newly appointed Community Missioner and our Come on In Mission in November have opened us up to fresh possibilities and opportunities to explore in 2014 and beyond. We hope that our exciting variety of worship and events will help us to grow new Disciples of Jesus.” You can read the CoE report in full here…wakefield.anglican.org
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 08:54:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015