Archbishop's visit 2018

A prayer walk, a visit to a Sikh gurdwara and a morning run with those exploring faith were just some of the activities the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, took part in when he made a special visit to the Diocese of Rochester on the 29 and 30 October of 2018

His visit to the Diocese was a very special occasion and one of a number of pastoral visits he makes to dioceses each year.

Rt Rev James Langstaff, the Bishop of Rochester said:

“It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share with Archbishop Justin, something of the rich and diverse life of the Church here, the communities we serve and the challenges that we face.

At locations across the region, Archbishop Justin visited a number of church-based community projects, schools and mission areas, to find out more about the work of churches in the community and to gain an understanding of the shared vision for the Church of England in this area.

Little Fish get BIG surprise

Little Fish got a BIG surprise when the Archbishop arrived at the regular toddler group at St. John’s Church in Penge, marking the first stop of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit. Read more here

Shoppers in Chatham got more than they bargained for too when the Archbishop of Canterbury joined a‘prayer on the streets’ session run by the local church and mission team in the town.Read more here

In a first for the Diocese, the Archbishop took part in a Facebook live Prayer Event at the Companions of Christ Retreat house. Over 18 thousand people have been reached by this session so far.

Watch here  (audio starts from 13minutes in)

Students take on BIshop in online debate 

At St George’s C of E Secondary School Gravesend, the Archbishop joined students and staff from across the seven Anglican schools in North Kent that constitute the Aletheia Anglican Academies Trust for a question and answer session. Again it was live streamed on Facebook - watch what happened here

The visit ended with a service at Rochester Cathedral, which had a particular focus on raising awareness of the issue of Modern Day Slavery, as a number of Modern Awareness Raising champions were commissioned.

Watch what the Arcbishop had to say about his visit:

Find a full itinerary of the visit below:

Day one (Monday 29 October)

Day two (Tuesday 30 October)