News and Media

“Is it your will…?” The First Ordination of Women to the Priesthood.

As I look at the order of service for the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Diocese of London I notice something is wrong. On the cover there is the place, the date and the time of the service. It does not mention the ordaining bishop, which would normally appear on the cover, and the list of candidates does not include any parishes which is also very strange. Why? I will tell you why. This is what I recall of that day.

Pilgrimage to Iona

Led by Bishop Karen and Karen Hutchinson 25 April— 2 May 2025

Women's ordinations celebratory service

On 15 June a celebratory service marking the 30th anniversary of women’s ordination in the Church of England is to be held at Salisbury Cathedral. Those first women ordained priest in 1994 in Salisbury, and women ordained elsewhere but now living in the diocese, are receiving personal invitations from the Bishop of Salisbury.

SML Younger Youth Weekend Away

SML Youth took 47 youth away last weekend for a time of games, activities, worship and teaching

Father and Son cycle across the world for Christian Aid!

Geoff and Will Sherwood from St Luke's Church, Parkstone, are setting off in May on a 3,700-mile ‘reverse pilgrimage’ from Cyprus to Canterbury, in support of Christian Aid. The determined cyclists are taking on a mammoth challenge to help people recovering from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Update on crisis in Sudan

Update on crisis in Sudan from Ian Woodward

Annual Review 2023

Across our diocese we saw the development in our Chaplaincy network, with the launch of Anna Chaplaincy, we covered nine locations (and events) in three days meeting more than 2000 people in the Archbishop of Canterbury's impactful mission and continued to develop the Growing Faith Network.