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Rural Church Receives Grant Which Will Help Bring The Community Together

St Sylvester’s Church in Chivelstone, Devon has received a grant of £384,300 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its Renovation and Community project. The project will focus on weatherproofing the church to preserve its medieval heritage and enable it to be used by the whole community for open days, concerts, plays and events. The Ven. Douglas Dettmer, Archdeacon of Totnes, said: “This is the fruit of hugely imaginative and committed work by a small…

Fighting Food Poverty During the Summer Holidays

Transforming Plymouth Together is helping feed families across Plymouth through their ‘Feast of Fun at Home’ initiative. Transforming Plymouth Together (TPT) is a joint venture between Church Urban Fund and the Diocese of Exeter, and they work with churches and other organisations to tackle poverty and inequality in Plymouth. Plymouth is within the 30% most deprived of all local authority districts in England, and for those families experiencing poverty, the school holidays are a particularly…

First stone unturned in hunt for clues about Exeter Cathedral cloisters

A new archaeological dig has begun in Exeter Cathedral Cloisters, an area which has never been excavated before. It aims to discover the layout of the cloisters in medieval times, in the hope of re-using the original foundations to design a new Cloister Gallery linking the main Cathedral building with the cafe and historic Chapter House. Camilla Finlay, the Cathedral’s architect, said “It’s brilliantly exciting, what I’m really hoping we’re going to find are the…

A summer term like no other in one of Devon’s CofE schools

Evie Semmens is the head of Ellacombe Church of England Academy in Torquay, part of The Learning Academy Partnership, a Trust with a Christian Foundation, with schools across Devon. Ellacombe is a medium-sized primary school in an area of high deprivation. Here, she shares an insight into what school life has been like for teachers during the coronavirus pandemic and the measures she and her staff had to take before the school could welcome back…

‘Loving our neighbour’ by wearing masks in church

Churchgoers in Devon are being strongly encouraged to wear face coverings when attending church services following new guidance from the Church of England. It follows updated Government guidance encouraging people attending all places of worship to wear face coverings. It follows a number of recent coronavirus spikes in England which have led to local lockdowns. It is these which have prompted the Government’s new guidance for places of worship, in tandem with face coverings now…

Exe Estuary Pilgrimage Brings Light After Lockdown
A Devon vicar and former Royal Marine is leading a one-day walking pilgrimage from Exeter Cathedral to Exmouth to celebrate the re-opening of church buildings after lockdown and raise money for charity. The Reverend Steve Jones and others will set off from the cathedral on Saturday 11 July, following a short service led by Canon James Mustard and a blessing by the Bishop of Exeter. They will be carrying a candle lit from the Cathedral’s…
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Online service to say thank you to the NHS
The Bishop of Crediton is leading an online service on Sunday 5 July to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the NHS. The Service of Thanksgiving was filmed in the chaplaincy of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. It features contributions from NHS staff, including an Emergency Care Assistant from South Western Ambulance Service. There are reflections from former medics who worked in the NHS from its earliest days, including Henry Gossman, a former neurosurgeon who…
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Thy Kingdom Come Zoom Prayer Room is a Hit
The Reverend James Grier is a happy man. The Diocese of Exeter’s Mission Enabler had been worried that running a continuous 10-day, 24 hours a day prayer room on Zoom would be hard to get people to sign up to and he would end up doing the lonely overnight slots on his own. But in the end, the prayer room, which was part of the international Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative, exceeded expectations. Over 500…
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