Cazalet Stations appear on Powys high streets
FIFTEEN paintings by Mark Cazalet, his West London Stations of the Cross, painted in the winter of 1998-99 and depicting the Passion and resurrection in contemporary urban settings, are being displayed in cafés, pubs, and shops in Powys during Holy Week. They have been loaned by John and Liz Gibbs. The team organising the exhibition is led by the director of the New Library in Llantwit Major and the Revd Anna Bessant, who serves in the Black Mountains Ministry Area. All of the paintings will be on display at St Mary’s, Llanwern, from Easter Eve.
Private capital enlisted to provide assisted living
TWO fully refurbished properties have been leased from the Assisted Living Project by YMCA North Tyneside as housing for vulnerable individuals. A press release from the Assisted Living Project described the deal as “the first step in a wider collaboration aimed at housing 20,000 people over the next four years”. A private company, Assisted Living Project Ltd, buys completed apartment blocks specifically designed for assisted living, and makes them available to housing bodies under long-term leases, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions. The project founder, Thomas Williams, said: “We are proving that private capital, when deployed with purpose, can be part of the long-term solution to one of the country’s biggest social challenges.”
Cathedrals to nominate volunteers for new awards
A NEW awards scheme to celebrate cathedral volunteers has been announced by the Association of English Cathedrals and Newgate Motoring Solutions. Newgate Cathedral Volunteer of the Year Awards will include two awards: one for an individual, and one for a team, with two cash prizes and a trophy each, as well as monies for the winning cathedrals to host an event to thank all their volunteers. Each cathedral can submit up to two nominations. The shortlisted volunteers will be showcased during National Volunteer Week (2-9 June). The two winners will be announced at the end of that week. englishcathedrals.co.uk
Bishop of Brixworth to retire
THE Rt Revd John Holbrook, the Suffragan Bishop of Brixworth, in the diocese of Peterborough, since 2011, is to retire on 30 September. He was trained at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and ordained priest in 1987. He served his title at St Mary’s, Barnes, in Southwark diocese, before moving to Oxford diocese, where he served in parishes and as a hospital chaplain. In 2002, he became the Rector of Wimborne Minster, in Salisbury diocese, later serving as a rural dean and an Hon. Canon. The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Debbie Sellin, said that he would be “hugely missed”, and spoke of his pastoral approach.
Southern to leave Cuddesdon for second time
THE Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon, the Rt Revd Humphrey Southern, is to retire at the end of the year, after ten years in post. An ordinand at Cuddesdon in the 1980s, Bishop Southern returned as Principal after serving as Bishop of Repton, and, before that, 20 years of parish ministry. The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave, who chairs the college’s board, said that Bishop Southern had provided “faithful, caring and focused leadership, care and encouragement to students, staff and all in the extended Cuddesdon community”.
Surge in searches on ‘A Church Near You’
THE number of page visits to the Church of England’s church-finder website, “A Church Near You”, increased by 55 per cent last year to almost 200 million, Church House reported last week. The increase since 2022 is more than 75 per cent. The figure does not include the 9.7 million page impressions from those who maintain and update parish pages, adding and tagging worship services, events, and community action projects such as foodbanks. Users shared a total of 11,733 church services and events from the site on social media last year — a 268-per-cent increase in a year, and 18,445 services and events were added to calendars on people’s mobile phones and other devices, representing a 200-per-cent increase.
Correction: the total amount of Strategic Development Funding awarded to the diocese of Chelmsford between 2014 and 2020 was £9.69 million, not £18.5 million as reported last week.