Archbishop of York’s Visit to the Diocese

“Each of us has a part to play in each other’s lives, and stories for God’s purposes in the world.”

Last weekend on the 22nd-24th November the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, took part in a missionary visit across our Diocese. Over the time he visited various organisations and churches, hearing what is happening in our diocese and sharing some of his story.

On Friday afternoon, Archbishop Stephen visited Nottingham City Transport with our Workplace Chaplain, Revd. Jo Tatum. The team at NCT shared stories of the impact that having workplace chaplaincy has had on the organisation, and Managing Director David Astill shared with the Archbishop some of the history of NCT and how it runs today, before taking the visitors on a tour of the offices including seeing the control room and having a go in the bus driver’s seat!

On Saturday morning there was a packed gathering in the East Bingham Deanery at the Thomas Cranmer Centre to hear the Archbishop’s reflections on faith and ministry throughout his life. Pupils from Archbishop Cranmer Church of England Primary and the team at St Thomas’ led a time of sung worship, before Archbishop Stephen then shared with attendees his story of why he is a follower of Jesus, recalling his childhood and first encounter with church in his teenage years. He shared a particularly moving story of his Auntie Millie, who had prayed for him and his family everyday of his life, sharing, “each of us has a part to play in each other’s lives and stories for God’s purposes in the world.” This was followed by an opportunity for small group discussion around what it means to be a healthy church, particularly in a rural context, as well as a Q&A with the Archbishop.

On Saturday afternoon there was a visit to Notts County Football Club with club chaplain Revd. Liam O’Boyle, where Archbishop Stephen was able to watch the match against Newport County. It was sadly not the most thrilling game with a 0-0 result, but Archbishop Stephen was able to meet staff at the club, discover more about it’s history as the oldest league club in the world, and find out about the chaplaincy work taking place.

The final event for the day was at St Paul’s Boundary Road which hosted ‘an evening with the Archbishop of York’. The time started with a wonderful meal that was prepared and served a busy team of volunteers, as conversation flowed around the tables . Revd. Tim Fox welcomed everyone to the evening and also shared about their love, joy, peace course which is restarting in the new year. The evening then moved to the main hall with Archbishop Stephen sharing through questions and conversation some of his life and reflections, particularly on the subject of prayer.

The next and final day began with a great occasion as Archbishop Stephen joined with Bishop Paul to confirm 23 candidates in Southwell Minster.  You can read more about this here

Throughout his time with us, Archbishop Stephen brought encouragement, inspiration and a passion for the gospel through his teaching and conversation over the weekend. We want to thank Archbishop Stephen, his team, and all those involved in helping the missionary visit take place. 

If you have questions about faith, or would like to know more about prayer, use the link here to find a church near you:

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