This weekend over 300 people from the Diocese of Worcester will gather together in Derbyshire for their Diocesan Assembly.  The weekend is a gathering of people from across the Diocese of Worcester for a time of faith, fellowship and fun, celebrating and deepening the identity of the Anglican Church in Worcestershire and Dudley.  The last Assembly was in 2002.

This year visitors from Peru and Germany are traveling here in order to take part in the weekend with their colleagues from Worcestershire.  Margaret Rutter a member of the Board for Mission in the Diocese of Worcester said ‘We are delighted that representatives from Magdeburg and Peru are joining us for our Diocesan Assembly; the links are part of our extended diocesan family.  Our visitors widen our horizons, renew our sense of mission and inform our prayers.’

The links between the Diocese of Worcester and the Anglican Diocese of Peru and the Propstei of Magdeburg-Halberstadt have been in existence for sixteen years.  Two visitors will come from Magdeburg, Pfarrerin Friederike Holtz and Pfarrer Matthias Ansorg. This will be Friederike’s first visit to the diocese and her link parish, St James in Badsey, are looking forward to her visit and we are delighted that Matthias, who specialises in mission at home and overseas, will join us at the assembly.

Three visitors coming from Peru arrive on July 5th returning home on 19th. Revd Julio Montoyo is the Vicar General for the Diocese of Peru. From his parish church, with his wife Norma, who was the first women to be ordained a deacon in Peru, he provides Day Care and Nurseries facilities, offering healthcare, education and food to some of the poorest children in the areas, and teaches women to rear ducks to improve nutrition for families in the shanty towns, increasing the family income and self-esteem. Revd Jorge Aguilar is the Director of Education for the Church Schools and Education programmes and a Parish Priest for a small mission run in one of the schools in Lima. Both will visit link parishes, schools and education projects during their stay in the diocese and are looking forward to renewing friendships across the diocese.

Miss Charo Saavedra is the administrator for the Diocese of Peru. She is involved with in the youth work in the diocese and, with her parents and sister, supports a local priest in the running of a local mission. We look forward to her return visit and the time she will spend in the diocesan office with us especially as she will lead a time of prayer and Bible study for us as she does daily with her staff in Lima.

The visitors will also have a chance to visit work going on around the Diocese, including an Edwardian Mother’s Union Tea Party in Hagley and visits to St George’s Primary School, Kidderminster on the 9th July and Alvechurch First and Middle Schools on the 16th July.

ENDS

The Diocese of Worcester is one of 44 dioceses in the Church of England. It covers an area of 671 square miles and includes parishes in the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell.