Mike Hammond

Dear friends,

It is with great joy that we can announce that Mike Hammond from Great Easton has been recommended for training for Ordination in the Church of England.

Mike has been leading services and preaching in different churches across the Deanery and Minster Community during this period of discernment, but now he is official! He will begin his training later this year and will be remaining as part of our Minster Community to serve and lead and walk and pray with us. After his training he will serve the Minster Community as a Self Supporting Priest. Please hold him and his wife Katherine in your prayers.

No doubt he will be a great blessing to us and I hope we will be a great blessing to him and to Catherine.  We will have a blessing and commissioning service for his training at our next fifth Sunday, joint service on the 30th of June.

Many thanks and God bless,

Jonathan

Revd Canon Jonathan Dowman, Oversight Minister for the Launde Deanery Minster Community

Posted 14th March 2024

The Very Revd Karen Rooms Installed as Dean of Leicester

The Very Revd Karen Rooms was installed as the third Dean of Leicester by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, on Saturday 9 March in a service which honoured the Cathedral's place as the beating heart of our city and county.

The service marked the beginning of a new ministry for Karen and the Cathedral, which reopened in November 2023 after an extensive refurbishment and restoration project. As well as enacting the legal process required for Karen to become Dean of Leicester, the service also provided an opportunity for thanksgiving for the work of God among us in the diocese, to pray for Karen, and ask for God’s blessing upon her.

Among those playing an active part in the service were: children from the Cathedral's Junior Church and members of St Nicholas' Church, who together presented Karen to the Bishop; the music group from All Saints’ Church, Belgrave; Jay Hulme, poet and churchwarden of St Nicholas' Church; Karen's family; and the Cathedral's choir and College of Canons.

The service had an intercultural flavour, in recognition of the Cathedral's place as one of the partner churches in the diocese's Intercultural Worshipping Communities programme. Alongside traditional hymns like Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, Rock of Ages, and The Lord's My Shepherd, All Saints' music group sang How Great Thou Art in Hindi, and the choir sang the response of praise in Swahili. Prayers of intercession were also said in Swiss German, Cantonese, Luganda and Malayalam.

The Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, said: "It was a privilege to install Karen as the new Dean of Leicester. With her courageous and compassionate leadership, and her passion for justice and equity, I have every confidence that she will continue to nurture, disciple and grow the worshipping community at the Cathedral, and ensure the Cathedral lovingly serves and inspires our whole community and diocese".

The Very Revd Karen Rooms says, “It was a real privilege to be installed as the third Dean of Leicester in this great city and county on Saturday. It was very moving to be supported by so many people in the Cathedral as I formally took on the role. Although I have been Acting Dean for over a year now, stepping into the role fully and formally was a significant moment.

“As Dean, my work is in three areas: overseeing the life and work of the Cathedral – leading what we call the ‘mother church’ of the Diocese – the Church of England in Leicestershire – and playing our part in the Diocese, and together with the Bishops, working with people in our different communities for the common good.

“I want Leicester Cathedral to be a cathedral for everyone – where people with different identities feel seen and know they are welcome. Our newly refurbished building is a wonderful place to visit, and I am particularly looking forward to the opening of our new Heritage and Learning Centre later this year, where we will tell stories of the city and county, both from the past and as they unfold in the present. We are a centre of Christian worship, with open doors and hope we can be a beating heart of love and welcome in this city and county.”

The service was attended by the Bishop of Loughborough, Saju Muthalaly: and Robert Freeman, Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Leicester, and the Deans of Chester, Derby, and Southwell.

Also in attendance were Richard Brooks DL representing The Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire; Henrietta Chubb, High Sherrif of Leicestershire; Dr Susan Barton, Lord Mayor of Leicester; City Mayor of Leicester, and Dr Kevin Feltham, Chair of Leicestershire County Council.

Karen is the third Dean of Leicester, a post which has existed since 2002 - before which the postholder was referred to as the Provost. The Dean is a senior priest in the Diocese and exercises leadership of the Cathedral – its worship, people, mission, outreach and public life, overseeing governance, safeguarding, staff, and operations.

Posted 12th March 2024

Eight PCCs in the Welland valley and the Langtons met for discussions

Representatives from eight PCCs in the Welland valley and the Langtons gathered this week to share encouragements, services patterns, challenges and to plan ahead. We were hosted in Glooston’s wonderful village hall (thank you Brian) and we sought to identify how we might support and encourage one another. We decided that we should co-ordinate our festivals, starting with Harvest, so that we might complement one another and offer our villages a cohesive and thoughtful approach, but more on that another time. It was good to meet, and the conversation flowed easily. Highly recommended!

Posted 8th March 2024

Video Interview

In this video Bishop Martyn chats to Revd Jonathan Dowman, Oversight and Growing Faith Minister for the Launde Minster Community. Jonathan reflects upon the formation process and the joys and challenges in the first 12 months since launching the first Minster Community in the diocese.
Click on the white arrow in the red box below to view 

Posted on 29th February 2024

Posted 4th December 2023
It’s been an exciting few weeks for the Cathedral: as well as opening their doors for the first time following a 22 month-long restoration project, it has also been announced that The Revd Canon Karen Rooms will become the new Dean of Leicester.

Posted September 14th 2023 from Revd. Canon Jonathan Dowman

Dear friends,

 I hope September has started well. My family and I had a wonderful August with friends and colleagues in the USA (New York and Connecticut) and we were deeply moved with welcome we received and the hospitality the churches we stayed with so feely offered. I look forward to sharing some of our experiences with everyone.

 There is some news to share, together with a few things to remind ourselves of in the Deanery Minster Community.

 Deanery Minster Community Administrator!

We are very pleased to announce that we have appointed a new administrator.

Wendy Lewis is a former local council planning officer who has taken a career break following arrival of her first child and is therefore looking to work flexibly part-time.   Wendy is also a former PCC secretary at Rothley parish church where she and her family worship. She was a very good candidate and will bring many gifts to the role of supporting you both as deanery administrator. We hope she will begin working with us in early October and we will keep you all informed. This is really good news!

 Deanery Synod and Deanery Service

We have our next Synod on the 25th October followed by the Deanery 5th Sunday service on the 29th October.  Our Deanery Synod will be held at Illston Village Hall, while our Deanery Service will be hosted by Tugby Church. Details to follow soon.

 What type of church are you and what might your church become?

Thank you for your engagement with these questions so far. There are some notes, together with the various descriptors attached to this email to help your discussions. Doing this will help identify what is important for our churches, where our vision for the future lies and significantly how we can work together and where to focus resources.

 This is unlike the dashboards from 2022, as the descriptors are simply a tool to help your church describe who it is and who it could become. These discussions help us to be honest, listen to one another and helps the Deanery Minster Community begin to share a common vocabulary and understanding.

 Monday evenings at Launde

All those who find themselves in some form of leadership or responsibility are invited to join us in the Oak Room of Launde Abbey. Meeting soon after 7 and ending as soon as we can after 9 we gather to share Scripture, some conversation, encouragement and prayer. Anyone is welcome. The dates for the Autumn are as follows:

 25th September

30th October

20th November

 Finally, I know that there were some communications over the summer regarding Generous Giving. As a pilot of the the Minster Community process, not everything will be right first time and so there will be a second communication focused on our context and particular situation soon.

 Looking forward to catching up with you all in due course,

God bless,

 Jonathan

Posted June 20th 2023  

A message from The Revd Alan Humphrey

It is with mixed emotions that I am writing to you. I am sure you are aware that I shall be retiring at the end of July, and moving, with Lesley, to live near our daughter in Stoke-on-Trent. It has been a real privilege to have served you as your Co-Area Dean over the past 18 months, and to have played a part in your journey in becoming a Minster Community. But it is with a certain regret that I shall not be around to help shape what it means to the Launde Deanery to become the first Minster Community within the Diocese of Leicester.
The Church of England has just entered the main period of ‘ordinary time’. But the last thing we ought to think of it as, is ordinary. Yes, it is a time that has very few festivals and is one commonly marked by having green hangings in our churches, but one can think of this extended period as being one of growth.
The colour green reminds us of the verdant nature of gardens, fields and hedgerows, all in a multitude of shades of green. We should use this visual image as a metaphor for the transformation of ourselves in terms of both our personal growth, and also our spiritual growth.
This is a time, and opportunity, to question what it means for every church, and every individual, to be a member of a Minster Community.
This is the time to ask, “To what sort of church do I belong?”, “What sort of church do we aspire to be?”. And then we can challenge ourselves with questions like, “What is God calling me to do?”, “Who is God calling me to be?”. No, this is no ‘ordinary’ time. This is a time for joyfully embracing the challenge of growing God’s kingdom, and doing so in ways that emanate from the desire for growth and sustainability in our churches.
I am sad to not be able to be a part of this exciting period for the Launde Minster Community but, at the same time, I am overjoyed by the exciting potential that this creates for Launde Deanery to become a beacon for what future church will look like within the Diocese of Leicester.
Lesley and I will continue to pray for you all as we respond to God’s call for us to follow Him in another place.
Prayers and blessings … The Revd Alan Humphrey
Interim Co-Area Dean, Launde Deanery