Historic moment as the first diocesan Minster Community is launched
In an historic moment for the Diocese of Leicester, the first Minister Community was officially launched on Sunday (30 April) with a celebratory service of inauguration for the newly forming Launde Minster Community.
The church was filled with happiness, hope, and the Holy Spirit, as the communities of eight benefices came together in St Peter’s Church, Tilton on the Hill, for the occasion.
Bishop Martyn led the service, which included the commissioning of the community’s Oversight Minister, Revd Jonathan Dowman.
The day marked an important milestone on the journey to establishing a Minster Community and follows many months of prayer, conversation, and discernment of God’s leading.
In his preface, Bishop Martyn explained what a Minster Community was and talked about how the beginning of a new ministry is an important event for the whole community.
More than 100 people attended the service, in the church and online, including representatives of the wider community, local schools, as well as church family members from across the area’s congregations, fresh expressions, and Zoom service.
During the hymn In Christ Alone (my hope is found) people from all these spheres brought forward pieces to assemble a jigsaw puzzle map of the new Minster Community area.
The readings, from Jeremiah 29. 4-14 and Acts 1. 1-11, were chosen as an expression of what has gone before, and what lies ahead, with Bishop Martyn’s sermon leaving the congregation with four simple principles for navigating a new culture, drawn from the Acts scripture.
In his inspiring and thought-provoking address, he said: “You are the first – the pioneers – many more will follow by the grace of God.”
He talked about his experiences of adapting to life and work in Guinea, West Africa, and how we need to explore what it means to be Church, now, in our own day and age, ‘where fewer people own the name Christian’.
He said: “The opportunities are huge, the possibilities unending, if we are prepared to be humble and learn what it means to be church in the 21st century… I leave you then with four simple principles of navigating a new culture, all drawn from our reading in Acts 1.
This extract taken from the full article of the day.
St Peter's Church, Church Langton 