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Diocesan Assembly
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The Diocesan Assembly – Being the Life!
Some delegate reactions...
‘The Assembly was a time of worship, learning, fellowship and fun. It was really wonderful to see people enjoying themselves together - talking about and sharing their own parish lives in an atmosphere which had a real buzz. We were lucky to have some most inspiring speakers and workshops as well as some excellent entertainment in the bar on Saturday evening. I hope that the experience of the weekend will live on, through those who were there, in parishes over the coming months.’
Bishop John was the best front man we could have!
'it was a wonderful weekend and a life-changing experience for many of us.... I was meant to be there'
As a member of the planning group I felt on Thursday evening (when we arrived to set up) as I sometimes feel at the airport when I am about to board a jumbo jet, and looking at its great bulk, wondering how this thing can possibly ever get off the ground, let alone fly at 30.000 feet?
It seems though that the Assembly not only 'flew', but flew amazingly well!
Way back at the earliest stage of planning we were keen to create a framework whereby a conversation could be enabled between and among the delegates and speakers, and to leave room enough for God to get a word in edgeways, and do something. My understanding from what people have told me is that he honoured the invitation and did just that. Personally I could not have wished for more. I think for me it was a case of being 'Martha' and not 'Mary' on this occasion, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
I just wanted to thank you and the rest of the planning team for a wonderful weekend at Swanwick. I had a fantastic weekend and enjoyed it all; the speakers, the home groups, the enjoyable and moving worship – and the great entertainment on Saturday evening!!
I feel particularly lucky to have arrived early, and so have a bit more time to get to know people. I’m really grateful to you all for making me so welcome and feel part of everything from the beginning to the end.
Thanks again to you all…
People at the assembly got to know the Bishop much better, and certainly saw a new side to the Dean! The speakers were all excellent and I could have listened to them all day, I was especially impressed with Bishop Gerry, who was warm and witty, intelligent, caring, obviously nobody’s fool, creative, and who moved me to tears in the final sentences of her talk yesterday.
I enjoyed meeting up again with friends from all over the diocese, and I thought the facilities provided by the Conference Centre were very good.
Congratulations to the organizing team, who now all deserve a good rest!
I suppose for me the weekend was coming across good things in all sorts of places – good conversations, good music, good insights into the church and scripture. The assembly would provide us with all sorts of ideas and enthusiasm.
The Archbishop of York challenged and amused us with his speech on Sunday afternoon, rounding off the Assembly with some thought-provoking comments on what it means to be a healthy church. He took the time to answer questions from the audience on a range of subjects including Zimbabwe and whether bishops and their support staff are becoming too expensive for the Church of England. The final Assembly Eucharist was a very moving experience and seemed to generate a real sense of togetherness - it was really refreshing to go to an event like that and not feel that the speakers were talking completely over my head; it was theology on a level I could really understand.
People at the assembly got to know the Bishop much better, and certainly saw a new side to the Dean! The speakers were all excellent and I could have listened to them all day, I was especially impressed with Bishop Gerry, who was warm and witty, intelligent, caring, obviously nobody’s fool, creative, and who moved me to tears in the final sentences of her talk yesterday.
I enjoyed meeting up again with friends from all over the diocese, and I thought the facilities provided by the Conference Centre were very good.
Congratulations to the organizing team, who now all deserve a good rest!
It was a most wonderful experience. The choice of speakers was inspired
They certainly demonstrated “the coherence of the Trinity.”
One chap at Sunday lunch said “I’m not really much of church goer … my wife sort of dragged me here, but this has been inspirational... I see the C of E in a very different and more positive light. I think we will be doing more church things together…
But you gave us an experience which had profound impact on everyone.
I thought that every single one of the speakers were truly inspirationaL and I am sure Bishop Gerri would like to know that I heard more than one person say that she had changed their minds about women bishops, which was heartening. You obviously had a great deal of fun composing the early morning newsletters and I, and many others, had a good giggle over the breakfasts. A lot of thought had gone into the composing of the various acts of worship and I felt that you had catered for everyone from those bordering on Roman to those near Evangelical - there was something for everyone - no mean achievement; but every service was thoroughly enjoyable and spiritually uplifting as was the entire week-end
Once again, very many thanks and all good wishes - I hope you had a chance to recover, I'm sure you needed it!
I thought that the Assembly was a triumph of organisation – many congratulations! I came home exhausted and inspired, with lots to think about.
The Weekend was absolutely fabulous is so many ways. I'm still on a HIGH! I so enjoyed meeting with old friends and making lots of new ones. The speakers were great, and our home group really gelled - did you know that our group agreed to pray every morning during the Lambeth Conference? The worship, too, was so uplifting.
Again a huge thanks and hope I can do justice to the weekend by bringing the energy back to Badsey w
Aldington, Offenham and Bretforton. So we can get on with the charge from John Semtamu to worship God and
to witness to the Gospel. What a great way to begin my ministry as a Reader!
What a great weekend, so many smiling faces, everyone happy, many stories to listen to from fellow church members and a cheerful joking Bishop as our leader!
Susan Hope, Kenneth Leech and Bishop Gerry, our speakers provided much food for thought about living the life as a Christian today and the responsibility that we have of sharing our faith. Within the home groups we were able to pose questions for our speakers. I was pleased to be in a group with members from Dudley in the far north of the Diocese. We shared stories about the life of our churches, some very different from mine but some very similar experiences and this was encouraging.
Finally we had a flying visit from The Archbishop of York, John Semtanu, who was exciting to hear, his message was that our main business is to worship God and to witness to the Gospel. This message also came from our other weekend speakers. I was amazed how well the speeches from Bishop Gerry, Susan and Ken became interwoven. The Holy Spirit at work I’m sure.
Thanks to the organising committee.
Please all take a big hug and receive thanks today from the five of us who came to Swanwick from The Beckford Group Parish in Pershore Deanery.
We had an uplifiting, affirming, and encouraging weekend, during which it was easy to relax into everything going on. Smooth organisation, everything so well prepared, excellent care of our domestic needs and worship of a powerful, thoughtful and touching balance has been a great gift to us all.
The four main speakers gave us so much of themselves, provided a great breadth of style and content and their challenges will remain with us. The Home Groups were a joy and delight and forged many new friendships of a surprising intensity.
Your courage in allowing the conference to evolve as it went along in terms of the content coming into the Home Groups from the Speakers and returning back into the Main Speaker Sessions for an ongoing dialogue, seemed to bear the hallmark of allowing the Holy Spirit to work in what became a joyful exchange and generous support 'one for the other' across every meal table.
It was an unforgettable weekend and we all feel privileged to have been there.
Thank you.
Many thanks for producing such a spiffing weekend for us all. I do appreciate the huge amount of preparation which went in to it all, and I am sure you yourselves must be pleased with the outcome. I’m sure I will be only one of many who will be transmitting their gratitude to you all.
Here’s to the next one! But first, a holiday…
I felt it was an excellent weekend and a great experience.
I realise we have a lot of work to do in the Diocese but hopefully the enthusiasm and energy of the weekend will inspire us to continue our work in whatever way we can.
John Sentamu said that sections of the public are word resistant so other methods of communication are necessary to provide relevant information. He also said when people are so materially minded it’s important to remind them about the love of God.
Geralyn Wolf described her experiences in the USA, getting beyond the jargon, facilitating change, and encouraging healthy worship. One analogy she used was an almost finished jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. There’s a need for everyone to finish it; look at the bigger picture contribute the missing peace.
Ken Leech’s emphasis was on action to ensure social justice. On Friday he told us about the work of Fr Gresham Kirby a visionary thinker, a grass-roots parish priest, greatly loved, and incredibly inspiring and influential.
Sue Hope illustrated her passion for radical hospitality with examples from her experience in Sheffield and Doncaster. She provided a clear message to regain confidence in testimony through good work in a variety of situations.
Home groups of ten, (made up of people from different parts of the diocese), discussed and reflected on the speakers’ points. The aim is to move the Anglican Church forward and for parishes to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
The team who organised this event did a great job; our bishops John Inge and David Walker led it with sincerity and humour.
Many thanks to you and the team for the exceptional Diocesan Assembly. Right from the start, with the Yellow Sash brigade, it had a good feeling. The speakers were very well chosen, and it needs the DVDs to enable us to study
in depth what was said. It is not fair to single-out any one speaker, but I went specifically to hear Bishop Gerry and Archbishop John. Gerry had a difficult task, being between-conferences, but her contribution showed even to those of us who have for many years supported women in the Priesthood that there are great things ahead. Archbishop John – that talk should be given national prime-time TV transmission! Selling copies of the DVD should pay for a few stipends …The formal talks, the discussions between delegates, the whole atmosphere was challenging, stimulating, revitalising, exciting. The workshops could have filled the weekend alone. The one I went to on Rural Poverty was brilliant.
Thanks again
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