Category: Deanery Briefings

September Deanery Briefing Details Released

7:30pm September 17 2025: Anna Chaplaincy: Ageing well: How the Church responds to an ageing population

With the UK population now comprising more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 18, for the first time ever; what is the church saying about old age, both positively and negatively?

Anna Chaplancy Logo

How can we as Christians serve older people through the provision of good spiritual care, whilst combatting ageism and exclusion, and honouring the contribution of older people in our churches and communities?

More Details on the briefing here: Deanery Briefing: Anna Chaplaincy: Ageing well: How the Church responds to an ageing population

Book Here: Deanery Briefing: Anna Chaplaincy: Ageing Well

Debbie Ducille Anna Chaplaincy National Ministry Lead

Debbie Ducille
Along with two local Anna Chaplaincy coordinators - Annie Jefferies from the Exeter diocese and Emma Sneddon from the Portsmouth diocese - Debbie will lead a conversation about the Church's attitudes to ageing andoutline the work of the Anna Chaplaincy.

Debbie is BRF’s Anna Chaplaincy’s Ministry Lead, heading up the national team and its strategic work with church denominations and groups. She joined the Anna Chaplaincy team with a range of experience that includes roles in education, the voluntary sector and Christian ministry.

She is passionate about vibrant relational life in the church, stemming from her own desire to network and connect with people and groups. Debbie lives in Birmingham, a city she loves for its welcoming and diverse character.

More details about the Deanery Briefing and to book here: Deanery Briefing: Anna Chaplaincy: Ageing Well

Find out more about the Anna Chaplaincy here: https://www.annachaplaincy.org.uk/

 

June Deanery Briefing: Pioneering Parishes – Extending the Church’s Reach into Communities

Booking Now Open

Shifting energy from the church into your communities

With Revd Greg Bakker
Co-founder of Pioneering Parishes

7:30pm Wednesday
18 June 2025

The growth of the Pioneering Parish programme underscores the significance of social responsibility within faith.

In this Deanery Briefing the co-founder of Pioneering Parishes, Rev Greg Bakker, will introduce the organisation and outline why churches across the country are finding new energy, joy and abundance.

More Details: Deanery Briefing: Pioneering Parishes: Extending the Church’s Reach into Communities

May Deanery Briefing : Social Media for the Deanery in an age of Trump and Musk

Booking now open

Help or Hinderance ….. Blessing or curse – is there a place for Social Media in the Mission Action Plan

7:30pm Wednesday 28 May 2025
Social media has revolutionized the way we connect, offering platforms that transcend geographic and cultural boundaries.

It enhances communication by enabling instant access to friends, family, and professional and social networks worldwide.

So is it an essential tool in the Mission and Ministry kit bag?

This Briefing will delve into the manifold benefits of social media, such as fostering global connectivity juxtaposed with its drawbacks, including privacy risks and mental health concerns.

More about the Briefing

Book Here for the Briefing

Tom Pearson

Tom Pearson Picture
Tom Pearson, through his consultancy company isidore.uk, provides churches, charities, and businesses with a range of digital consultancy services including technical management for online, onsite, and hybrid events; and video production and broadcast services.

His extensive client list includes Thy Kingdom Come, Westminster Abbey, The Methodist Church of Great Britain, Fresh Expressions UK,

The Archbishop of York, The Lambeth Conference Company, The Anglican Communion, The Church of England, The BSL Bible Translation Project, York Minster, and The Guild of Health and St Raphael.

Tom is also a registered sign language interpreter (pearsonbsl.com) and he runs ChristianBSL.com which features over 1000 vocabulary videos, plus hymns, prayers, reflections, and readings presented in British Sign Language (BSL) by Deaf interpreters, Deaf church leaders, and Deaf worship leaders.

Beyond his professional life

Tom is a dedicated family man. He and his wife, Kat, who is also a registered sign language interpreter are proud parents to their seven-year-old daughter, Florence, who is bilingual in English and British Sign Language. The whole family are lifetime members of The National Trust, enjoying the heritage and natural beauty it offers.

Tom has a passion for theatre, film, and television, a field where he and Kat have collaborated on numerous productions, including "All Creatures Great and Small" (Channel 5), "The Last Kingdom" (Netflix), "Deal or No Deal" (ITV), and several BBC projects such as "Pointless," "Reunion," "Sing for the King with Gareth Malone," and "The King's Coronation Concert."

The family also enjoys travelling, with recent trips taking them to Florence in Italy, Monte Carlo in Monaco, and Disneyland Paris in France. They are active members of their local Baptist Church, where Florence is enthusiastically involved in the children's programmes.

More on:
Deanery Briefing: Social Media for the Denery in an age of Trump and Musk
Isidore
ChristianBSL.com
Pearson Interpreting (British Sign Language Interpreters)

 

March Deanery Briefing: Circuits & Deaneries – The Dream Team

Communion

Booking Now Open

Working collaboratively and combining resources creates a powerful Christian presence in the community.

The Church of England and the Methodist Church have just celebrated the 21st Anniversary of “An Anglican Methodist Covenant”.   We have a lot in common, but sometimes find it difficult to work together.  When we do, it can be amazing, but our differences can keep us apart.

In this Deanery Briefing we will hear from a Circuit Superintendent and a Deanery Lay Chair who will tell us how these bodies work. It will give us the opportunity to learn from each other and think about ways to harness the energy of the Circuit/Deanery partnership.

The Briefing willbe led by Steven Cooper and Tim Norwood – the respective Methodist and Church of England National Ecumenical Officers.

There will be opportunities for questions and discussion.  It promises to be an interesting, informative and creative session!

This meeting is open to anyone involved in both Deaneries and Circuits.  We hope that Methodists and Anglicans will learn from each other in this very ecumenical event.

More Details

Book Here

January Deanery Briefing: Singleness in the UK Church

Booking Now Available

40% of adults are single

40% of UK adults are single …. And it is increasing in every age group ….

40% of UK adults are single - that’s those who have never married, along with the divorced, separated and widowed and who are not cohabiting - but research shows they don’t always feel welcome in church.
          • Are singles under-represented in your church?
          • Does your church embrace singles?

At a time where singleness is increasing in every age group, single people are disproportionately missing from our churches. Research from 3,000 single Christians showed that many feel invisible and isolated in church.

In this Deanery Briefing the Single Friendly Church Network will share how welcoming in single people can grow and enrich your whole church community.

- Why should churches care about becoming Single Friendly?

- What’s stopping single people from feeling fully part of their churches?

- What practical things can churches do to make them feel welcome and valued?

More Details Here

Book Here

Beth Collingridge

Beth Collingridge is the Communications Director of Single Friendly Church Network, a charity that encourages churches to welcome and value single people at every stage of life. Beth has worked for SFCN for 7 years and is passionate about seeing single people thrive in their faith and church communities.

She heads up the training programmes and resources for churches and single champions, and enjoys equipping leaders with practical tools to welcome in those who are single.

Beth Collingridge

November Deanery Briefing: What’s the point of the Deanery?

Whenever there is a whisper or hint that changes for the deanery are a foot, something stirs across the dioceses in the deanery community. There is a surge of objection and protest that leads to a rethink and the Deanery survives.
Deanery Briefing Logo
NDN Leaflets

25 years on from the Bridge Report (that proposed doing away with the Deanery!) in some areas the Deanery has become the powerhouse driving the Church’s mission and ministry however, in others it has not faired so well.  …. But how and why in some areas the Deanery has flourished and in others that’s not the case?

So …..

  • What’s the point of the Deanery?
  • What is it that causes such an outcry when the Deanery is threatened?
  • What are the characteristics of a good deanery?
The Deanery Today

In this Deanery Briefing we look at what has shaped the Deanery since the Bridge Report, how to use the synodical structure to influence national policy and support the mission and ministry in the deanery locality.

More Details Here

Book Here

Rev Nicky Grey / AtaLoss Head of Church Engagement

Nicky Grey is an ordained priest in the Church of England with varied experience leading church in rural towns and cities. She has worked as Chaplain in several prisons in the Midlands.

Alongside her role as Head of Church Engagement, Nicky works as a Chaplain at HMP Foston Hall for women. Nicky experienced the loss of her husband in 2018 and her Mum just 6 weeks later. Her son was entering into university education at the same time.

Nicky first became involved with AtaLoss during the pandemic. AtaLoss provides signposting to bereavement services and information and resources churches to provide effective community support.

The Bereavement Journey Card

When Nicky began helping AtaLoss with the national online The Bereavement Journey© in October 2022 she found the materials deeply helpful for herself in processing her grief.  She has gone on to deliver the programme since in prison, where it is helping women process traumatic and unresolved loss.

Since its re-launch last year The Bereavement Journey programme, has already been delivered in over 360 locations.

Nicky is based in Staffordshire and is leading the Deanery Briefing: The grief phenomenon ….. on Wednesday 23 October 2024.

More details on The Grief Phenomenon ….. Briefing