Impact0418

On December 13 the new
Bishop of Sheffield Rt
Rev Pete Wilcox led
a service at St James’
Norton in which the
churches of St James’, St Chad’s,
St Paul’s Norton Lees and St
Peter’s Greenhill pledged to work
together for the good of God’s
kingdom across the S8 district.
As a recognition of this the four
vicars (Geoffrey White, Toby Hole,
Murray Brown and Ned Lunn)
were all licensed to one another’s
churches.
We are also really fortunate
to have a new member of staff
working for us, Jo Edwards,
who is our Mission Partnership
Development Worker. She will
be based in St Chad’s parish
office but will be working for
all four churches helpfully coordinating
them and their vicars
and providing us with well needed
administrative support.
This ‘Mission Partnership’ has
been in the pipeline for a few
years. It has come about as a
recognition that church life can
no longer be a case of one vicar
doing everything (and, in fairness,
this has thankfully never been the
case at St Chad’s!) but that all of
God’s people have a role in telling
and showing others what God’s
love means and looks like.
We already have a number
of people in our churches who,
although not vicars, have been
licensed by the Bishop to preach,
take services, visit the sick and do
many of the things that once were
the preserve of men in dog collars.
As our Mission Partnership
develops so we are hoping for
more people who feel called to
serve in this way.
This has been described to me
as a bit like a maypole – different
coloured strands being woven into
a pattern without losing their own
unique identity.
The four churches of Norton,
Woodseats, Norton Lees and
Greenhill are all quite different
and will remain different, but as
we work more closely together
we hope that our difference will
form a pattern that will bless our
communities and be more effective
in bringing the good news of Jesus
to those around us.
Rev Toby Hole
Working Together in S8
The Bishop of Sheffield Rt Rev Pete Wilcox with Revs Geoffrey White,
Toby Hole, Ned Lunn and Murray Brown, and Mission Partnership
Development Worker Jo Edwards.
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Office: Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 21
email: office@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org