Diane Cooksey has been Renewal Leader of All Saints' Church in Sedgley for a year now. Parishioners have praised Diane for her strong and caring leadership and there is a sense of excitement as All Saints is already growing, bringing more people to faith and making bold steps to becoming a truly intergenerational congregation.
Diane said:
“In the early days it felt like a lot of my role was about ‘preparing the soil’. I focused on improving internal communication in and between all three churches and this has led to a greater sense of ‘team’.”
Diane shares that even though the renewal is focussed on All Saints the whole benefice is fully behind the renewal because they believe, as it grows, resources will be shared out and bless the whole community.
“I also had to find ways of emphasising the central part of our vision, that consistently there should be a warm welcome to All, and I’m confident having done this important groundwork, we can bear fruit.”
Diane added:
“It’s also been a year of checking out the opportunities and they are here. They really are!”
Diane and her team have worked hard to engage children in all parts of their community, working closely with nearby Cotswall End Primary school, uniformed organisations such as the Rainbows and Cubs who helped them make some eco-friendly nativity figures, and taking part in ‘Black Country Day’, where they hosted a stall offering free games to local families; “I hadn’t long started at that point, so it was a great way to get to know the local community.”
Diane shares that anything that has engaged local families has been exciting for her “as that work really shows the opportunities!” Some of the main
celebration events All Saints have hosted with families this past year have seen really high numbers of children engaging; Both their Christmas nativity trail at the Sedgley Lights Switch On and their Good Friday egg hunt had around 70 children take part. “Our biggest event though was our Pancake Party! We had 85 come to that – it was wonderful to have so many children with us!”
During all these activities, as Diane and the team have engaged with families, they’ve also been asking parents what else they might bring their children to and been very encouraged by the responses:
“Most of the families seem fine with coming to Sunday services as long as they engage their children, so it’s been great to be able to signpost them straight to our monthly family-friendly service. I revamped it to make it even more interactive. The whole congregation has been excited to see the growth this has resulted in and it’s become truly intergenerational with something for everyone.”
Bishop Hugh praised All Saints for this when he visited on Mothering Sunday, and on Palm Sunday when they had crafts and ‘Ted the pony’ join them, they had over 90 people in church!
There are other signs of growth as well, with one adult baptism and one renewal of baptismal vows taking place and four confirmations booked with the bishop for the autumn. They ran the ‘Hope Explored’ course which brought two more families closer into the fold. Diane and Giles are now discussing how they can deepen discipleship. New Assistant Curate, Tracy Skidmore will also be assisting with this when she starts in July and Diane is pleased that her staff team will be expanding with a Children and Families Worker and a new Ops Manager also starting soon. All these key appointments will help 
Diane deliver on the next stage of the parish vision - to help the church to flourish.
Diane said:
“We have lots of plans for this next year. We’re hoping to start a New Worshipping Community for families and an after-school club. Both will feature Lego bricks and crafts and look to offer something for everyone. For adults, thinking about wellbeing, we’re looking to create a bereavement café and start a monthly Community Choir that will feature Christian songs and hymns.”
“Thinking ahead to Christmas we’re exploring how we can build on our existing Christmas tree festival to help forge stronger links with our local community. We’ll be encouraging local businesses, shops and schools to decorate a tree each. We’re also hoping to host a new community carols event alongside our usual carol services.”
“Finally, we’re continuing to look at our welcome and what initiatives or printed materials might assist in everyone feeling a sense of belonging as soon as they step into church. We’ve begun conversations about leaving the church doors open during the week as I think it’s an important part of our message - that church, just like God, is always here for everyone!”
