Jonny Masters, Youth, Children and Families Missioner (pictured right), provides an update for parishes on Living in Love and Faith, which explores the themes of identity, relationships, sexuality and marriage.
Living in Love and Faith is the shared listening and learning experience the whole of the Church of England has been invited to take part in. There is a whole host of resources for parishes to engage with, from podcasts and books to story videos and a five-week course. You just need to register (simply so they know how many people are engaging). There is also a library of other books and resources which are recommended alongside the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) resources. Finally, you are invited to respond. You can respond creatively, with art or poetry or something similar, or there is a survey to fill in after you have engaged with any of the resources. This is crucial for the Bishops and General Synod as they discern any next steps the Church of England might like to take following this learning process. Therefore, it is very important that as many people as possible who have engaged with the resources take the time to respond creatively or to fill out the survey.
The Diocesan Advisory Group for Living in Love and Faith has been supporting parishes and deaneries as they consider how LLF can be used most effectively in their context. In the Diocese of Chester we have run two taster days online; over 120 people came along to engage with LLF. They left excited and ready to share with their parishes what LLF involves. We are delighted with the enthusiasm that parishes are taking part in LLF are showing – across different traditions and expressions of worship in the Church of England.
Many parishes have committed to taking part in the autumn term, ready to feedback before Christmas. However, for some parishes, the deadline of the end of January was too tight, and they have felt unable to engage in the time allowed. It is therefore with great pleasure that we are able to share that the timeline for LLF has been extended to the end of April 2022. We hope this will mean that every parish has time to engage with the resources in a meaningful way and to give feedback if they wish to.
As a Diocese we are encouraging parishes to consider using external facilitators – someone from another parish or deanery – to facilitate the conversations and learning in small groups which will take place during the five week course. Therefore, we have run three facilitator familiarisation sessions which have been fully booked, which means over 40 people have received input on how to facilitate effectively on the LLF course. As there is still a high demand for courses, a further course will be run on 21 August. Keep an eye on the Diocese events page for when that goes live if you want to come along.
The Diocesan Advisory Group is aiming to share stories or groups and individuals who have engaged with the resources. Please do let us know if you have run the course, are planning to run the course or have a story to share – we value and read every story we receive. With your permission, we will include them in a report which the Bishops in our Diocese will receive next year as they discern their response to Living in Love and Faith. Share your story by sending it to Jonny Masters or Vanessa Layfield (contact details below).
If you would like to find out more about LLF, to book an external facilitator, or to discuss how it could run in your parish, please get in touch with Vanessa Layfield or Jonny Masters. If LLF raises any issues which would benefit from chaplaincy support, please contact Nikki Eastwood. Please also be aware that there is a Diocesan Counselling Service available for all who would benefit.
Useful Contacts:
Diocesan Advocates:
Nikki Eastwood (Chair of Diocesan Advisory Group and Lead Chaplain) nikki@stm-upton.org.uk
Vanessa Layfield (Inclusion Officer) vanessa.layfield@chester.anglican.org
Jonny Masters (Youth, Children and Families’ Missioner) jonathan.masters@chester.anglican.org
Peter Mackriell (Head of Counselling Services) peter.mackriell@chester.anglican.org