The Magazine

You’re very welcome!

After 37 happy years attending the same central Norwich church, we felt it would be better, having moved out to Taverham, to find somewhere local to worship. After a couple of services at St Edmund’s we knew that this was the place we wanted to be.

Love bade me welcome

In many, perhaps most cultures, the obligation to offer welcome and hospitality is taken very seriously.

Places of welcome and sanctuary

Churches across the Diocese will welcome visitors to their buildings in Celebrating Open Churches that opens on Norfolk Day 27 July. It's a welcome that extends throughout the year in many and diverse ways, writes Marion Welham.

The unconscious bias question

Imagine that you are the designated welcomer in church. Today, there is a newcomer: tall, well dressed, and confident. How do you respond?

A tasty welcome at Blakeney brunch

Biddy Collyer paid an early morning visit to St Nicholas Church in Blakeney to see for herself the tasty welcome that's taking the place by storm.

Practising hospitality

I’ve been thinking about Biblical hospitality. Romans 12:13 reads “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality”. Sounds fairly straightforward, right?

Sprowston’s vestry hour outreach

Andy Bunter unpacks how a different approach to vestry hour has opened the door to new opportunities.

Sacred spaces for children

We can all picture the scene in church: a parent struggles to pacify a crying baby while making fraught attempts to keep a toddler sitting and quietly engaged before finally the stares of other congregation members send them scuttling for the exit.

Welcoming different faiths at school

Each year Corton Church of England Primary School on the East Suffolk coast near Lowestoft holds three multi-faith days as part of their RE curriculum.

Refugees welcomed with love in Lulea

During an intense period in the autumn of 2015 thousands of refugees came by train to stations in the Diocese of Lulea. Emma Berkman describes how the parishes acted immediately to make the arrival as loving as possible.

An artful encounter with God

Everyone knows that lions live in wardrobes, monsters lurk down the toilet, and dragons emerge from cracks in the pavement. Whatever you do don’t step on the cracks!