On 12 April 2020 Bishop Stephen Cottrell left his role of Bishop of Chelmsford after nearly a decade in post. Later this year he will become the Archbishop of York.
All of us at St Mary’s thank him for his huge contribution to our diocese and we will be praying for him and his wife Rebecca as they embark on a new chapter in their ministry.

The process to discern whom God is calling to be the next Bishop of Chelmsford is now underway and begins with a Diocesan Statement of Needs.
To produce this, the Vacancy in See Committee will carry out a diocese-wide consultation. They write:

“We want as many people as possible to have their say and we will be encouraging submissions from churches, groups and individuals. After the consultation is concluded the Vacancy in See Committee will weigh all comments offered and prayerfully discern what should be included in the final text of the Statement of Needs.
The consultation opens on 11 May and will end on 4 July.
When the consultation launches we will provide a series of questions to help people structure their thinking and to aid group discussion.”

At St Mary’s we’ll be organising a discussion to inform a submission from our parish soon. Any parishioners wishing to contribute to the discussion may email Erwin with their thoughts. In the meantime, you can find out more about the process and the consultation here.
The web page also includes a prayer for discernment which we encourage you to say as we embark on this important period for our diocese.