The 2025–2026 cohort have begun their journey on the Ministry Experience Scheme, a formative opportunity to discern whether God may be calling them to ministry within the Church of England.
The Right Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol, licensened ten ordinands as Lay Workers on Sunday 5 July.
The Right Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol, will license ten ordinands this Sunday 5 July, via Zoom.
At Connected 2019 this year, we focused on the key themes outlined within Growing Faith - a vision set out by the House of Bishops.
This year's LLM Licensing Service takes place at Bristol Cathedral on Saturday 21 September at 10.30am. This is a joyful occasion to which candidates are encouraged to invite their family and friends and members of their local church.
The Diocese of Bristol is committed to engaging with younger generations and to growing leaders of all ages to serve in both the church and the world.
The Church of England Ministry Experience Scheme (CEMES) offers year-long placements in churches around the country for young adults aged under 30.
The weekend of the 1 July saw the ordination of nine new deacons and seven new priests to serve across our Diocese in a variety of contexts.
My name is Jones Mutemwakwenda. I am married to Gladys with four children. I am the Priest In Charge of All Hallows Easton an Anglo Catholic Church in the heart of Bristol. We are a welcoming, all aged community drawn from the parish, the Diocese and
Do you want to explore whether God is calling you to ministry in the Church of England by gaining experience of what it is really like?
As people learn to serve and follow Christ, they will be looking for practical opportunities to use their gifts.
Hello Im Aggy; I am a mum of 2, currently a member in the Lee Abbey Knowle West small missional community and working part time for the NHS as a Clinical Data Team Co-ordinator.
Who are you, where are you and what do you do?Hi! Im Lucy, I am currently the curate at Redland Parish Church in Bristol.Being a curate means lots of different things primarily, I am training to be a vicar, but that happens in lots of different ways
My name is Trev Meardon and Im currently serving my curacy in Southmead at St Stephens church. Its a great community with a variety of things going on in the church and wider community. As the curate Im trying to get involved in as much as I can to g
My name is Sam Im 22 years old and in my third year of training for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon. Ive come from Kingswood where Id been working with the churches in Kingswood Team Ministry, mostly with the Church plant All Souls Southey Park.
My name is Michelle and I am 33 years old. I am currently the assistant curate in the East Bristol Partnership a role which I started in 2014. I work in a benefice of three different churches, joining in with the ministry and mission happening in t
Jill Garfitt and Richard Pendlebury were both ordained as OLM at Christ Church Clifton by Bishop Mike.
The Revd Becky Waring, who became vicar of St Martins Knowle earlier this year, said that she owed a lot to her first church for their willingness to take risks in giving her opportunities as she took the step towards ordained ministry.
The Revd Becky Waring, who became vicar of St Martins Knowle earlier this year, said that she owed a lot to her first church for their willingness to take risks in giving her opportunities as she took the step towards ordained ministry.
Church of England parishes and primary schools are getting Thank Your Vicar Week 16-23 October in the school or parish diary, when they will be celebrating the vital contribution their clergy make to the community.
We spoke to the two newest members of the Property Team to find out more about what they do and why they do it. From traditional rectories to modern vicarages, clergy in the Diocese of Bristol live in a variety of different houses.
Church of England parishes and primary schools are getting Thank Your Vicar Week 16-23 October in the school or parish diary, when they will be celebrating the vital contribution their clergy make to the community.
The summer is an exciting time of transition within the Ministry Development department BAP candidates become ordinands; ordinands become deacons; deacons become priests; formation year students prepare to become Licensed Lay Ministers.
Yesterday afternoon I was due to meet a colleague for coffee. I had rushed from one meeting to the next all morning and arrived on time to find my usually prompt colleague was not there.
As we mark the beginning of Volunteer Week, the Rev Simon Jones, Team Rector at St Michael's Stoke Gifford, explains how the church found new ways of encouraging people to serve.Churches love notices!
Last week, I was talking with a candidate about the difficulties he was having with friendships.
The Licensed Lay Ministry training programme in the Diocese of Bristol has been labelled sound and strategically led in its first annual Periodic External Review (PER).
On 27 April 2016, clergy, ministers and leaders from churches across the Diocese will be exploring what it means to be Connected at a special diocesan day conference event.
On Wednesday 23rd December, I had scheduled into my diary a day of prayer for the work of vocations across the diocese of Bristol.
Not unsurprisingly personality and character form part of the selection criteria for ministry in the Church of England. However I also think they are also key to life and relationships.
When you have sat through as many nativity plays as I have as a primary school teacher, a Church Families Worker,an ordained minister and a parent of three you become somewhat deaf to the incredible power of the Christmas story.
For many people reading this the very concept of a mega church will have you running to your keyboards to explain that wasn't what Jesus or any of the New Testament writers had in mind when they thought about church!
It is said we are shaped by our culture. If that is true then one of the strongest leadership motifs is that of the hero leader.
I have done almost five weeks in this role, and I have already lost count of the number of rooms I've walked into where people have been barely able to contain their surprise that I am Bristol's new DDO (diocesan director of ordinands).
Following the wonderful licensing service at Bristol Cathedral on Saturday 26 September, we now have over 200 licensed lay ministers in the Diocese of Bristol.
When Justin Welby was elected the 105thArchbishop of Canterbury in February 2013, everyone was commenting on his meteoric rise, since he had been consecrated as a bishop only 16 months earlier.
Vocation in any form is costly in all sorts of ways and does involve leaving things behind. Be prepared to be surprised if you genuinely open yourself up to following God's call wherever it leads.
I don't think I was prepared for how life changing it could be. There's a sense where I have been through a process of disorientation to become re-orientated in the direction that God planned.Chris Beaumont will be ordained as deaconon Saturday 5 Jul
Sunday 26 April 2015 is Vocations Sunday. Revd Nicola Stanley reflects on how we might discern a call to ministry, and importantly how we can might help others recognise their own gifts.
Ahead of Vocations Sunday on 26 April, Revd Dr Emma Ineson considers how Jesus called Peter and how this might shed light on how he might call you.
Vocations Sunday is the day for churches to encourage everyone to reflect, discover and recognise God's call to them. The next Vocations Sunday day is 26 April 2015.
Clergy from across the South West took part in a special, one-day comedy workshop at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Exeter.
The Diocese of Bristol in partnership with other local organisations is planning a new mission shaped ministry course to start locally in the autumn.
My current favourite joke: A chicken farmer is dismayed to see that his favourite chicken has stopped laying eggs. He tries everything he knows to fix the problem but no success.
Margaret Williams, who became the Diocese of Bristol's first ever female lay minister 40 years ago, has been awarded an MBE in the Queens New Year Honours for 2015.
The mix between stipendiary, self-supporting and other forms of ordained ministry is changing, as the Church responds to fresh challenges and an evolving world.
Earlier this year, the Diocese of Bristol appointed Rev Charles Sutton as Bishops Adviser for Self-Supporting Ministry.
Paul has helped me a lot. If it weren't for him, Id be back in prison now.
If there's one thing that is essential in ministry its knowing that you are in the hands of, and that you belong to, God Himself.
Sunday 22nd June was a day of celebration for Margaret Williams at Christ Church, Swindon, beginning with a special service to mark 40 years of lay ministry.
Am I doing something because I think it will be good for me and I want to do it, or because I know deep within myself that God is calling me?
Revd John Monaghan was ordained as a priest at Bristol Cathedral on Sunday 29 June by the Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Mike Hill.
The Society of Martha and Mary, Sheldon Post-Easter breaks.
A recent article in the Church Times highlighted some of the realities and challenges faced by church interns.
Leadership is a major focus for Bristol Diocese, not just encouraging the leaders of our churches to hone their leadership skills, but also helping all those in positions of leadership to reflect on how their faith affects, maybe even drives their leadership.
The last 3 or 4 months have been exceptionally busy. As well as doing my own job, I have also been helping to cover the job of a colleague who was away for nearly 3 months on paternity leave.
The first round of Clergy Day Conferences and the Chrism Eucharist brought licensed ministers together to be equipped for leading in mission in March 2013.The Chrism Eucharist is the annual opportunity for both lay and ordained licensed ministers to
Ordained and lay ministers from across the Diocese once again gathered on Maundy Thursday at Bristol Cathedral for the Chrism Eucharist and to renew their commitment to ministry.
Regular readers will probably have realised already that I have very 'low brow' tastes. Not for me the leadership lessons played out in Tolstoy, Shakespeare or Cicero.
Apparently, I leak quite badly in meetings. My new colleague, Becky Waring, is a great observer of human nature and revealed this fact to me after a recent meeting.
Who watches the watchman? This is the motto written on the side of Commander Vimes' truncheon in the Discworld novels written by Terry Pratchett.
Yesterday evening I watched 'The Devil wears Prada' - yes, I know I'm a long way behind the rest of the world but I didn't think it would be a film I would enjoy.
I was chatting with Tim Harle recently, one of the leaders of the Voyage Leadership Programme, and we were reflecting on how few female writers on leadership there are.
Around 350 people joined Bishop Lee in the Bristol Cathedral on Saturday 18th February to witness the licensing of nine new lay ministers and the welcome of another new lay minister from Oxford Diocese.
I am becoming more convinced that 'leadership' is the combination of 3 things.