Arriving this Easter

The Easter edition of our quarterly Diocesan Newsletter Viva Voce should be at the back of your church by Easter Sunday, 17th April. This bumper edition has a special focus on what some of our parishes and our schools – and our families too as domestic churches – are doing to celebrate Easter. There is also an item on the Synod, as well as news from Caritas. Canon John Cooke discusses the importance of parish welcome and hospitality and there is a special schools feature on Passion Plays. Along with Viva Voce, this time here is a special four-page insert about the Diocesan Strategy and where we are up to so far: the priorities that are emerging and the sobering statistics. We are blessed in our Diocese with many committed and faithful people who strive to realise their mission in the service of the Lord and His Church. It is also true that impact of an increasingly secular culture is felt deeply. Over the last 15 years, the Church has been troubled in many ways, with scandal and division, and since 2019, Covid and its shock waves have accelerated a change across society and the Church in a way that we never imagined. It is 15 years since the last strategic plan for our Diocese – Go out and Bear Fruit was published, so it is timely that we think together about how we respond so that we can realise our mission in this challenging age, in our fidelity to Christ and His Church to shape the legacy of a vibrant Diocese for future generations.