Special New Year Message for Churches and Schools from Bishop Julian

More updates on the Festival to come.

Some other news from the Diocese ....

· The latest edition of The See (January’s) should be in your church. You can also view the online January edition here. Very shortly, on this page on the Diocese website you will also be able to view another special online-only edition of The See (following the first one back in October for Bishop Julian’s inauguration). This latest one is a look back at just some of the highlights of the Diocese year in 2013.

· The next Diocesan Directory (for 2014) is nearing completion – further information will be coming to you shortly about this.

· Two departments at the Diocese have relocated offices. If you wish to get in touch with either the Parish Mission Support Department or Discipleship and Ministry, they are both now located at: Unit 250, Glenfield Park Business Centre, Blakewater Road, Blackburn, BB1 5QH. Office hours 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Switchboard, for Parish Mission Support is 01254 658910 and the switchboard for Discipleship and Ministry is 01254 658920. All other Diocese staff remain at Church House, Blackburn on switchboard number01254 503070.

· A reminder you’ll find all the latest news always available on the Diocese website www.blackburn.anglican.org. Make sure you bookmark it and keep checking back for the latest information. And if you have a church website and haven’t already done so, please link your website to the Diocese website. When you click through the news archive those pages have also been tweaked recently, and on the right of the pages you will also now find links to some useful resources for you and your church. More of this to come in 2014.

· Bishop Julian has now completed all 14 of his initial ‘Deanery Days’ that were planned for after his inauguration. There have been good turnouts for the ‘Meet the Bishop’ evenings on each day which included a question and answer session. The local media followed the Bishop around the Diocese during the Deanery Days and there has also been good coverage in media across the region. The Bishop will return to each Deanery in the first half of 2014 for three days on each occasion, when he will personally meet with every single clergy member in their own homes.